The
India
Semester

 

Why India?
Faculty participation reaches new levels

India Semester Logo

List of Activities
Fall, 2002

Several events have been scheduled for the Fall as Missouri Southern celebrates The India Semester.

8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday - Friday
Aug. 19 through Sept. 30, 2002
Spiva Art Gallery on campus
Admission: free


Gandhi's Hut
Gandhi's Hut





 

A large photographic display of 40 panels and other accompanying materials prepared by the Gandhi Memorial Foundation, Washington, D.C., and originally sponsored by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi, depict the Mahatma Gandhi's life.


10:00 a.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Srimati Kamala
Srimati Kamala

 

 

 

Srimati Kamala, president of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Foundation and the director of the Gandhi Memorial Center in Washington, D.C., spoke on "The Gandhian Initiative," referencing the meaning and standard of the peace that the Mahatma sought. While looking at the experiences from Gandhi's own life in the context of India's freedom struggle, she explained how those practices of Gandhi can become practices in people's daily lives. Her conviction for the past 27 years as head of the Gandhi Memorial Foundation is that the Mahatma's ideals are neither foreign nor remote to our contemporary issues. How does Gandhi's philosophy meet the challenge of the violence of September 11th one year ago? On the anniversary of our national tragedy, her subject is provocative.


11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 20, 2002
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Dr. Bruce B. Lawrence
Dr. Bruce B. Lawrence

 

 

Dr. Bruce Lawrence, chair of the Department of Religion at Duke University, spoke on "From Kandahar to Kerala: The Diversity of South Asian Islam" in the morning session and on "Martyrs to Love: The Enduring Legacy of Indo-Persian Sufism" in the afternoon.

Dr. Lawrence looked at the immense internal difference that marks South Asian Muslims, from race and language to culture and religious observance, in the first lecture. He began with an overview of the huge countries — India, Pakistan and Bangladesh — as well as the smaller but still important countries of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. In the second lecture, Dr. Lawrence payed close attention to institutional Sufism — its formation beyond India, its development within first Sultanate, then Mughal, British and post-Partition, India, and now its modern global significance.

A graduate of Princeton University, with a Master of Divinity from Episcopal Divinity School (Cambridge), Dr. Lawrence earned his doctorate at Yale University in History of Religions. A scholar of Islam, he has written a number of books, including Shattering the Myth: Islam beyond Violence, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Religions Online, and Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt Against the Modern Age. He has been on the faculty at Duke since 1971.


9:30 a.m.
Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002
Taylor Performing Arts Center
Admission: free

Dr. Stephen Cohen
Dr. Stephen Cohen

 

 

The Gockel International Symposium

 


Dr. Stephen Cohen, a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., spoke on "Did the Decade of India Last Four Years?" at a campus-wide convocation. Prior to joining Brookings in September 1998, Dr. Cohen was Professor of History and Political Science at the University of Illinois and founder and director of the university's Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security. In 1992-93, Cohen was a Scholar-in-Residence at the Ford Foundation, New Delhi. From 1985-87, he was a member of the Policy Planning Staff of the U.S. Department of State, where he advised on matters pertaining to South Asia, security, and proliferation issues.

Dr. Cohen has written, co-authored, or edited eight books. These include The Pakistan Army, The Indian Army, and India: Emerging Power. His most recent project examined India's emergence as a significant economic, military, and political power. He is currently conducting a study of Pakistan's prospects as a state in the near future and the implications for Pakistan's neighbors and the United States given different scenarios.


7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 26, 2002
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Dr. Ayesha Jalal
Dr. Ayesha Jalal

 



The Gockel International Symposium

The Gockel International Symposium continued with talks by Dr. Stephen Cohen on "Kashmir: Everybody's Failure" and Dr. Ayesha Jalal, a Professor of History at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., on "Kashmir: A Human Tragedy, a Strategic Nightmare." Dr. Jalal has also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Tufts University, Columbia University, and Harvard University. Her publications include The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan, The State of Martial Rule: the Origins of Pakistan's Political Economy of Defence, and Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia: a Comparative and Historical Perspective. She has co-authored Modern South Asia: History, Culture and Political Economy.

Dr. Jalal, a MacArthur Fellow at Tufts, has been Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge (1980-84), Leverhulme Fellow at the Centre of South Asian Studies, Cambridge (1984-87), Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, D.C. (1985-86), and Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies (1988-90).


2:00 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 4, 2002
Anderson Justice Center Auditorium
Admission: free

Natya Dance Theatre

 

 

 

 

 


The Natya Dance Theatre offered a lecture/demonstration of the Pushpanjali dance (offering of flowers), followed by an hour-long master class for up to 50 people. The master class included excerpts from Varnan and Padam, a dialogue between a dancer and her lover.


7:00 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 4, 2002
Location: Phinney Recital Hall
Admission: $10
(Tickets available in Webster Hall 337C)

 


 

 

 

 

Celebrate the Diwali, a Hindu festival that unites the whole of India. It is traditionally known as the Festival of Lights. Guests sampled authentic Indian cuisine prepared by native chefs from The Star of India restaurant in Springdale, Ark., and met members of the Natya Dance Theatre.


8:00 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 4, 2002
Taylor Performing Arts Center
Admission: free

Krithika Rajagopalan
Krithika Rajagopalan

 


 

 

 

The Festival of Lights continued as Natya Dance Theatre offered a prelude to its Saturday evening performance with a mini-musical and dancing by Krithika Rajagopalan, executive director of the dance company. Since her debut in 1988, Ms. Rajagopalan has presented more than 150 solo performances, appearing at prestigious venues all over the world. Her choreography formed an integral part of the Emmy-award winning PBS production World Stage Chicago.


7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 5, 2002
Taylor Performing Arts Center
Admission: free

Natya Dance Theatre
Natya Dance Theatre

 

 

 

 

The Natya Dance Theatre presented "Shakti Chakra - The Energy Cycle," a traditional Indian dance complete with exotic costumes and native songs and instruments. Stories from Hindu mythology were interpreted through movement in order to explore humanity's place in the cycle of creation. Each story was preceded by a summary using English voice-over and movement.

Based in Chicago, the Natya Dance Theatre was founded in 1975 by Hema Rajagopalan, an internationally renowned dancer and choreographer. Ms. Rajagopalan is the recipient of seven National Endowment for the Arts choreography awards as well as an Emmy. The Natya Dance Theatre has produced innovative works of Bharatanatyam, a 3,000-year-old classical dance-theater style from India. Bharatanatyam is a delicate blend of precise movements and gestures that use folktales and myths to tell stories while exploring spirituality through the dance.


7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2002
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Sandip Burman
Sandip Burman

 

 

 


 

Indian percussionist Sandip Burman, accompanied by guitarist Paul Bollenback and saxophonist Dave Pietro, presented an "East Meets Jazz" concert featuring traditional ragas (song melodies) and talas (rhythms) dating back more than 1,000 years. An accomplished tabla player, Burman has made a name for himself with his blinding speed, vast repertoire, flexibility and creativity. He has taken the stage with India's foremost classical musicians and performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado.


11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2002
Billingsly Student Center 310
Admission: $10.00 (call 417-625-9538)

The International Trade and Quality Center sponsored a seminar on "Doing Business in India." A panel of experts discussed business language and usage, the do's and don'ts of business transactions, important cultural aspects, marketing success factors, the impact of terrorism, and e-commerce opportunities. An ethnic meal was served.

9:30 a.m.
Thursday, Oct. 31, 2002
Matthews Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Dr. Bo Strombom
Dr. Bo Strombom

 

 

Dr. Bo Strombom, Suneel Dhawan, and Pavani Dammalapati spoke on "How U.S. companies improved their foothold in India." Since 1990, the Indian government has attempted to reduce the barriers and disincentives that discouraged American companies from setting up and operating in India. They provided examples of how the new attitudes impacted certain multinational firms in India, some with names common in the United States. Dr. Strombom, a former visiting professor of international business at Missouri Southern and a senior executive of international business firms in Europe and Latin America, is currently a consultant to international organizations and multinational enterprises. He is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Suneel Dhawan and Pavani Dammalapati are senior accounting majors from India.


5:00 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2, 2002
Memorial Hall
407 S. Garrison
Carthage, Missouri

Mid America India Association invited you, your family and friends to celebrate Diwali. Social hour began at 5:00 p.m. The musical program, provided by Raja, Mohan and Alka, began at 6:00 p.m. The dinner, catered from India Palace of Tulsa, Oklahoma, started at 8:30, followed by Ras-Garba.


11:00 a.m.
Thursday, Nov. 7, 2002
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Dr. Geraldine Forbes
Dr. Geraldine Forbes

 





Dr. Geraldine Forbes, chair of the Department of History at State University of New York College at Oswego, spoke on "Colonialism in Context: The Tarakeswar Murder Case of 1873." Sometimes referred to as the O.J. Simpson case of 19th century Bengal because it caught the attention of thousands of people, the case resulted in the publication of over 50 original plays (some were hits on the stage), reams of newspaper articles, discourses on the law, and innumerable paintings and woodcuts. In 1873 Nobin murdered his young wife Elokeshi because she was having an affair with the Mohunt (chief priest) of the Shiv temple at Tarakeswar. Nobin was tried for murder and the Mohunt was tried for adultery. Both were found guilty and both were imprisoned. Dr. Forbes' lecture was illustrated by slides made of paintings and woodcuts of the time.

Dr. Forbes, also a Distinguished Teaching Professor at SUNY Oswego, has written a number of books, including Women in Modern India, The memoirs of Dr. Haimabati Sen. Manmohini Zutshi Sahgal, An Indian Freedom Fighter Recalls Her Life, Shudha Mazumdar, Memoirs of an Indian Woman, An Historian's Perspective: Indian Women and the Freedom Movement, and Positivism in Bengal: A Case Study in the Transmission and Assimilation of an Ideology, as well as several articles. She is series editor of Foremother Legacies: Autobiographies and Memoirs of Women from Asia, Africa, the Middle East & Latin America.


7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 7, 2002
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

 


Dr. Geraldine Forbes delivered her second lecture at Missouri Southern, titled "Displacing Manstrocities: Indian Women on Their Own Terms." Despite the ability of Indian women to articulate salient issues, Western authors such as Katherine Mayo and Mary Daly have portrayed them as the victims of "manstrocities," a term for patriarchal violence that includes everything from sati to child marriage and dowry murder. Dr. Forbes examined the Western construction of Indian women as victims of "manstrocities" and contrast it to the way Indian feminists have articulated their issues.


7:30 p.m.
Nov. 13 - 16, 2002
Bud Walton Theatre
Admission: free to students, faculty, staff

Rakshasa's Ring
Rakshasa's Ring

 

 

 

 

Southern Theatre presented the classical Indian play Rakshasa's Ring. Written by the Sanskrit playwright Vishakhadatta, Rakshasa's Ring is a quasi-historical drama centered on the rivalry between Kautilya, chief minister to the Mauryan emperor Chandragupta, and Rakshasa, former chief minister to the erstwhile ruling family, the Nandas. Filled with colorful storytelling, intrigue, spies, a little humor, and just a hint of tragedy (the latter not something normally found in classical Indian plays), Rakshasa's Ring introduces audiences to the complexities of the Mauryan court at Pataliputra, the great capital city of Magadha, in the third century BCE. The production was guest-directed by Lina Khoury, who holds an MFA in directing from the University of Arkansas, and featured students from Southern's theatre program.


7:00 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 22, 2002
Webster Hall 105
Admission: free


 

 

The Contemporary Foreign Film Series presented the Indian film Monsoon Wedding, directed by Mira Nair.

A reception at Pizza By Stout at 20th and Range Line, Joplin, followed the film.


7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2002
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Dr. Vidya Dehejia
Dr. Vidya Dehejia

 

 

 


Dr. Vidya Dehejia
, formerly the chief curator of the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, which jointly form the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Asian Art, spoke on "The Sensuous and the Sacred: Within Common Boundaries." A discussion of the human body as leitmotif in India's artistic tradition leads to an exploration of the manner in which the sensuous and the sacred coexisted easily within the same boundaries. The further paradox of the "sensuous sacred image," an apparent contradiction in terms, is also examined.

Dr. Dehejia is a noted scholar of Indian and South Asian Art. She has written more than 20 major books and numerous articles, covering areas that include early Buddhist art, photography, the art of British India, the temples of north India, and the sacred bronzes of the south. Dr. Dehejia was associate professor in Columbia University's Department of Art History and Archaeology from 1982 to 1994. She recently rejoined Columbia as the first Barbara Stoler Miller Professor in Indian Art.


10:00 a.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2002
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free



Dr. Vidya Dehejia delivered her second lecture at Missouri Southern, titled "Curating Devi: The Great Goddess." Focusing on a major 1999 exhibition on the Goddess that she curated at the Smithsonian, Dr. Dehejia spoke of the politics of display and the strategy of mounting exhibitions of Indian art. During her eight years at the Smithsonian, she managed the operations of the museum where she reconfigured the galleries' curatorial and education departments. Dr. Dehejia also curated several major exhibitions at the Freer and Sackler galleries, accompanied by substantive catalogues, including "India Through the Lens: Photography 1840-1911" (2000) and her latest exhibition, "The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India," which opened in November 2002 at the Sackler Gallery.

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