Events at the Centre for Contemporary Studies in 2009

Events in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

Completed Events

150.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a talk on:

“GALILEO'S GIFT”

by

Prof. C.V.Vishveshwara

Former Senior Professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics
Emeritus Director at Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium
Bangalore

Date & Time: Thursday, 31st December 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : Centre for Contemporary Studies Seminar Hall, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Tea/Coffee will be served at 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

The year 2009 has been designated as the International Year of Astronomy in celebration of the historic event when Galileo Galilei turned his little telescope towards the heavens. Galileo's extraordinary observations changed the face of astronomy and opened up new pathways to the study of the cosmos. Combining his observational skills with his theoretical acumen, he evolved the definitive scientific method that has been adopted ever since and perhaps is taken for granted. No wonder then that he has been hailed as the father of modern science. Galileo succeeded in bringing science to the common man. His writings are characterised by literary flair, philosophical insight, wit and wisdom. Galileo's tragic struggle with the Church highlighted the perennial conflict between science and religion. It has been one of the major focal points for all discussions in this sensitive area. Galileo's ideas and accomplishments constitute an everlasting gift to humanity.

149.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

And

The Centre for Internet and Society

Presents a Public Lecture on

Preserving Digital Memories: A Patrimonial Approach

by

Dr. Bruno Bachimont

Université de technologie de Compiègne
Joint research unit UTC/CNRS
Heudiasyc & Computer Science Department

Date & Time: Thursday, 10th December 2009, 4.00 p.m to 6.00 p.m.

Venue: The Centre for Internet and Society,
No.D2, 3rd Floor, Sheriff Chambers 14,
Cunningham Road, Bangalore,
Karnataka 560052, India
Phone: (+91)-080-4092-6283
Fax: (+91)-080-4114-8130

** Please note the Change in Venue

All are cordially invited

The Centre for Internet & Society and The Centre for Contemporary Studies, Bangalore cordially invite you to a public lecture and discussion by Dr. Bruno Bachimont, on Preserving Digital Memories: A Patrimonial Approach.

Dr. Bachimont is visiting India as a part of the “Bonjour French Science” framework constructed by the Embassy of France in India. He comes from a well-known technology university in France and has a background in computer science and philosophy. He is a researcher in the fields of Cognitive Science and Knowledge Engineering and has been very active in instrumenting connections between Philosophy, Science and Technology in the French Higher Education environment.

148.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

On the occasion of the
Platinum Jubilee of Indian National Science Academy

Invites you to

SEMINAR ON THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

Date & Time: 2nd November  2009, 9.00 to 6.30 p.m.

Venue : CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY STUDIES Seminar Hall,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building) Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Schedule

9.00 to 9.10 am	Introduction and Welcome to CCS   Prof. Raghavendra Gadagkar
9.10 to 9.25 am	Platinum Jubilee of the Indian National Science Academy Prof. M. Vijayan, President, INSA
9.25 to 10.15 am	"Imagination in science: Best selling science books and blockbuster TV" Prof. Bruce Lewenstein, Cornell University, USA
10.15 to 10.45 am	Tea / coffee
10.45 to 11.30 am	“Impact of technology on Indian classical Music” Mr. Vikram Sampath, Hewlett-Packard, Bangalore
11.30 to 12.15 pm	“Technology without Theory: The case of Classical Indian Architecture” Dr. V. Sanil, IIT, Delhi
12.15 to 1.00 pm	"Aspects of Science and Technology in Ancient India" Prof. Vibha Tripathi, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
1.00 to 2.00 pm	Lunch
2.00 to 2.45 pm	“Ancient Alloys and Modern Science” Prof. S. Ranganathan,  Bangalore
2.45 to 3.30 pm	“Calculus concepts in Ancient Indian Texts” Prof. M. S . Sriram, University of Madras
3.30 to 4.00 pm	Tea / coffee
4.00 to 4.45 pm	“ History of Mathematics and Astronomy in India--Vedic Tradition" Dr. A. K. Bag, INSA, Delhi
4.45 to 5.30 pm	"Instances of interactions between Medieval Indian Scholars: Translation of Sanskrit Texts of Exact Science into Persian and Vice versa" Prof. S.M. R. Ansari, IUPS, Aligarh
5.30 to 6.30 pm	High Tea

147.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a talk on:

“The Mind-Body-Sense Complex and some Philosophical Responses to Neuroplasticity”

by

Prof. Franson Manjali
School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Date & Time: Tuesday, 20th October 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : Centre for Contemporary Studies Seminar Hall, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Tea/Coffee will be served at 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

In the framework of a broadly ‘dialogical’ philosophy, a reified and individualized conception of the mind is no longer tenable. This is also the context for restoring the place of ‘body’ in relation to a sensing and responsible mind. Independent philosophical perspectives as well as responses to research in neuroplasticity have sharpened our understanding of the mind-body-sense complex.

146.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a talk on:

"Sanskrit as a Language of Science"

by

Justice Markandey Katju

Judge, Supreme Court of India

Prof. P. Balaram, The Director of IISc will preside

Date & Time: Tuesday, 13th October 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : Faculty Hall, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

(Please note the change of venue)

All are cordially invited

Tea/Coffee will be served at 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

The foundation of Indian culture is based on the Sanskrit language and on the great works by countless writers in that language. Sanskrit is misconceived as only a language of mantras in temples or religious ceremonies; however, that is only 5% of the Sanskrit language. In fact Sanskrit was the language of free thinkers expressing the widest spectrum of thoughts; in particular, the language of scientists in ancient India. There was a time when India was leading the whole world in science. Works in mathematics and astronomy by Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Bhaskara, in medicine by Charaka and Sushruta, were ahead of all scientific thinking at that time. The decimal system in mathematics, cataract and plastic surgery in medicine, were inventions of Indian scientists in ancient times, written in Sanskrit. Science requires precision. Hence a vehicle of expressing highly precise, abstract and profound thoughts was required to fulfil the intellectual needs of the educated people of ancient India. Our ancestors were highly intelligent and questioned everything (like the ancient Greeks). Mathematics, physics, medicine, astronomy, became highly developed in our country only because a correspondingly highly developed and powerful vehicle of expression was created by Panini and Patanjali, perhaps the greatest grammarians the world has ever seen. It may be mentioned that Sanskrit is not one language but several languages. What is known today as Sanskrit is really Panini's Sanskrit, also called classical Sanskrit or Laukik Sanskrit; this is taught in our schools and universities. However, there were earlier Sanskrits like that of the Rig Veda. Panini systemized, refined and purified the earlier Sanskrit and made it perhaps the most developed of all the languages of the world, capable of expressing ideas with great precision and logic, which is the requirement of science. This enabled the great scientists of ancient India to express scientific ideas. Further, the Nyaya and Vaisheshika philosophies, two of the six classical systems of Indian philosophies (Shat Darshana), represent the scientific approach. Nyaya philosophy insisted that nothing is acceptable unless it is in accordance with reason and experience, which is precisely the scientific approach. Vaisheshika was the atomic theory and it was the physics of ancient India. These philosophies gave great support to the development of scientific thinking in ancient India. Today no doubt we are largely behind the Western countries in science, but that is not because of any inherent defect in us but due to certain historical reasons. We have a powerful scientific heritage, and knowledge of this will give us the moral courage and strength to once again come to the forefront of science in the modern world.

145.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a Talk on:

“The Handicap Principle: A key element in communication and its effects on the human body and behaviour”

by

Prof. Amotz Zahavi
Faculty of Life Sciences, Dept. of Zoology
Tel Aviv University, ISRAEL

Date & Time: Thursday, 8th October 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : Faculty Hall, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

(Please note the change of venue)

All are cordially invited

Tea/Coffee will be served after the Lecture.

About the Speaker:
Amotz Zahavi is an Israeli evolutionary biologist, a Professor Emeritus at the Zoology Department of Tel Aviv University, and one of the founders of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (known as the "SPNI"). He studied in particular the Arabian Babbler. In 1980, Amotz Zahavi, together with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel and two other colleagues, was awarded the Israel Prize for SPNI's special contribution to society and the State, for the environment.

Abstract
The Handicap principle is a theory put forth by Amotz Zahavi that complements Darwin's idea of sexual selection beautifully. This idea has been discussed in a fascinating book by Amotz and his wife Avishag Zahavi, "The Handicap Principle: A missing piece of Darwin's puzzle", published in 1975. Zahavi’s ideas have generated a great deal of interest and debate. In this lecture, we will hear from Zahavi about the role pf handicaps in the lives of humans and other animals.

144.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

In Collaboration with

National Institute of Advanced Studies

Presents a talk on

THE SENSUOUS AND THE SACRED IN THE ART OF INDIA

by

Prof. Vidya Dehejia
Professor of Indian art, Columbia University, New York

Date & Time: Wednesday, 19th August 2009, 4.00 p.m.

Venue : Faculty Hall, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Tea/Coffee will be served at 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

THE SENSUOUS & THE SACRED IN THE ART OF INDIA Vidya Dehejia, holder of the chair in Indian art at Columbia University in New York, ex-Acting director of the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler galleries, presents an illustrated talk on August 19th in which she gives us tantalizing glimpses from her latest book,"The Body Adorned: Dissolving Boundaries between Sacred and Profane in India's Art" (Columbia University Press, 2009). She highlights the centrality of the body and its adornment in the Indian artistic tradition, and discusses the manner in which sacred spaces comfortably accommodate what one might think of as "profane" imagery. She focuses on the sensuous images of gods and goddesses, and demonstrates that revelling in the physical beauty of the deity was an accepted approach to the divine. She concludes by addressing the imagery of intimacy seen in portrayals of divine couples. This is a talk that will alter your approach to the sacred and the sensuous.

143.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Invites you to talk on:

"Web 2.0 and the practice of science"

CANCELLED!

by

Dr. Abhijnan Rej

Max- Planck Institute of Mathematics, Bonn

Date & Time: Tuesday, 18th August 2009, 4.00 p.m.

Venue : Centre for Contemporary Studies Seminar Hall, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Tea/Coffee will be served at 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

In this talk, I look at how cloud computing, preprint servers and electronic databases are changing the way we do science now. As examples, I will talk about the Cornell e-print archive as well as digital databases in astrophysics. I will also discuss the consequences of Web 2.0 for science education in India.

142.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Invites you to a talk on:

"Limiting Science"

by

Dr. Abhijnan Rej

Max-Planck Institute of Mathematics, Bonn

Date & Time: Thursday, 13th August 2009, 4.00 p.m.

Venue : Centre for Contemporary Studies Seminar Hall, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Tea/Coffee will be served at 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

By addressing two contemporary problems in theoretical physics- structure formation in complex systems and the physics of the very early universe- I argue that contemporary science demands a philosophical framework beyond that of the classic Popperian. I shall also discuss the the implications of a "science of limits" for the empiricist as well as the transcendentalist.

Speaker has kindly provided a pdf of his talk.

141.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

in association with the Sir Ratan Tata Trust

Invites you to

Dialoguing across Disciplines:

a workshop on integration and interdisciplinarity

Date: 23 - 25 June 2009

Venue : CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY STUDIES Seminar Hall,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Disciplinary knowledge is traditionally seen as uncontaminated by context. “Society” and “culture” are therefore marked as outsiders to knowledge-making in the natural sciences that concentrate on “nature” as their object of study. Parallel to this, the social sciences and humanities have carried the onus of attention to “society” and “culture”, with the added work of devising universal principles to analyze the same.

In the movement toward newer approaches to disciplinary knowledge, contexts for knowledge generation are now recognized, so that “society” and “culture” begin to be attached to “nature”. The earlier stark separations between the natural and social sciences therefore cannot hold. This has produced new fields of inquiry, primarily on two counts – the need to integrate between science and “society”, and similarly between science and “culture”. Both these dialogues are now reflected in academic curricula throughout the country, resulting in new courses, challenges to conventional methodologies, and a general porosity of disciplinary boundaries.

This workshop will explore the trajectories of these two dialogues through a sharing of classroom experiences, curricular experiments, reflections on new fields of inquiry, and mutations in disciplinary methodologies resulting from such a climate of dialogue. The premise is that integration between scientific and social questions is not a new impulse in the educational or popular imagination. It is the existing rationales of integration that the workshop seeks to re-examine, to conceive a different kind of impact on the research and educational scene. We will therefore begin discussions to encourage an examination of knowledge-making in disciplines, to lay the foundations for a vision of integration across the natural and social sciences that can confront and combine research methodologies..

Participants List

Day One – Across Science and the Social

Tuesday, 23rd June 2009

9 am	Registration
9.30 am	Introduction and Welcome to Centre for Contemporary Studies Prof. Raghavendra Gadagkar.
10.00 am	Integration and the Field of Higher Education in India Prof. Tejaswini Niranjana.
10.30 am	Tea / coffee.
10.45 am	Dialogues: Curricular Experiments on Integration in two Science Institutions.
	Integration and Interdisciplinarity at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Prof. L. S. Shashidhara. Abstract: Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) are newly established autonomous research institutes set up by the Ministry of Human Resource development, Govt. of India. IISERs have been set up with the primary goal to integrate high quality research with undergraduate teaching to improve science education in India and to enhance the number and quality of future academic as well as industrial researchers of the country. IISER model of education is concept-based and inquiry-driven, as opposed to the more traditional content-based models. There is a strong emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of today¹s science, and recognition of the importance of research experience. I will discuss our attempts of exploring novel methods of integrating all branches of science and in teaching and research, integrating humanities and social science, leadership development programs for students, science and society, history of science, scientific methodology etc.
	“Basic Sciences and Humanities” in Agricultural Education: From Integration to Disintegration. Prof. K. Chandrashekara. Abstract: The curriculum at agricultural universities established in early 1960’s across the country were modeled after the land-grant system of education in USA. The undergraduate and post-graduate curriculum included quite a broad range of courses in Sociology, psychology and economics as part of the ‘humanities’ programme. The courses at the undergrad level were elementary in nature but effective in sensitizing the students to prepare for ‘extension’ or ‘field work’ in villages and also in understanding the socio-economic factors that drive ‘diffusion of innovation’ or even acceptance of a ‘technology.’ The ‘talk’ – more a random walk will attempt to bring out the changes in the curriculum over the last thirty years.
12.45 pm	Lunch.
2 pm	On the Meanings of Interdisciplinarity Prof. Rajan Gurukkal. Abstract: Prof. Gurukkal will speak on the concept of an interdisciplinary approach, so much discussed these days often with little or no difference from what is multidisciplinary, by defining it not as something that is about confronting already constituted disciplines, none of which, in fact, is willing to let itself go. Prof. Gurukkal would like to argue that to be interdisciplinary it is not enough to choose a subject and gather around it two or three sciences. Interdisciplinarity consists in creating a new object that belongs to none of the established disciplines. It is a convergence of disciplines with their contours and boundaries waning. The speaker will illustrate why disciplines draw closer to one another and how new areas of knowledge emerge across disciplines and even faculties.
3 pm	Testing New Ground beginnings of a conversation between institutions from different fields [IISER Pune], [Christ University].
	Integrating Social Sciences into an Undergraduate Science Curriculum: The IISER Problem Dr. Sutirth Dey. Abstract: I would be talking about the various academic as well as practical issues related to integrating social sciences in the undergraduate science curriculum of IISER-Pune. While some of these problems are context-specific, there are several issues that would be of general interest. My aim would be to enumerate the issues and discuss some possible (far-from-perfect) solutions.
3.30 pm	Tea / coffee.
3.45 pm	To Be Or Not To Be: The Dilemma of Knowledge Integration in a Private University Diptarup Chowdhury. Higher education in India is generally considered to be a forte of the state and central government authorities for long since independence. With the spirit of globalization and liberalization forcing the government education apparatus to open up and share the turf with private partners, the mandate for higher education is being transformed. The classical humboldtian demands of knowledge or the dream of nation building no longer figures as the primary agenda of private players. The proliferation of engineering and medical colleges and business schools all over the country, especially down south, in the last twenty years have established the potentiality of higher education as a safe and secure investment with high financial returns. The latest entry to this league has been the private deemed universities. The recent recession-proof ness of this sector and the continued choice of these institutes by the youth, as their education destination, have made it evident that these institutes are here to stay. With the mandate of job-oriented career as the goal of undergraduate and post-graduate education at one hand, and facing the challenges of tough competition brought about by globalization on the other, such private institutes of HE have no choice but to continuously innovate and evolve. Christ University is one such institute in Bangalore whose case I will be focusing here. This forty year old institute run by a Kerala-based catholic congregation of priests made rapid transition from being an affiliated college under Bangalore University, to an autonomous college, and finally deemed university- all happening in the last five years. This institute tells us the story of experimentation of both failures and micro-successes in integration of knowledge. It is placed at the cusp of continuing the legacy (or burden?) of producing degrees in arts, commerce, science, education and management as a college, and gearing up to become a space of research at MPhil/PhD level. With such a developmental trajectory, integration of knowledge is but a minor agenda, to be discussed and quickly forgotten during the meetings. Vying for visibility in the university space, many of the existing disciplines are trying to consolidate their own disciplinary footings. This clearly is a move antithetical to the spirit of integration in higher education. Added to this is the tunnel vision of the traditional mainstream-educated faculties who makes it difficult for any kind of major experiment of integration. However, curiously, the same university space has supported, in a small way, zones of dialogues across disciplines by creating new avenues. One such is certificate courses in the evening, which are open to all. Thus we see media studies organizing courses on Indian philosophy and cultural studies or psychology dept organizing courses on Lacan and Foucault. A good number of undergraduate students and a few interested faculties are attending such courses. Also, though primarily based on individual efforts of some die-hard-spirit faculties, a few conferences, workshops and invited lectures are being organized in the university campus with topics having cross-over potentials. A mandatory series of modules on holistic education for all the UG and PG students delivered through all the faculties spread all over the semester bears the philosophy of an integrated and holistic development of the student. An online knowledge network has been created by the deanary of HSS where faculties share their newly gained knowledge from outside institutes. With the recent emphasis on shaping an independent research center as a nodal point to transact the M.Phil/PhD programs, a new possibility of interdisciplinary research is emerging. However, a quick moment of self-reflexivity throws up many questions. Do these small ventures have their limited lives of ‘window display’, to be quickly replaced by something new, rather than a sustained engagement? Are these spaces actually meant for containment of micro-dissents created by the larger rigid system itself to manage and govern (in a corporate style) the space of higher education? Are these spaces created for an appropriate channelization of the die-hard spirits of some faculties who, though capable, find it difficult to get slotted into the much-consolidated and antiquated spaces of the (mono)disciplines? Do these ventures work more as a lip service to the lofty mission and vision of the institute and act more as the USP of the university without thinking about the capacity-building on the part of the faculties? Or, is it that these spaces do hold a promise for the future- seeds of deregulated private space of excellence in teaching and research, a kernel of integration of higher education?

Day Two – Across Culture and Science

Wednesday, 24th June 2009

9.30 am	Is culture what scientists make? Prof. Ashish Rajadhyaksha. Abstract: This presentation, which quotes from a well known essay by Geeta Kapur, 'Is Culture What Artists Make?', explores the role of 'culture' as a solution to otherwise intractable modernist dilemmas: including those posed by modern science to non-Western societies. Science's effort to overcome modernist binaries (tradition/modernity, present/past, rational/irrational, East/West) through taking recourse to culturalist alternatives opens up the larger question by which culture has been mobilized through the late 20th C. as a 'solution'. This paper explores the larger culture-as-solution paradigm through, among other things, looking at the scientific writings of Indian historian and anthropologist D.D. Kosambi.
10.30 am	Tea / coffee.
10.45	The Methodological Problem of Integration in Economics: A Preliminary Examination of the Individual Prof. Anjan Chakrabarti. Abstract: In mainstream economics in general and development economics in particular, the concept of the self-seeking individual a la rational agent has played a crucial role. While it has been axiomatically rendered passive, its role has been instrumental in determining the dominant conception of the economy; this conception of the economy, while making an inter-disciplinary approach possible, fails to address the integration of economic, political, cultural and natural processes in its methodology. The speaker will use, in contrast, Rabindranath Tagore’s ideas to explore a different notion of the individual, not a self-seeking but a self-sacrificing individual (keeping in mind a contestation over the meanings of self-sacrifice), that suggests a conception of an economy grounded on integration of various processes, and not just a summation of disciplinary parts as tends to be suggested in economics in the name of interdisciplinarity.
11.45	The externalities of self-interest maximising individuals Sowjanya Peddi.
12.45 pm	Lunch.
2 pm	Knowledge Creation and Empowerment Inter-Relationships in Sustainable Small-Farm Technologies in South India Prof. H. N. Chanakya. Abstract: Small farm agriculture in the green revolution era has often been characterized by barely literate small farmers being exploited due to their lack of understanding and knowledge of intensive agriculture, inputs procured on credit and resulting debt-spiral as well as extensive exploitation, sometimes leading to farmer suicides.  The key flaw of the system is often identified as the prescriptive nature of the “Green Revolution” agriculture system where knowledge created in agricultural research is preferentially translated to the deployment and use of predominantly marketed commodities and proprietary products even in small farm agriculture largely addressing subsistence. As small farmers as a rule are poorly literate, unethical traders and other exploitative elements of the system generally withhold key information /knowledge from the small farmers such that these small farmers rarely gain adequate knowledge of the underlying technologies /products so as to make wise or knowledgeable decisions in this regard.  Non-governmental and political lobbies that have shown great concerns by this malaise have resorted to creating an alternative agriculture system of “Low-External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA)” where very little of the farm inputs are purchased against cash or credit.  A variety of LEISA technologies created by small farmers around the world are pooled and tried out by NGOs and Farmer Organizations in small plots of small farmers very much in the same manner and rigour as done in normal agricultural experimental plots.  In such participatory approach (generally termed participatory technology development, PTD), new knowledge is created in an experential manner that is expected to break the literacy barrier for new knowledge creation and transfer at these small farmer situations.  Carrying out small experiments (trial Vs control), sharing and unbiased viewing of experimental results of on-farm plots by small farmer groups, transforms these visual information and experiences into long lasting experential knowledge based on verifiable truths.  When small farmers carry out or participate in a large number of such ‘experiments’ they are considered to have gained much higher knowledge to firstly empower them to use and rely on local alternatives and second to shun enslaving credit based external inputs. The ability to trust their capabilities also creates an enabling environment as well as an escape from the clutches of unethical traders /money lenders and exploitative elements.  The challenge is however, to firstly identify the level of ‘knowledge’ gained, determine if this is adequate to make informed and wise decisions and finally to determine whether these knowledge creation exercises have brought about empowerment measured both as ability to take right decisions and second to ensure that the decisions taken lead to overall social and family level development. A second level of challenge arises from the question as to how much knowledge a group of farmers need to possess to avoid the exploitation. Do all the farmers need to know all the answers and have total empowerment or is there a concept of adequacy of overall societal /group knowledge while individual small farmers have a functional fraction of it?  From the stand point of an NGO based knowledge intervention through PTD, it is clear that 100% knowledge gain by all participating farmers seems difficult to achieve realistically.  From the social standpoint, as these small farmer groups function with strong interactions, a total knowledge acquisition at the group level is then considered necessary while a certain threshold individual knowledge would be adequate for avoiding the social malady of exploitation.  A third level of challenge then stems from the need to measure the completeness of the knowledge gaining exercises. Conventional tests and examinations, as done in conventional universities and colleges are obviously not possible or meaningful.  We have evolved some entry level exercises that satisfy the goals of measuring these parameters from the knowledge and social development context.  We conclude that new and rapid methods are required to look at such methods of knowledge tranfer and resultant empowerment.
3 pm	Revisiting ‘Integration’ as ground for a new Model of knowledge Rakhi Ghoshal. Abstract: In this paper I propose to revisit the understanding of integration (of natural sciences and social sciences-humanities). Since science is ‘situated’, the model of integration too would emerge from a particular location, a particular context. So the point then becomes not of translating the applicability of science as it were onto the particular cultural context, but of imagining a situated model. This then would also be a different rendition of integration.
3.30 pm	Tea / coffee.
3.45 pm	Disciplines, Institutions: New Noises in Old Corridors Dr. Ratheesh Radhakrishnan. Abstract: Thinking through the case of ‘cultural studies’ in India, the presentation will suggest that modalities of institutionalization have a constitutive role in the formation of new spaces of knowledge production and curriculum development. The diversity in the practices of ‘cultural studies’ in its different institutional forms across the country alerts us to the conditions that make possible new disciplinary imaginations. The presentation will ask whether there are lessons to be learned from the apparently ambivalent positioning of ‘cultural studies’ in Indian academy for newer humanities, social science and science institutions in the country.
4.15 pm	The Science Question in Cultural Studies: the Difficulties of Integration Dr. Anup Dhar. Abstract: This paper would look at the possibility of raising and engaging with the 'science question' in a Cultural Studies Centre. It would look at the difficulties of researching and teaching science in a Cultural Studies space - given that Cultural Studies has already put the 'culture question' under the scanner such that one cannot just add culture to science or make science relative to culture. How does then one raise the question of culture in science - given that culture in a Cultural Studies space is no longer a given but is subject to critical interrogation and rethinking. Further, how does one raise the question of science in a Cultural Studies space? This also renders explicit the problem of the integration of the 'science question' and the 'culture question'. Taking off from existing models of integration this paper would like to show how integration is a difficult task - difficult because the 'models of knowledge' that make up science and culture, even in their critical re-examination, not just interrupt one another but are at times contradictory.

Day Three – Further Questions / Possibilities

Thursday, 25th June 2009

9.30 am	Responses to Integration and Interdisciplinarity:a moderated discussion with participants of integrated courses. Moderator: Asha Achuthan.
	Responses to A Movement from English Literature to English Studies. Sayori Ghoshal
	Experiences While Dealing With New Concerns and Shift of Focus While Studying Literature as a Discipline in a Contemporary Undergraduate Setup and Problems While Shifting from Natural Sciences to the Social and Back. Noopur Raval
	A Relationship of Difficulty with ‘Positivist’ History and Sociology. Pouya Nekouei
	The Social and Institutional Aspects of Science in Post Independence India. T.V.H. Prathamesh Abstract: The role of science in a society, the mode of science education and its relationship with other disciplines depend to great extent on the institutional aspects of the science dissemination which in turn are influenced by the ruling economic ideologies of the period. I intend to review the impact of economic policies in shaping science in post independence India, which range from the Nehruvian-Fabian socialist world view to the subsequent impact of the neo-liberal economic regime in shaping the social dimensions of science.
11:00 am	Distribution of certificates to participants for courses held at CCS in 2006 and 2008.
11.30 am	Closing remarks/ vote of thanks.

140.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a Talk on:

" Neuroscience and Theatre"

by

Debesh Chattopadhyay

Director, Theatre group Sansriti,

KolKata

Date & Time: Monday, 1st June 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY STUDIES Seminar Hall,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Coffee/Tea will be served at about 3:30 p.m

Abstract:

The aim of this research work is to investigate the possibility of application of neuroscience in theatre. The interdisciplinary study between Neuroscience and arts has opened up opportunities to consider the effects of creativity on particular areas of human brain. In near future Neuroscience findings and methods will undoubtly play an increasingly prominent role in theatre. Michael Gazzaniga said, “How the brain enables the mind is the question to be answered in the twenty-first century” (The Mind’s Past, 2000).

139.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a Talk on:

Knowledge Production in the Clinic

by

Prof. Ian Parker

Professor of Psychology and Co- Director, Discourse Unit,

Manchester Metropolitan University.

Date & Time: Monday, 9th March 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY STUDIES Seminar Hall,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Coffee/Tea will be served at about 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

This talk will try to explore the concept of transference as self-knowledge and as knowledge of others in psychoanalysis - a branch of the mental health sciences, and will examine the conditions under which transference is produced in the setting of the mental health clinic.

138.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a Talk on:

Art and science from the tiniverse:
An artists perspective on nanotechnology

by

Julie Freeman

Wellcome Trust Artist in Residence at the Microsystems and Nanotechnology Centre, Cranfield University, UK

Date & Time: Friday, 6th March 2009, 4.00 p.m.

Venue : CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY STUDIES Seminar Hall,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Coffee/Tea will be served at about 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

How many people know that, on a fairly prosaic level, nanoparticles are already in everyday use, enhancing the functionality of (for example) sun creams and sticking plasters? In tandem, rumours abound in the media of much more revolutionary advances, such as tiny machines that can zip around our bloodstream killing viruses, but these are still far from being realised. So what is nanotechnology about, and why do we need to know about it?

In this talk Freeman will discuss her experiences of working with scientists in the nanotechnology world, how science and it's methodologies impact her artwork and will show the Nano Novels – sets of stereo literature and imagery – which help to contextualise nanotechnology.

137.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a Talk on:
Combating the Munnabhaisation of Reality

by

Dr. Uday Balakrishnan

Officer, Indian Postal Service and Formerly Registrar of Indian Institute of Science

Date & Time: Monday, Thursday, 5th March 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY STUDIES Seminar Hall,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Coffee/Tea will be served at about 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

We are dangerously trivializing our present as well as our immediate past. There is not much authenticity in the interpretation of our recent times, no effort to tell it as it was. To an already vacuous rendering, especially since liberalization began in right earnest, the State as well as private interests are busier than ever in selectively presenting this period from points of view that are neither honest nor innocent. Soon enough when the post independence generation follows the pre-independence one into oblivion we, as a people and a nation, would have forever lost the many truths of how we got to where we are today - through wars, famines, conflicts and violent sectarian strife- to airbrushed interpretations that will endure.

In his talk, 'Combating the Munnabhaisation of Reality' Dr.Uday Balakrishnan dwells on the one last opportunity he believes we all have, to gather and preserve the raw material from which future generations can authentically reconstruct a momentous period gone by.

136.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a Talk on:
Democracy's Next Step: Building a Dignitarian Society

by

Prof. Robert W. Fuller

Former President, Oberlin College, USA

Date & Time: Monday, 16th February 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY STUDIES Seminar Hall,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Coffee/Tea will be served at about 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

The old slogan “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” has run its course. Governance that gives primacy to Liberty (USA), Equality (USSR), or Fraternity (Nazi Germany) have either failed to deliver on justice or led to utter catastrophe.

In the 21st century, governance that elevates Dignity to primacy can deliver on peace and prosperity. Why? Because Dignity is a stepping stone to justice and without justice there will be no peace and only spotty prosperity.

In All Rise, Fuller traces indignity to rankism—abuse of the power signified by rank—and argues that it damages relationships and institutions. In this talk he will show how we can build dignitarian societies in which office-holders are held accountable, rankism is shunned, and dignity is broadly protected.

135.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a Talk on:

“BALLET: A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE”

by

Prof. Claire Sheridan

Founder and Director of the LEAP Program, Saint Mary's College of California

Date & Time: Wednesday,11th February 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY STUDIES Seminar Hall,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Coffee/Tea will be served at about 3:30 p.m.

Abstract:

Classical ballet is a western dance form that has taken root all over the world. Whether it's in Cape Town or Shanghai, Moscow or Buenos Aires, Tokyo or New York City, dancers study, companies perform, and audiences are moved by this unique combination of movement, art, and music. But why? How does classical ballet manage to reach across so many cultures?

134.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Presents a Talk on:

Harun Farocki: Still life paintings and advertising

by

Dr. Vasanthi Dass

Consultant, Centre for Contemporary Studies,

Visiting Faculty, Srishti College for Visual Art & Design Technology, Bangalore

Date & Time: Thursday, 22nd January 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : New CCS Premises,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Coffee/Tea will be served at about 3:30 p.m.

Abstract

This presentation is a brief introduction to Harun Farocki, a German filmmaker, media theorist and artist who critically re-documents war, science, technology, media and mass culture to provide other critical extensions. The paper closely analyzes his film “Still Life” (1997, 56mins) and includes other works by the filmmaker in order to explore the “mass culture” aspect of his work. The film juxtaposes and/or alternates still life paintings predominantly from the 16th and 17th century with advertising. Images of money, cheese and beer are shown painted down to the last detail and meticulously staged to evoke consumer greed. Farocki’s film tracks the similarities and differences of two kinds of portrayals, in which goods and things almost appear as fetish objects. To begin with, the paper explores the conceptual aspect of “perfection” that spans across all his works. A concept that he underlines without overtly expressing its importance is an underlying principle of social structures, however, the critique developed here will demonstrate that he abstracts it enough to show its groundlessness.

133.

Centre for Contemporary Studies

Invites you to an Informal Discussion on :

How To Link Social and Natural Sciences

by

Prof. Bruno Latour
Professor at Sciences Po, Vice-President for Research, Centre de sociologie des organisations (CSO), Paris.

Date & Time:Friday, 2nd January 2009, 4.00 p.m

Venue : New CCS Premises,
(Formerly TIFR Mathematics Building), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012

All are cordially invited

Coffee/Tea will be served at about 3:30 p.m.

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