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CHS organises a seminar by Prof. Smita Sahgal

CHS organises a seminar by Prof. Smita Sahgal

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CHS organises a seminar by Prof. Smita Sahgal
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CHS

11th September 2024, at 3 PM

Abstract
The talk will focus on the twelfth book, the Śāntiparva or the Book of Peace, which, along with the Anuśāsanaparva constitutes the didactic and normative section of the Mahābhārata. The gender relations and the changing forms of masculinities within the Śāntiparva as it traverses through the concepts of rājdharma, āpaddharma and finally, the mokṣadharma will be discussed. The talk will engage with the notion of svadharma that qualifies Kshatriya masculinity as hegemonic, aggressive, and wealthy with the parallel idea of sūkṣmadharma or subtle consciousness that appears in the text as a critique of perceived Kshatriya svadharma. Finally, we will dwell on how Kshatriya masculinity eventually expanded its horizons to accommodate the idea of ethical consciousness and spiritual awareness in the aftermath of the Great War.

Professor Smita Sahgal teaches at the Department of History, Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi. She completed her PhD at the University of Delhi and a second Post-Graduation in Theology from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra. Prof. Sahgal was awarded a teaching chair at the University of Haifa, Israel and was also felicitated by the Romanian Embassy for promoting Indo-European cultural ties. Her publications include several articles, a monograph titled Niyoga: Alternative Mechanism to Lineage Perpetuation in Early India: A Socio-Historical Enquiry and a co-authored book Teaching History. Prof. Sahgal has been awarded research projects by the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi and is currently associated with a Dr Bharat Ram Research Project titled, ‘Recalibrating Kshatriya Masculinity in the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata: A Reading Against the Grain’.

 

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.