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Rethinking Media and Communication: Meditative Verbs of Pluralization

Rethinking Media and Communication: Meditative Verbs of Pluralization

Event End Date
Event Title
Rethinking Media and Communication: Meditative Verbs of Pluralization
Event Details
<strong>CENTRE FOR MEDIA STUDIES SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES</strong> a workshop on <strong>Rethinking Media and Communication: Meditative Verbs of Pluralization</strong> DATE: <strong>26th April 2016, Tuesday</strong> Chair: <strong>Prof. Deepak Kumar </strong>(ZHCES and Centre for Media Studies, JNU) Presentation: <strong>Prof. Ananta Kumar Giri</strong> (Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India &amp; Visiting Fellow, CMS, JNU.) Discussants: <strong>Prof. Asha Mukherjee</strong> (Visva Bharati, Shantiniketan) <strong>Prof. Bhagat Oinam (Centre for Philosophy &amp; Chairperson, CMS, JNU)</strong> <strong>Abstract:</strong> Media is part of spheres and systems of society but we need to go beyond a system perspective of media or a system-dominated view of media and link it our life worlds. The lecture discusses at length the concept of life world as it was articulated by Edmund Husserl, the inspiring founder of phenomenology, and subsequently developed by thinkers such as Jurgen Habermas, J.N. Mohanty and Margaret Chatterjee. The lecture brings a cross-cultural perspective on life world by dialoguing with Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo as they bring the dimension of Swaraj, Satyagraha and integral yoga to our vision and practice of life worlds. It critically discusses Habermas's argument about colonization of life world in our present-day world of which media is a part as it is being colonized by forces of state and market. It argues how we need to go beyond colonization of the media which calls for transformative movements both in our life worlds as well as in our living words. Ananta Kumar Giri is a Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India. He has taught and done research in many universities in India and abroad, including Aalborg University (Denmark), Maison des sciences de l'homme, Paris (France), the University of Kentucky (USA), University of Freiburg &amp; Humboldt University (Germany), and Jagiellonian University (Poland). Dr. Giri has written and edited around two dozen books in Odia and English, including Global Transformations: Postmodernity and Beyond (1998);Conversations and Transformations: Toward a New Ethics of Self and Society (2002); Self-Development and Social Transformations? The Vision and Practice of Self-Study Mobilization of Swadhyaya (2008); Mochi o Darshanika (The Cobbler and the Philosopher, 2009); Sociology and Beyond: Windows and Horizons (2012), Knowledge and Human Liberation: Towards Planetary Realizations (2013); Philosophy and Anthropology: Border-Crossing and Transformations (co-edited with John Clammer, 2013); Pathways of Creative Research: Towards a Festival of Dialogues (editor, 2015).

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.