JNU | RTI | Directory | Contact Us | Emergency Services | List of Holidays
-A A +A

Mythic Landscapes: Narratives of Belonging and Possibility

Mythic Landscapes: Narratives of Belonging and Possibility

Event End Date
Event Title
Mythic Landscapes: Narratives of Belonging and Possibility
Event Details
<strong>Centre for English Studies  and Special Assistance Programme, CES, JNU  and Indian Association for the Study of Australia.</strong> <strong>Lecture-Discussion</strong> <strong>Mythic Landscapes: Narratives of Belonging and Possibility</strong> by <strong>Dr Marcus Bussey</strong> Arts Research in the Creative Humanities University of the Sunshine Coast <strong>25 November 2016</strong> How do we find our place in this world? The Australian Aboriginals tell their story through the earth, it is in their bones. They follow their story – it is a cultural thing. Can we claim a story such as this? This talk explores the mythic in the personal as a way of finding our way back to Place: Our Place in this world. It begins with the work of the young British poet/novelist Kate Tempest who is exploring belonging in a mythic-urban environment that is simultaneously familiar, flawed and transcendent. It then moves to reflections on the cultural dilemma of modernity where we are all homeless in an anxious world that has lost its story. Marcus Bussey is a futurist and researcher with the arts Research in the Creative Humanity's Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast. He is interested in cultural processes that energise social transformation. He uses futures thinking to challenge the dominant beliefs and assumptions that constrain human responses to rapid cultural, social and technological change. Marcus has a fascination with the poetics of anticipation and its expression through heritage, myth and literature. His workshops, research and writing all focus on the quest for individual and collective empowerment and creative and hopeful pathways to the future. Marcus has held fellowships at Nanyang Technical University, Singapore and Tamkang University, Taiwan. He is currently Discipline Head of History and Program Leader in Futures Studies at his university.  For more information on Marcus: http://www.usc.edu.au/explore/structure/faculty-of-arts-business-and-law/staff/dr-marcus-bussey

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.