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CMS organises a talk by Dr. Shiju Sam Varughese

CMS organises a talk by Dr. Shiju Sam Varughese

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CMS organises a talk by Dr. Shiju Sam Varughese
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Centre for Media Studies, SSS

Jawaharlal Nehru University

 

cordially invites you to a talk by

 

Dr. Shiju Sam Varughese

 

On

“Science Mediated

The ‘Coloured Rain’ Controversy in the Regional Press in Kerala”

 

Venue: SSS-I Room #01

 28th September 2018, 11.15 A.M.

 

Abstract: When the phenomenon of ‘coloured rain’ struck Kerala in 2001, the ambivalences and contradictions in the explanation provided by the researchers from the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), Thiruvananthapuram raised public ire, triggering off a public deliberation of science staged by the regional newspapers. Following this, the ‘scientific public sphere’ generated by the regional press was transformed into a channel for scientific communication between different groups of researchers who attempted to solve the mystery. This has initiated an intense contestation over the scientific cause behind the manifestation of the unnatural phenomenon of coloured rain. The crisis of interpretation was aggravated by the inability of researchers to satisfactorily explain all the aspects of the phenomenon. By examining the controversy, the paper highlights the role of mass media in helping scientists and the public to engage with a wide range of scientific explanations that were proposed, discussed, and falsified or accepted through a complex deliberative process. The paper demonstrates how the internal circuits of knowledge production transgress the established boundaries of science (between disciplines, subcultures, and research fields, and between science and non-science) when public controversies of science erupt out in the media.

Dr. Shiju Sam Varughese is an assistant professor at the Centre for Studies in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (CSSTIP) in the School of Social Sciences of Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar. He is the author of Contested Knowledge: Science, Media, and Democracy in Kerala (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2017). He has also edited (along with Satheese Chandra Bose) the volume, Kerala Modernity: Ideas, Spaces and Practices in Transition (Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, 2015; paperback edition: 2017).

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.