JNU | RTI | Directory | Contact Us | Emergency Services | List of Holidays
-A A +A

Minding the Gap: Visions of Science, Civilization and the Politics of Cancer in Underdeveloped Nations (India and South Africa, 1940-50s)

Minding the Gap: Visions of Science, Civilization and the Politics of Cancer in Underdeveloped Nations (India and South Africa, 1940-50s)

Event End Date
Event Title
Minding the Gap: Visions of Science, Civilization and the Politics of Cancer in Underdeveloped Nations (India and South Africa, 1940-50s)
Event Details
<strong>Centre for Historical Studies School of Social Sciences</strong> a Lecture on <strong>"Minding the Gap: Visions of Science, Civilization and the Politics of Cancer in Underdeveloped Nations (India and South Africa, 1940-50s)"</strong> <strong>Kavita Sivaramkrishnan,</strong> Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University <strong>19th February 2016</strong> Kavita Sivaramakrishnan is Assistant Professor, Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. She has been trained in modern Indian history, political theory and in population health at St Stephens College, Delhi University, at Trinity College, Cambridge University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and at the Center for Population and Development Studies at Harvard University. She has published a book on Ayurvedic medicine and its revival in late colonial Punjab in India titled, Old Potions, New Bottles (2006), and is due to publish a monograph, Coming of Age: The Global Science and Politics of Aging (2017). Her current interests are focused on histories of medicine, science and socialism in post-colonial India (1950-70s), on comparative histories of chronic disease, in particular cancer and heart disease research in South Asia and Africa and on the making and mapping of the "brain" and histories of cognition in India.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.