Foundation of the Centre of South Asian Studies and the Archive Book Collection

The Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, was established in May 1964. It is primarily responsible for promoting within the University the study of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Himalayan Kingdoms and Burma, but has also, over the last 25 years, extended its activities to include Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong.

The first director from 1964 to 1983 was Bertram Hughes [Ben] Farmer who had previously been  Lecturer in Geography, Cambridge University 1952; Reader 1967-83 and Member, Land Commission, Ceylon 1955-58. He presented 11 volumes (FAR 1-11) to the Archives.

Sir Arthur Dash who served in various posts in Bengal between 1910 and 1942 and was Chairman, Bengal Public Service Commission 1942-47 and Eastern Pakistan Commission 1947-51 was appointed in February 1967 to take charge of Phase I of the Archive Project. He appealed for material in circulars sent to members of the Indian Civil Service Pensioners’ Association.  He also presented 18 volumes (DS 1-18), mainly relating to Bengal.

The archive was principally collected by Mary Thatcher between 1968 and 1981. She was tasked with creating an archive of the British in South Asia, and told not to collect the papers of ‘anyone famous’. As a result of her work, we currently have approximately 610 collections of papers, detailing the life and work of a wide range of people, including those of her father W.S. Thatcher who from 1912-1914 was a lecturer at the Agra College.

The papers, audio tapes films and photographs are listed on the Archive pages of the Centre. Books are mostly shelved according to donor, and have card catalogue entries. Over 900 of these books from 140 donors may now be searched via the online catalogue. This and future blog posts will highlight major donations or themes within the collection. The personal libraries provide additional information relating to the interests and occupations of the donors and what they regarded as worthwhile to ship home and then present to the Centre. There are guidebooks to historic sites, language primers, surveys, novels, history books (often heavily annotated), legal text books and specialized publications.

The largest donations which have been catalogued have come from Lady Alan Lloyd (Archive A 1-108) and Lady Chatterjee (Archive E 1-136). Eighty people or institutions gave 1 book each, often their own work, and publication dates range from 1800 to the late twentieth century.

One nineteenth century publication:

"Curry & rice", on forty plates, or, The ingredients of social life at "our station" in India by George Francklin Atkinson. 3^rd ed.  London : Day & Son, [1860], (Archive Misc 159), was given by Mrs Margaret Stavridi, wife of Alexander Gregory Stavridi, an engineer with the East Indian Railway between 1921 and 1948. She was a writer and designer and was much involved in welfare work, especially during the 1939-45 war. It is not as might first appear a housekeeping manual for newly married couples settling down in India (although the Archives have several examples of these such as Carne, Lucy, Simple menus and recipes for camp, home and nursery. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co., 1902. (Archive ALP 8 )

Archive ALP 8

George Francklin Atkinson, Curry & Rice.

but “a satirical work that critiqued the lives and behaviors of British colonialists in India. Atkinson served with the Bengal Engineers between 1840 and 1859. Written immediately following the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, the work describes a fictional Indian village called Kabob. Included in the narrative are forty full-page tinted lithographs of daily life around the village, which he illustrated himself. Atkinson caricatured colonial officials in a humorous way, presenting brief vignettes of different fictional British characters residing in the village”. 

Source UCSB LIBRARY website viewed 29 March 2017.

Photograph found in Archive FOS 8

A later blog post will look at the forensic and legal manuals presented by members of the Police Service but, Charles William Foster 1885-, Portait parle system of description for police purposes, Lahore : Civil and Military Gazette, 1913. (Archive FOS 8),  is a good example of a publication not available in other libraries but donated by the author.  It is a modification, for local police officers, of the identification system based on physical measurements of facial features devised by the Frenchman Alphonse  Bertillon, with some of Foster’s manuscript notes tucked into the back and a photograph of serving officers in the front.

Suzan Griffiths, Cataloguer.

Parallel publics: an Indian history of democracy

You are warmly invited to attend the 2015 Smuts Memorial Fund Lecture, this year is being given by Dr Ramnarayan Rawat, Smuts Research Fellow in Commonwealth Studies at the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge. His lecture 'Parallel publics: an Indian history of democracy' will take place on Thursday, 21 May 2015, at 5 pm in The Old Combination Room, Trinity College, Cambridge, with a reception afterwards.

Dalit (former untouchable) groups in early twentieth century North India gave democracy an Indic genealogy by drawing from existing devotional and collective forms of practice to fashion a set of new ideological and spatial interventions. Through print and public activism, Dalit activists utilized the fifteenth century saints Raidas and Kabir, key figures of the heterodox Nirgun Bhakti tradition, as spokespersons for ‘human equality’, offering a spiritual critique of caste inequality. These initiatives enabled Dalit activists to engage creatively with liberal ideologies of representation to create novel forms of political practice at the turn of the twentieth century. Counter-demonstrations by Dalit groups from 1922 onwards sought to intervene in debates on democracy by parading with untouchable bodies and capturing public spaces in prominent towns of North India. The term ‘parallel publics’ registers the absence of evidence of these struggles and narratives within dominant Indian archives and academic discourse and recognizes the continued circulation of these histories, discursive forms and practices within Dalit neighbourhoods.

Ramnarayan Rawat is currently Smuts Visiting Fellow in Commonwealth Studies based at the Centre of South Asian Studies.  Dr Rawat is also Associate Professor in the Department of History, University of Delaware.

South Asia @ Cambridge Festival of Ideas 20 Oct-2 Nov 2014

http://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/

This autumn's Festival of Ideas in Cambridge has several events likely to interest followers of the SAALG blog.  Booking is essential for many and some are already booked up.

FULLY BOOKED - Envoy: the experiences of a diplomat in Asia

Ancient India and Iran Trust, Friday 24th October, 5.00 pm. Event 77.
Fully Booked

Friday 24 October: 5:00pm

Sir Nicholas Barrington served as a career diplomat in five Asian countries, including Afghanistan and Iran, ending as Ambassador to Pakistan. With memoirs now published, he will discuss some of the interesting problems he had to face and the need to build bridges between East and West.

10 seconds of film: colonial identity exhibited in archival footage

Alison Richard Building, SG1/2, Saturday 25 October: 7:00pm - 8:00pm, Event 123

Archives of colonial documents often challenge conventional historical narratives. This joint presentation considers some remarkable examples of written, visual and aural archival records held by the Centre of South Asian Studies.

India-Pakistan: the common ground

Lady Mitchell Hall, Saturday 1st November, 3.00 pm.  Event 222

A panel discussion looking at commonalities between the two countries in the India/Pakistan divide, finding common ground in terms of development, economic growth and research, where a spirit of co-operation brings benefits for all. With Professor Joya Chatterji, Dr Ornit Shani, Dr Bhaskar Vira and Dr Kamal Munir.

Chatterji, Dr Ornit Shani, Dr Bhaskar Vira and Dr Kamal Munir. - See more at: http://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/events/india-pakistan-common-ground#sthash.sIjbDMbf.dpuf

Sovereignty at sea: identity politics of Asian territorial disputes in East and South China Seas

Alison Richard Building, SG1/2, Saturday 1 November: 3:00pm - 4:00pm, Event 221

The risk of conflict escalating from relatively minor events has increased in the South and East China Seas over the past years with disputes now seemingly less amenable to negotiation or resolution. The panel discusses discourses in China, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries, and suggests implications for issue areas of potential mutual benefits. With additional perspectives on maritime relations of rising powers and post-colonial contests in Europe and the Middle Eastern/North Africa.

Negotiating identities? Cultural encounters in Bend it Like Beckham

Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, CB1 1PT , Wednesday 22 October: 7:00pm - 9:00pm, Event 55

Wednesday 22 October: 7:00pm - 9:00pm

Probably more than most other European countries, contemporary Britain has been shaped by mass immigration, in particular from South Asia, and British-Asian Cinema has joined the often polemic media debate about the country’s ‘multiculturalism’. Be it as a potential mirror of popular attitudes, ideas and preoccupations, or as regards the likely impact on common views and opinions on migration, we cannot afford to ignore the filmic portrayals. In this context, Professor Guido Rings will explore the negotiation of identities in one popular example of British-Asian cinema: Chadha's Bend it like Beckham. Professor Guido Rings will raise questions such as: How does the film express cultural differences and to what extent does this follow traditional concepts of culture? How is the interconnectedness of cultures articulated and how does this relate to current notions of interculturality and transculturality? Professor Guido Rings is Professor of Postcolonial Studies, Director of Research Unit for Intercultural and Transcultural Studies (RUITS), Anglia Ruskin University.

Be it as a potential mirror of popular attitudes, ideas and preoccupations, or as regards the likely impact on common views and opinions on migration, we cannot afford to ignore the filmic portrayals. In this context, Professor Guido Rings will explore the negotiation of identities in one popular example of British-Asian cinema: Chadha's Bend it like Beckham. Professor Guido Rings will raise questions such as: How does the film express cultural differences and to what extent does this follow traditional concepts of culture? How is the interconnectedness of cultures articulated and how does this relate to current notions of interculturality and transculturality? Professor Guido Rings is Professor of Postcolonial Studies, Director of Research Unit for Intercultural and Transcultural Studies (RUITS), Anglia Ruskin University - See more at: http://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/events/negotiating-identities-cultural-encounters-bend-it-beckham#sthash.CeGr0pnQ.dpuf

Those interested in Southeast Asia may also wish to attend...

Hidden Hong Kong

Cambridge University Library, Map Room, Saturday 25th October, at 10.00 am, 11.00 am and Noon.  Event 84

An opportunity to study spectacular photographs and maps of Hong Kong in the collections of Cambridge University Library, with Rachel Rowe of the Royal Commonwealth Society Library and Anne Taylor, Map Librarian.
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk

To book an event, click on the relevant link above, and then follow the booking information on the right-hand side of the screen.

For a full listing of Festival events, visit: http://www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/events

Calling all Burmese scholars

Applications are invited for the Charles Wallace Burma Trust Visiting Fellowship which will
be hosted by the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, in partnership with
the Charles Wallace Burma Trust and the British Council in Burma.

The Fellowship is intended to enable a Burmese scholar to conduct research on any aspect of
modern Burmese history and society, and is open to scholars working in all disciplines
related to this field.

The Fellowship is for a period of three months during the Lent Term, 2015 (13 January to 13
March).

The aim of the Fellowship is to advance the scholarly achievements of the visiting fellow,
and thereby establish productive academic links between Cambridge and Burma.

Candidates who have had financial support from the Charles Wallace Burma Trust in the past
five years will not be eligible.

Provided they are qualified in other respects, candidates with little or no prior international
experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

At the conclusion of the Fellowship period, the Fellow will be required to submit a report to
the Committee of Management of the Centre of South Asian Studies and to the Secretary of
the Charles Wallace Burma Trust outlining what he or she has achieved.

An all-inclusive monthly stipend of £1,400 is offered by the Trust to cover costs at
Cambridge, together with a contribution towards a return economy air fare from Burma, and
the cost of the candidate’s UK visa. The Fellow is expected to make his/her own travel
arrangements.

The British Council in Burma will offer advice to the Fellow about securing a UK visa, and
provide some pre-departure briefing.

If you know of anyone from Myanmar (Burma) who might be interested in applying, please direct them to the relevant part of the Centre's website: http://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/centre/fellowship.html

Deadline for applications is 31 October 2014

Candidates are invited to submit the following by email to: admin@s-asian.cam.ac.uk

• a letter of application setting out as precisely and as clearly as possible the programme of research to be undertaken

• the names of scholars already in Cambridge working in a similar or adjacent/related subject and with whom the fellow would hope to work

•  a full CV with a list of publications; and

•  ask not more than two academic referees to email directly in support of his or her application by the closing date of 31 October 2014.

Please note that, in order to comply with work permit regulations, the successful applicant
will be asked to submit a signed, original copy of his/her application and original, signed
references.

The selection will follow the Centre of South Asian Studies’ policy and procedure for
Academic Visitors and is subject to the approval of the Charles Wallace Burma Trust and the
British Council in Burma.

The closing date for applications is 31 October, 2014. The Fellow is expected to take up the
post at the beginning of the Lent Term 2015 (13 January 2015).

Applications and enquiries should be sent to:
The Administrator, Centre of South Asian Studies, Alison Richard Building, 7 West
Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT, UK

Cambridge's first Tibetan exhibition

Buddha’s Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond
28 May 2014 – 17 January 2015

Buddha’s Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond is the first exhibition of Tibetan material in Cambridge. It will display some of the world’s oldest Sanskrit and Buddhist manuscripts – and a gift from the 13th Dalai Lama – in a special exhibition on Buddhist books at Cambridge University from May 28th 2014.

Buddha’s Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond
28 May 2014 – 17 January 2015

It puts on display for the first time the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology’s astonishing Buddhist artefacts and brings together collections and research from three of the University of Cambridge Museums; the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences and the Fitzwilliam Museum – as well as the University Library, the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, and Emmanuel and Pembroke Colleges.

Historians, anthropologists, linguists, art historians, chemists and material scientists have all contributed to this unique view into the complex world of the book in Buddhism.

Exhibits of particular note include some of the oldest illuminated Buddhist manuscripts from the first decades of the eleventh century, specimens of skilfully illuminated wooden covers and a quartet of scroll paintings brought back from the controversial Younghusband Expedition.

Dr Hildegard Diemberger, Co-Curator, describes the exhibition as “telling the story of the incredible journeys that the words of the Buddha have taken – crossing mountains and oceans and taking different material forms in different places.”

This story is told through the curation of three distinct spaces within the Li Ka Shing gallery at the museum. First to greet visitors will be a Himalayan Buddhist Altar which demonstrates an exploration of the text as sacred object, as a relic of the Buddha. Secondly, the Laboratory shows how Tibetan books are made and analysed, investigating the long history of printing in Tibet and the recent discoveries made by Cambridge scientists and scholars about the pigments used in illuminations. The final section, the Library, traces the journeys taken by Buddha’s word from India, across Asia, to places as far apart as Sri Lanka and Japan, Mongolia and Taiwan.

“It’s a real first,” said Dr Mark Elliott, Senior Curator in Anthropology at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. “A lot of these artefacts have never been seen on display before, and certainly not together. But we’re also looking at Tibetan books, and Tibetan Buddhist art, in a completely new way. There have been some real surprises during the development of the exhibition and we’re looking forward to sharing some of those with visitors.”

This exhibition is one outcome of a series of Cambridge-based, linked projects carried out over the past decade. These projects include Tibetan and Mongolian Rare Books and Manuscripts; Transforming Technology and Buddhist Book Culture: The Introduction of Printing and Digital Text Reproduction in Tibetan Societies; and the Sanskrit Manuscript Project, all funded by the British Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and Tibetan Books Evolution and Technology (TiBET), supported by the Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship. Thanks to exchange schemes run by the Mongolia & Inner Asia Studies Unit, Tibetan scholars have been able to engage with these materials providing new insights and understandings of their cultural significance.

Professor Nicholas Thomas, Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, said: “This is a truly collaborative project that exemplifies the research strengths of the University of Cambridge and the extraordinary potential of the Arts Council-funded Connecting Collections programme, that brings together the collections and expertise of all the University of Cambridge Museums. This particular project has also been generously supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.”
From the Buddhist Altar, to the Library, to the Laboratory, this exhibition promises to be an inspiration for scholars, Buddhists and curious people of all ages and backgrounds. It is the story of the transformation of Buddha’s words, from palm leaves, to paper, to digital dharma; you will never look at a book in the same way again.

Buddha’s Word: The Life of Books in Tibet and Beyond
28 May 2014 – 17 January 2015

For more information please contact Verity Sanderson, Marketing and Press Coordinator, University of Cambridge Museums on 07872 410663 or vcs25@cam.ac.uk

Bhutan photographic exhibition

The Department of Geography Library, at the University of Cambridge, is currently exhibiting photographs from a research project undertaken in the Kingdom of Bhutan. This is the pilot in a proposed series of small exhibitions showing the wide-ranging research interests of members of the department.

The current exhibit 'Hidden Lands and Sealed Mountains: Places and Spaces in a Conservation Landscape' illustrates the work of Riamsara Kuyakanon Knapp, who conducted her doctoral fieldwork on sacred natural sites and the conservation-culture-development nexus in Bhutan with the kind support of the Ugyen Wangchuk Institute for Conservation and Environment, Royal Government of Bhutan.

Riamsara writes: I was raised and grew up in Thailand while it was undergoing rapid economic development and personally witnessed changing landscapes and changing human values around me. Thus I am interested in the human engagement with nature and environmental conservation, and specifically the expression of Buddhist philosophies and practices and the ways in which conservation landscapes are culturally inflected. My PhD research concerns the relationship between environmental conservation and Buddhist beliefs and practices and my research draws from and addresses theorizations in cultural landscapes and political ecology. I am interested in multi-disciplinary research and employ methods from the social and environmental sciences.


The exhibition can be viewed during library opening hours. No appointment is required.  See:  http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/library/opening/  Afternoons are generally the best time to visit, as the library is quieter. 

Visual Anthropology and Contemporary South Asian History conference

Right hand image from Tymms 8, Royal Commonwealth Society Film collection,
copyright Cambridge University Library

Registration is now open for the interdisciplinary conference ‘Visual Anthropology and Contemporary South Asian History’, http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/25024, which takes place at CRASSH, University of Cambridge, 4-5 April 2014.

Conveners
Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes (University of Cambridge)
Professor Marcus Banks (University of Oxford)

Summary
The ‘Visual anthropology and contemporary South Asian history conference’ aims to offer historians, anthropologists and postgraduate history students a unique opportunity to share and strengthen their scholarship within a cross-disciplinary research network concerned with the crucial relevance of applying theories of visual anthropology to the study of contemporary South Asian history. This conference is the result of the positive feedback and detailed suggestions received during the ‘Exploring modern South Asian history with visual research methods’ pre-conference seminar series organised in February-March 2013 by the Centre of South Asian Studies (CSAS) in collaboration with the CRASSH and the Royal Anthropological Institute, and led by historians, anthropologists and postgraduate students (podcasts available here). Accordingly, this conference has two objectives. First, it will examine the ways in which scholarship in the field of visual anthropology informs historiographical methodologies pertinent to re-interpreting, producing, distributing, and repatriating visual records of South Asian history. Second, it will create a strategically innovative research and practice-based framework for postgraduate history students at the University of Cambridge interested in experimenting with, and advancing new cross-methodological approaches. These objectives will be achieved by securing the participation of some of the key scholars in the fields of visual anthropology and South Asian history, and by organising a special pre-conference workshops which will introduce the theme of the conference and help postgraduate history students explore new ways in using visual research methods. 

Keynote addresses will be delivered by Professor David MacDougall (Australian National University) and by Professor Elizabeth Edwards (Vice-President of the Royal Anthropological Institute and Director of Photographic History Research Centre at De Montfort University). Professor Alan Macfarlane (University of Cambridge) will present a special contribution. Other invited speakers include Professor Christiane Brosius (Heidelberg University), Professor Malavika Karlekar (Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi), Dr Lotte Hoek (University of Edinburgh), Dr Zoe Headley(Institut Français de Pondichery), Dr Vron Ware (Open University) and Dr Mandy Rose (UWE).

The conference will host a special session titled ‘Tamil Societies and Visibility' in association with the Fondation Maison Science de l’Homme, Paris, and Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge. Speakers include Dr Raffaela Cucciniello, Dr Sujit Sivasundaram, Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes.

The pre-conference workshop will be dedicated to ‘Writing South Asian history with visual research methods’. Prof. Marcus Banks and Dr Motrescu-Mayes will advise on the methodology used by ten postgraduate history students who will work with unique visual records selected from the collections held by the CSAS. The aim of this workshop is to introduce history students to using theories of visual anthropology to the study of contemporary South Asian history. The research findings and short visual essays produced by the students during the workshop will be subsequently presented and discussed during a three-hour special conference session chaired by Professor Banks. Also, CRASSH Digital Humanities network will participate in designing and developing the pre-conference postgraduate student workshop with a view to expand and integrate similar practice-based learning strategies within digital humanities programs. As a result, building on the valuable on-going collaboration between CRASSH and CSAS, ‘Visual anthropology and contemporary South Asian history’ conference will continue to advance and strengthen the dynamic, international and cross-disciplinary research network formed by scholars of historical and visual anthropological studies of South Asia.'

Sponsors: Supported by the Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH), the Smuts Memorial Fund, the Centre of South Asian Studies (University of Cambridge), the Fondation Maison Science de l’Homme, Paris, and the Thriplow Charitable Trust.

Cambridge seminar on teaching history using film archives on February 11th 2014

As part of the Centre for Commonwealth Education seminar series, Education in India: a Multidisciplinary Exploration, Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes will present 'New Visual Methodologies in Teaching Modern South Asian History'

Time: Tuesday, 11 February 2014 from 12:30 to 13:30

Location: 
Donald McIntyre Building
Room GS1 
Centre for Commonwealth Education
Faculty of Education
University of Cambridge<
www.educ.cam.ac.uk/centres/cce
bsjh2@cam.ac.uk
01223 767 680 

ALL WELCOME; Refreshments available

Dr Motrescu-Mayes writes:

In the context of a steadily growing interest in investigating modern history with the help of visual research methods a number of historians, anthropologists and artists (Pinney 2004, Pushpamala N. 2004, Tan 2005, Spencer 2011, Kahlon 2011) have recently employed theories of visual rhetoric in the study and representation of South Asian identities. Moreover, the use of visual records as primary research sources is not anymore the prerogative of cultural historians but a pedagogical tool recurrently used by teachers and students of South Asian history. In this talk I will present several teaching and learning platforms which I have developed since 2011 in collaboration with British and South Asian historians. 

The talk will also include a selection of visual essays produced by thirty history teachers during a one-week workshop which I co-organised with the Azim Premji University, Bangalore, in September 2013. This workshop was a pedagogical exercise that highlighted the ways in which Indian history teachers could successfully use colonial amateur footage as a valid primary research source able to complement the Indian history curriculum for classes VIII-XII. The talk will conclude with a discussion on the urgency of interdisciplinary research and pedagogical methodologies pertinent to reliable and long term knowledge- transfer programs within modern South Asian studies.

Call for papers: ‘Visual anthropology and contemporary South Asian history’

Call for papers: ‘Visual anthropology and contemporary South Asian history’ Conference, University of Cambridge, 4 – 5 April 2014 (http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/25024)

CFP deadline: 3 January 2014

Conveners: Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes (University of Cambridge) and Prof. Marcus Banks (University of Oxford).

The Centre of South Asian Studies (CSAS), University of Cambridge, and the Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH) are organising the international conference on 'Visual anthropology and contemporary South Asian history’.

This conference aims to offer historians, anthropologists and postgraduate history students a unique opportunity to share and strengthen their scholarship within a cross-disciplinary research network concerned with the crucial relevance of applying theories of visual anthropology to the study of contemporary South Asian history. Invited speakers, panelists and delegates will examine the ways in which scholarship in the field of visual anthropology informs historiographical methodologies pertinent to re-interpreting, producing, distributing, and repatriating visual records of South Asian history. Moreover, the conference will create a strategically innovative research and practice-based framework for postgraduate history students interested in experimenting with and advancing new cross-methodological approaches. During a pre-conference workshop dedicated to ‘Writing South Asian history with visual research methods’ ten postgraduate history students will work with unique visual records selected from the collections held by the CSAS.

Keynote addresses will be delivered by Prof. David MacDougall (Australian National University) and by Prof. Elizabeth Edwards (Vice-President of the Royal Anthropological Institute and Director of Photographic History Research Centre at De Montfort University). Prof. Alan Macfarlane (University of Cambridge) will present a special contribution. Other invited speakers include Prof. Christiane Brosius (Heidelberg University), Prof. Malavika Karlekar (Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi), Dr Lotte Hoek (University of Edinburgh), Dr Zoe Headley (Institut Français de Pondichery), Dr Kriti Kapila (King's College London), Dr Vron Ware (Open University) and Prof. Mandy Rose (UWE).

The conference will host a special session titled ‘Tamil Societies and Visibility' co-funded by the Fondation Maison Science de l’Homme, Paris, and the Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge. Speakers include Dr Sujit Sivasundaram, Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes, and Dr Remo Reginold.
 Also, CRASSH Digital Humanities network will participate in designing and developing the pre-conference postgraduate student workshop with a view to expand and integrate similar practice-based learning strategies within digital humanities programs.

The conference invites contributions addressing the following topics:


     Perspective on visual anthropology and South Asian history

     The use of visual records in producing new histories of South Asian identities
     Digital anthropology and representation of contemporary South Asian societies
     Practice-based research methods combining visual and historical studies relevant to South Asia


The organisers invite proposals for papers or presentations of 20 minutes in length. Abstracts of 300 words and an author biography (incl. institutional affiliation) should be submitted via email to vacsah.conf.2014@gmail.com by 3 January 2014. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 20 January 2014.
Any questions and concerns can be directed to Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes at vacsah.conf.2014@gmail.com 

Documenting a frontier: spectacular hand-painted fabric maps of Burma

Cambridge University Library welcomes you to 'Documenting a frontier' - an opporturtunity to view some spectacular manuscript maps of Burma dating from the 1860s, alongside rare early photographs of the region from the Royal Commonwealth Society's collection.

 

 

Map of Maingnyaung region (Cambridge University Library, MS.Plans.R.C.1)

The event forms part of the University of Cambridge's Festival of Ideas (event 66) and takes place on Saturday afternoon, 26th October 2013 in the Map Room, Cambridge University Library. Ticketed entry is at three times: 1:30pm - 2:15pm, 2:30pm - 3:15pm and 3:30pm - 4:15pm.

Please book your place online at: www.cam.ac.uk/festival-of-ideas or by phoning: 01223 766766 (lines open Monday-Friday , 10am - 4.30pm)

Event URL:  http://www.cam.ac.uk/festival-of-ideas/events-and-booking/documenting-a-frontier
For more information about the event, please email: rcs@lib.cam.ac.uk or phone: 01223 333146

Researching developing cities

Researchers interested in issues relating to the growth of cities in south and south-east Asia may be interested in a new research group, recently established at the University of Cambridge, Cities South of Cancer (CSC).  The group is currently studying four cities: Buenos Aires (Argentina), Cali (Colombia), Jakarta (Indonesia) and Khulna (Bangladesh).

Researchers explore issues to do with globalisation and architecture, poverty and urban informality, urban growth and governance, amongst other major themes. Research extends across disciplinary boundaries constantly inviting collaborations with sociologists, anthropologists, cultural theorists, urban planners, historians, lawyers and engineers. CSC emerges as a platform for interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration whose aim is to develop new forms of urban practice in the developing world. Group members may be contacted at citiessouthofcancer@aha.cam.ac.uk

Searching for Sikh Soldiers on British Medals

Enjoy a short talk, viewing session and tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Images of Empire display. This special event provides an opportunity to take a closer look at a selection of rare silver medals and see beautiful artwork relating to Sikh soldiers who fought for and against the British during the nineteenth century.

Open to all. Refreshments provided.
When?  Sat 15 June 2013 | 14:00 to 15:00
Where?  Seminar Room, Fitzwilliam Museum, Trumpington Street, Cambridge,  CB2 1RB

Free, but advanced booking recommended. Please email aj431@cam.ac.uk to book a place.

Exploring South Asian history using visual research methods

The Centre of South Asian Studies and CRASSH are organising the first international conference on 'Exploring modern South Asian history with visual research methods: theories and practices', 15-16 March 2013. The call for papers is now open, see http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/2066/

Visual rhetoric and modern South Asian history

Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes, affiliated lecturer and research associate at the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, is teaching a new seminar series on 'Visual rhetoric and modern South Asian history'.

Time and Location: Michaelmas Term, every Tuesday between 16:00-17:00 in S2 Seminar Room, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP.

All welcome.

For full details see http://karachi.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/visual.html and the poster below.

MATERIAL LIFE IN SOUTH ASIA, 1500-1900 - call for papers

A one-day New Researchers' Workshop is to be held at the University of
Cambridge on Thursday 27th September 2012.  The Workshop is for current
graduate students, post-doctoral and early career researchers whose work
examines aspects of material life.  This could concern issues ranging from
production, consumption, trade and living standards, to taste, food and
drink, work, everyday life and ritual.  Scholars whose work examines
regions at the 'fringes' of the colonial heartlands (e.g. Burma, Kashmir,
Tibet, Punjab, Sri Lanka, Assam, Bhutan, Nepal, Rajasthan), and which uses
non-textual/artefactual as well as textual sources, would be extremely
welcome. 

Proposals of 500 words and a brief CV should be emailed to
Jagjeet Lally (jl621@cam.ac.uk) by 31st August 2012.

The Workshop will be followed by a one-day conference in April 2013.

Amateur Cinema Studies Network launched

The University of Cambridge Press Office has recently published a press release about the Amateur Cinema Studies Network, a project launched in May this year.  The announcement also includes a reference to one of the newly digitised film collections by the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge.

Dr Annamaria Motrescu, Research Associate and Affiliated Lecturer, Centre of South Asian Studies 

Royal Asiatic Society Lecture: Reel Histories

Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Series 2011-2012

Reel Histories: The Film and Oral History Collections of the Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge

Dr Kevin Greenbank

(University of Cambridge)

Thursday 12^th April 6pm

Free and all are welcome

Royal Asiatic Society

14 Stephenson Way

London

NW1 2HD

Nearest Tube: Euston, Euston Sq, Warren Street

info@royalasiaticsociety.org Tel: 020 7388 4539