SARAI EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

[David Magier]

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David Magier, SARAI
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/indiv/area/sarai
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CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT:

 Furthering the Dialogue: Domestic Violence & the South Asian Immigrant
Community
April 4, 1998
St. John's University, Jamaica, New York

This one-day workshop will provide an opportunity for concerned
organizations and individuals in the greater New York area to focus on
ways in which domestic violence affects the South Asian community, and
to build community coalitions around this important issue.  Scheduled
presenters range from academics, activists, and artists to social
workers, healthcare professionals, and legal experts, as well as
representatives of religious institutions.

Topics for discussion include the role of religious institutions in
tackling domestic violence, strategies for building community
coalitions, effects of domestic violence on second generation South
Asians, same-sex domestic violence, South Asian men's role, violence
against the elderly, and the disabled, immigration, legal, and welfare
challenges that face battered women, the challenging domestic violence
through artistic expression.  The conference will also include a forum
for artistic presentations on domestic violence.

Sponsors: St. John's University's Graduate School of Arts & Sciences,
Vincentian Center for Church & Society, Center for Psychological
Services & Clinical Studies, Department of Sociology/Anthropology, and
Columbia University's Dharam Hinduja Indic Research Center.

Co-sponsors: Marine Midland Bank, American Association of Physicians
of Indian Origin, New York Asian Women's Center, and Pragati Inc.

Special Assistance from: Catholic Charities, Diocese of Brooklyn and
Queens and the Queens Borough President's Task Force Against Sexual
Assault and Domestic Violence

For registration materials, please provide your name and mailing address
 to dhirc at columbia.edu or call (212) 854-5300
**********************************************************************
Conference Program:

8:45  Registration

9:30  Opening Remarks
       Dr. Dipak Haldar, Professor of Biology, St. John's University

9:55  Domestic Violence in the South Asian Community: the Larger Context
       Dr. Sujata Warrier, NY State Office for the Prevention of
       Domestic Violence and Manavi

10:15 The Role of Religion in the South Asian Community and its
       Relation to Issues of Domestic Violence

      Virtue, Gender and the Family:  Religious Texts in Hinduism and Islam
       Dr. Habib Rahim, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Theology and
       Religious Studies, St. John's University

Panel Discussion:  The Role of Religious Institutions in Tackling
       Domestic Violence
       Moderator: Dr. Mary McGee, Religion Department, Columbia
          University

       a) Ruksana Ayub, Long Island Islamic Center, Domestic Harmony
          Committee

       b) Chan Jamoona, Arya Spiritual Center

       c) Gagandeep Kaur,  Sikh Women's International Organization

       d) Rev. John Mendonca, Mary Queen of Heaven, R.C. Church

       e) Prema Vora, Sakhi


12:30 - 2 pm   Lunch

1-1:15  Luncheon Speaker: Where are we going from here?
          Mala Desai, Pragati Inc.

2:00 - 3:30     Workshops

A) Negotiating the Institutional Maze: Domestic Violence in the South
        Asian Context.
        Leader:  Sunita Rampersad, Sanctuary for Families' Center for Battered
        Women's Legal Services.

B)  Effects of Domestic Violence on the Second Generation
        Leaders:  Sayu Bhojwani, Executive Director, South Asian Youth Action
        and Aparna Lal, Asian Women's Center

C)  Invisible Violence in the South Asian Community
        Leaders: Maura Bairley, New York City Anti-Violence Project.  and  Ram
        Kumar Iyer,  Elmhurst Hospital Center

D)  Challenging Domestic Violence though Artistic Expression
        Moderator: To be announced.  Presenters include the Nav Nirman
        Foundation.

E)  Roundtable Discussion:  Strategies for Building Community
 Collaboration
        Moderator:  Dr. Shamita Das Dasgupta, founding member of Manavi and
          Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University
        Panelists:  Anju Bhargava, Asian Indian Women in America; Barbara
          Kuchuk, Queens Borough Task Force on Domestic Violence and Sexual
          Assault; Dr. Munira Merchant, Valparaiso University, Rahul Sharma,
          Chicago School of Professional Psychology;

3:45 Not Remembering Roop Kanwar -- a performance piece  on global
issues of domestic violence choreographed by Ananya Chatterjee, Women's
Studies Department, Temple University

4:50    Closing Remarks -- Dean Gingrich, Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences, St. John's University