The British Academy is running a series of events to explore the current state and continuing importance of South Asian Studies in the UK. The series opened with a lively roundtable discussion about the present state of the academic study of South Asian Studies in the UK and included an interdisciplinary conference on Space and Spatiality in South Asia (see http://www.britac.ac.uk/intl/Space_and_Spatiality_in_South_Asia_Conference.cfm).
As the third of these events, Why South Asia?draws upon debates in the two earlier events to assess the wider relevance and value of South Asian Studies today. It looks beyond the South Asian Studies ‘community’ in the UK to seek to examine what on-going interest in the South Asia region means to a wider constituency of ‘users’ -- in government and NGOs, in research institutions, publishing and the media. It explores the relevance of the concept of South Asia to the social sciences and to issues of policy and engagement in the UK, and asks what can be gained from the study of South Asia elsewhere in Europe and experience and in South Asia itself. Speakers include Jo Beall from the British Council; Amita Batra from Jawaharlal Nehru University; Gita Dharampal-Frick from Heidelberg University; Lucy Rhymer of Cambridge University Press; Nira Wickramasinghe from Leiden University; and Penny Brook of the British Library. The provisional programme is set out below.
The conference is free and open to the public but places will be limited and prior registration is, therefore, essential. Please circulate details among your contacts. To register, or for further information, please email Debbie Soothill at d.soothill@britac.ac.uk.
Dr. Debbie Soothill
International Senior Policy Adviser
The British Academy
10-11 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5AH, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7969 5276
Email: d.soothill@britac.ac.uk
British Academy
Why South
Asia? The Relevance of South Asian Studies Today
A
Conference to be held at the British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace,
London SW1Y 5AH on 17 May 2013
Draft programme
9.45 Coffee
10.00 Introduction
and Welcome
Helen
Wallace, Foreign Secretary, British
Academy
10.15 Why
South Asia?
David Arnold, Chair, South Asia Panel,
British Academy
10.30
- 12.15 Session 1: South Asia and the
Social Sciences
Chair: Lawrence Saez, Politics and
International Studies, SOAS
Matthew
McCartney, Director, Contemporary
South Asian Studies Programme, Oxford
Mukulika
Banerjee, Anthropology, LSE
Kunal Sen, Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and
Management, University of Manchester
12.15-1.00 Lunch
1.00-3.00 Session
2: The Uses of South Asia
Chair: Barbara
Harris-White, Development Studies, Oxford
Penny Brook, Lead Curator, India Office Records, British Library
Lucy Rhymer, Commissioning Editor, Asian Studies, Cambridge
University Press
Jo
Beall, Director, Education and
Society, British Council
Mark
Robinson, Research and Evidence
Division, DFID
Yolanda
Foster, South Asia Team, Amnesty
International
3.00-3.30 Tea
3.30-4.45 Session
3: International Perspectives
Chair: Christopher
Bayly, Director, Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge
Gita Dharampal-Frick, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg
Nira Wickramasinghe, Asian Studies, Leiden
Amita Batra, School of International Studies, JNU, Delhi
4.45-5.30 Closing
Discussion
Chair: David
Arnold
