[INDOLOGY] Forwarded call for papers

[Dominik Wujastyk]

>From Prof. Alexander A. Stolyarov <astol007 at gattamelata.com>.

Please contact Prof. Stolyarov for further information.

(Note: the proceedings of the first "Open Pages" meeting were published in
2014: Amazon link
<https://www.amazon.com/Open-Pages-South-Asian-Studies/dp/0983447284>.)

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“*Open Pages in South Asian Studies - **3**”*

The Centre for South-East Asian Studies (CSEAS) and the Department of
Foreign Languages, GAUHATI UNIVERSITY, INDIA invites you to participate in
the Symposium cum Workshop *“Open Pages in South Asian Studies - 3” *on 22-23
January, 2019 (Tentative) organised in collaboration with International
Centre for South Asian Studies and the Faculty of International Relations
and Area Studies of the Russian State University for the Humanities,
Moscow, Russia

*The Event*

Though contemporary South Asia comprises of eight countries namely
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka, they share a common origin and history as part of the Indus Valley
Civilisation. In terms of geographical location, South Asia extends south
from the main part of the continent to the Indian Ocean. The principal
boundaries of South Asia are the Indian Ocean, the Himalayas, and
Afghanistan. The Arabian Sea borders Pakistan and India to the west, and
the Bay of Bengal borders India and Bangladesh to the east. The western
boundary is the desert region where Pakistan shares a border with Iran.
This common geographical location unites these countries politically as a
sub-region of Asia.

Within this region, two of the world’s great religions namely Hinduism and
Buddhism originated, but there are also immense Muslim populations and
large groups of followers of various other religions as well. Hinduism,
Islam, and Buddhism are the three major religions of South Asia. In
addition, Sikhism is a major religion in the Punjab region, which is
located on India’s northern border with Pakistan.

The nature of the political systems in the South Asian countries makes this
region even more politically and geo-strategically unique. It has a long
history of democratic transition and consolidation along with periodic
authoritarian and military rule in the countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan
and Maldives. Though Bhutan is a small country in terms of its territorial
size, the innovation of Gross National Happiness (GNH) has drawn
considerable global attention towards this region in ensuring and promoting
a culture of sustainable development and peace.

Ethno-linguistic pluralism is a hallmark of the South Asian countries
whereas it is also a prime factor of contentious relations among the member
countries and intra-country conflicts in the form sub-nationalist and
secessionist movements. The region is also home to the problem of terrorism
that has paralysed not only the human and national development, but also
has derailed the mutual understanding and harmonious relations of the
countries in the region. Besides these, the border conflicts among the
South Asian countries make this region more volatile and strategically
significant in the contemporary global order. The South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), mandated to integrate the countries of
South Asia politically and economically, has merely failed to bring in the
desired results of integration and cooperation due to these contentious
relations.

Migration across borders has been an issue of contention in the region.
Consolidation of the neo-liberal economic policies across the countries in
the region has brought both opportunities and challenges. In terms of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), many countries in the region witnessed marked
progress. But, this has been accompanied by inequality both in income and
in other social security domains. Growth with inequality has brought in
popular outrage in the region. Informalization of labour, and growing
privatization of essential services added new forms of inequality and
insecurity, apart from raising concerns over ecology and common resources.

The proposed symposium cum workshop, which will be interdisciplinary in
nature, will endeavour to address these critical issues both from the
perspective of the respective countries as well as from the perspective of
South Asia as a transnational regional entity.

*The issues and areas, the Symposium endeavours to deliberate are the
following:*

   1.

   Understanding South Asia as a region
   2.

   Cultural realm of South Asia – Various aspects of Cultural landscapes
   including religious diversities, linguistic and sociological mosaic.
   3.

   Common Historical Connections- Ancient, Colonial and Post-Colonial
   Linkages of the South Asian region
   4.

   State processes and development experiences in South Asia
   5.

   South Asian Regionalism and Integration: Trends, Problems and prospects
   6.

   Engaging Russia in South Asia

*General Instructions*

The Centre for South East Asian Studies and the Department of Foreign
Languages, Gauhati University together with the International Centre for
South Asian Studies of the Russian State University for the Humanities, the
Faculty of International Relations and Area Studies of the Russian State
University for the Humanities, are the initiators and organisers of this
event. Their aim is *to present the comprehensive image of unknown that is
to be discovered and described*.

Masters and postgraduate students are also invited to take part in the
workshop.

Every speaker will be given 15 minutes for his/her presentation, followed
by 10-15 minutes for discussion. The working language of the workshop will
be English.

The workshop will be held at the Gauhati University, Assam, India. Those
interested in participating in the Symposium may send their abstracts to:

Prof Kandarpa Das, Head, Dept of Foreign Languages, Gauhati University,
India
*kandarpadas at gauhati.ac.in <kandarpadas at gauhati.ac.in>*
*kandarpagu at gmail.com <kandarpagu at gmail.com>*

Prof Nani Gopal Mahanta, Director, Centre for South East Asian Studies,
Dept. of Political Science, Gauhati University, India
*ngmahanta at gmail.com <ngmahanta at gmail.com>*

Prof Alexander Stolyarov, Director, Centre for South Asian Studies, Russian
State University for the Humanities, Moscow
*astol007 at gattamelata.com <astol007 at gattamelata.com>*


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