Categorie: News

The annual online lecture series organised by the Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies (GCSAS) is dedicated this year to the theme “Ascetiscapes: Studies at the Intersection of Asceticism and Space”.

Asceticism, as a set of psycho-physical practices aimed at redefining, transforming, perfecting or obliterating the self, stretches beyond the purely bodily and spiritual dimensions of the practitioner. Both on the individual and the community level, it influences and is constantly influenced by physical and non-physical space.
This online lecture series invites reflection on the various ways in which ascetic practitioners in South Asia have engaged with abstract, physical, social and embodied space. We will explore different traditions from various disciplinary angles, collectively interrogating the relationship between ascetic paths and the transformation of conceptual and material space.

All our presenters can be followed online (registration required); three lectures will also be available on campus.

Everyone is warmly invited to join: follow the links in the programme below to register!

PROGRAMME & REGISTRATION

Thursday 27 February, from 4pm CET

Akshara Ravishankar [Ghent University]

Even the Wise Grieve: Narrative and Renunciation in the late Advaita Bhagavad Gītā

Hybrid – Camelot Blandijn 3.30

Registration: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/030ec090-87e7-4880-837d-0f248e5de73f@d7811cde-ecef-496c-8f91-a1786241b99c

Thursday 13 March, from 4pm CET

Justin Henry [University of South Florida]

Echoes of Sri Lanka’s Lion Rock: Ascetic and Erotic Buddhist Poetry from the Sigiri Graffiti

Hybrid – Camelot Blandijn 3.30

Registration: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/78fae3b8-2c77-42ed-9d9c-176eea720d19@d7811cde-ecef-496c-8f91-a1786241b99c

Thursday 27 March, from 4pm CET

Amen Jaffer [Lahore University of Management Sciences]

Rethinking the location of Spirituality: Social Space in Pakistan’s Sufi Shrines

Online Only

Registration: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/bd94b34f-f91b-4861-9838-41a3f89aa16c@d7811cde-ecef-496c-8f91-a1786241b99c

Thursday 17 April, from 4pm CET

Christoph Emmrich [University of Toronto]

A Place for Jainism. Jīvapantu T.S. Śrīpāl, Camaṇar Hill, and the Creation of the Contemporary Tamil Jain Landscape

Online Only

Registration: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/cc74bded-cc09-4976-b967-5de01128bedd@d7811cde-ecef-496c-8f91-a1786241b99c

Thursday 24 April, from 4pm CET

Heleen De Jonckheere [SOAS]

Cemented Gods and Butterfly Gardens: Wondrous Re-use of Jain Temple Sites in Madhya Pradesh

Hybrid – Simon Stevin, Plateau VGZ 0.1

Registration: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/79d1321c-38f9-4038-a1d1-a3571c737c53@d7811cde-ecef-496c-8f91-a1786241b99c

Thursday 8 May, from 4pm CET

Daniela Bevilacqua [University Institute Lisbon, ISCTE-IUL]

Tapobhūmi: Ascetic Landscapes and the Transformation of Self and Space in India

Online Only

Registration: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/705c66d5-b358-49ce-a773-ea95ff2ceaee@d7811cde-ecef-496c-8f91-a1786241b99c

On 24 February, Dr Barbara Čurda (Marie Curie fellow, University Clermont Auvergne and French Institute of Pondicherry) will deliver a talk titled “Feminine agency and social value in shifting urban environments: the transmission of Odissi dance in Bhubaneswar”.

This talk is organised by the Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies (GCSAS) and the Center for Research on Culture and Gender (CRCG). It can be followed both in person and online.

Details

• Monday 24 February, 12:00 – 13:30 (CET)
• on-campus: Faculteitszaal (first floor), Campus Boekentoren, Blandijnberg 2, Ghent
• online: please register here

About the lecture

Drawing on ethnographic data from the early 2020s, this presentation explores the relation between women’s agency and their degree of adherence to patriarchal values in an environment subjected to rapid and intense changes. It focuses on women practising Odissi dance, considered by the government of India to be one of the “Indian classical dances”, in the urban context of Bhubaneswar, capital city of the Indian State Odisha, in which these practices thrive.
India has undergone rapid socio-economic and technological transformations in the past decades. Moreover, the city of Bhubaneswar has experienced a particular stark growth. This has affected the socio-economic fabric that support Odissi dance practices, based on a social order regulated by pronounced gender asymmetries. How do these changes affect the gendered equilibrium? What are the present constraints and opportunities? How do values and norms evolve in such a context?

About the speaker

Barbara Čurda is an anthropologist, and has been working as a Marie Curie fellow on the MSCA-IF-GF project GATRODI* (Gender asymmetry in the transmission of Odissi dance in India – a case study). The project interrogates relational dynamics and conceptions of know-how amongst dance practitioners, using qualitative and ethnographic methods.
Her research interests include gender, inequalities, corporeal practices, heritage, and South Asia. She holds a PhD in anthropology from the Université Blaise Pascal (France), and has taught extensively in the higher education sector and notably at the Université Clermont Auvergne (France).
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 101033051.

For more information: carine.plancke@ugent.be

The Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies has organised a film screening of ‘The Death of Us’, a documentary on the death penalty in India, followed by a Q&A conversation with the filmmaker Vani Subramanian.

Students, faculty, researchers, and staff are very welcome to attend: no registration is required.

• When: 3 February 2025, from 11:00 to 13:00
• Where: room 5.50, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Campus Boekentoren – Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Gent

For more information, contact Dr. Akshara Ravishankar.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

We are pleased to announce an upcoming Guest Lecture hosted by the Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies on 12 December 2024 at 1:30 pm CET in a hybrid format:

• in person: Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Camelot 3.30, Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Gent
• online: send an email to rosina.pastore@ugent.be for the registration

Title of the Lecture: “Exploring the creative world of Ācārya Hemacandra”
Speaker: Prof. Sreenath VS (IIT Madras)

Through this talk we will delve into the Jaina contributions to aesthetics in the work of Hemachandra.

Sreenath VS, Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities, IIT Madras, is a visiting scholar at the Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies this December, and his lecture is part of this appointment.

The Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies (GCSAS) and the Center for Research on Culture and Gender (CRCG) are pleased to host Prof. Anandita Pan from IIT Hyderabad, India, for the upcoming seminar titled “Justice for Whom? Gender, Caste, and Intersectionality”.

The seminar

The topic of gender justice must begin with the inevitable question: what gender is justice? Linda R. Hirshman asks, “Is the law male?” Hirshman’s question points out how the “maleness” of the legal system affects every woman.

Prof. Pan’s lecture will focus on gender justice through the lens of intersectionality to emphasize the necessity of recognizing the interconnectedness as well as differences among categories. Intersectionality challenges traditional notions of justice that treat social categories as separate or distinct.

Instead, it calls for an approach to justice that acknowledges how various systems of oppression (e.g., sexism, casteism, classism) intersect and compound one another. Achieving gender justice, therefore, requires addressing these interconnected forms of oppression holistically. 

About the speaker

Anandita Pan is Assistant Professor in the Department of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad. Her areas of interest are Feminist theory, Gender Studies, and Dalit Feminism. She is the author of Mapping Dalit Feminism: Towards An Intersectional Standpoint (Sage-Stree, 2020) and Aesthetics in India: Transitions and Transformations (Orient Blackswan, 2023). She is the recipient of the President’s Award for Best paper at the IAWS conference, 2020.

Whereabouts

• Date and time: 9 December 2024, 12h00 – 13h30 CET
• Address: Ghent University – Campus Tweekerken, Room 1.10, Sint-Pietersplein 7 – 9000 Ghent
• Online: Click here to register and join on Microsoft Teams

On Wednesday 27th November, Prof. Seema Chauhan from Trinity College Dublin will be guest of the Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies (GCSAS) and will deliver a talk titled “Re-examining the emergence of Jain householders”.
We warmly invite everyone to attend!

The talk will be in person and no prior registration is required.

• Location: Camelot 3.30, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Blandijnberg 2, 9000 Gent.
• Time: 2 pm CET.

We are thrilled to announce that on 26th October 2024 Prof. Eva De Clercq was honoured with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award 2024. The award was presented by the Indian Ambassador to Belgium, Mr Saurabh Kumar, in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to strengthening academic ties between Indian and Belgian institutions in the field of Indian Studies.

The event marked a significant moment in the academic calendar, celebrating not only Prof. De Clercq’s outstanding achievements but also the enduring friendship between India and Belgium.

 We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Prof. De Clercq for this well-deserved recognition and look forward to witnessing her continued impact on the global academic community.

In collaboration with the University of Birmingham and the Arihanta Institute, the Jaina Studies group at Ghent University is once again co-organiser of the lecture series “Dialogues in European Jain Studies”.

The event series features a variety of topics and methodologies ranging from philosophical, anthropological, historical, philological, and applied approaches to Jain Studies, and more. All the lectures are held online and are intended to be accessible in times zones ranging between Europe, North America, Africa, and India.

For more information on the programme and for registration: https://dialogues.arihantainstitute.org/.

On 10th October, Mr Saurabh Kumar, Ambassador of India to Belgium and Luxembourg, and to the European Union, accompanied by Mr Venkateswaran Narayanan, First Secretary Press, Information and Culture visited Ghent University to meet the Rector, Prof Rik Van de Walle,  as well as the Indian Professors working at UGhent at different departments, and the research team at the Ghent Centre for South Asian Studies.

H.E. the Ambassador expressed his admiration for the research work being done and learnt more about current and future activities in collaboration with Indian research institutes.