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CSRD organises a seminar by Prof. Paolo Silvio Harald Favero

CSRD organises a seminar by Prof. Paolo Silvio Harald Favero

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CSRD organises a seminar by Prof. Paolo Silvio Harald Favero
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Centre for the Study of Regional Development,
School of Social Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

 

Invites you all to a Seminar on

 

In the Presence of an Image

 

by
Prof. Paolo Silvio Harald Favero  
(University of Antwerp)

 

Date : August 13, 2024 (Tuesday)
Time : 3.30 PM
Venue: Room No. 134, Carto Lab, CSRD, SSS III (Ist Floor)

 

Abstract:  Technological developments in the field of image-viewing and image-production have, since the invention of photography, always called upon updated reflections on images’ capacity to produce truthful and trustworthy accounts of reality. From showing more than what the eye could see (this is the case of the telescope, the microscope and the x/ray) to creating visions of things that never stood in front of the camera (the case of digital imaging at large and AI especially) images have simultaneously been trusted as depositories of (hidden) truths, and looked upon with suspicion as embodiments of superficiality, hedonism and deceit. So, how are we to understand images? Can they speak the truth at all? Are they really there to represent, document and mirror reality or are they possibly also about something else? Building on my simultaneous interest for engaging with images as both object of study as well as tools for producing knowledge I want, with this talk, to offer some pointers for rethinking conventional assumptions on what images are, mean and do away from binary reductions. Journeying in time and place and across theoretical apparatuses (hence looking at different culturally situated discourses and practices regarding visual culture) I will explore the existence and politics of images as more than messages and mirrors but as proper companions of (and guides for) human life. We live our lives in the presence of images. The presentation offers pointers towards my latest book Image Making India (Routledge 2020) which applies there theoretical reflections on the terrain of visual culture, technology and politics in contemporary India.

 

Brief Profile of the Speaker:  Prof. Paolo Silvio Harald Favero is a visual anthropologist with an interest for the meaning of images in human life. Currently Professor of Visual Cultures and Anthropology at the University of Antwerp he explores the nexus between visual/sensory cultures and existential matters. Paolo does fieldwork mainly in India and Italy on death and aesthetics. An active image-maker he also employs emerging technologies (among them smartphone apps, immersive cameras and drones) in the terrain of ethnographic methods and art. Paolo is the author of "Image-Making-India" (Routledge, 2020) and "The Present Image"(Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).

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.