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CWS organises a talk by Manola Gayatri

CWS organises a talk by Manola Gayatri

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CWS organises a talk by Manola Gayatri
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Center for Women’s Studies, JNU

 

Invites you to a Talk on

 

Performance as Research as a Decolonial Practice: Towards an Eros an Ethics of Embodied Practice

 

by

Manola Gayatri

(Dr. Manola K. Gayatri currently teaches at the Centre for Development Practice at Ambedkar University Delhi and convenes the International Federation of Theatre Research’s Performance as Research Working Group)

 

Venue: Room 324, School of Social Sciences I, JNU

Date: 16 April 2019

Time: 3:00 pm

 

 What is the role of creative practice in research? When does a theatre performance become one half of a thesis? What are our considerations as we continue to address knowledges hierarchies in decolonial contexts?  What could the South African sangoma have in common with Manipuri thespian Hesinam Sabitri? Is it possible to define the role of intuition in our research? What is the space between impulses of eros and the discursive clarity required to evolve ethical relationalities? How do you share co-authorship with a tree? What could Rasa theory tell us of breath’s relationship to a Shakespearean text? What dreams does the Muscle Jew have by an old South African monument? Can discovering composition with medieval Kannada poetry offer a new way to consider the frameworks we use in our research? What is the value in the camera becoming the researcher’s pen?

 

This talks introduces Performance as Research as it emerged as a methodology and episteme in academia from its conceptual stance to the practices of its incorporation into research degrees and offers insight into some of the rich transdisciplinary political potential and fluid creative power of this work. In doing this, it gestures towards an eros and ethics of embodied practice through a consideration of the possibilities of performance as research as a decolonial tool. It opens up these considerations for contemporary researchers navigating their work amidst a multiplicity of methods, perspectives and sites, welcoming a transdisciplinary conversation with interlocutors from Development Practice, Women Studies and the others.

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.