Tag Archives: South Asia

Photo of NY City Council Member Shahana Hanif

April 1, 2023: 5th Annual Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia

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2022 RUSTGI UNDERGRADUATE CONFERENCE ON SOUTH ASIA

Identity & Cultural Dissonance

Saturday, April 1st, 2023 

In-Person (240 Capen Hall) + Zoom (register for link) 

Saturday, April 1st at 4 PM EST 

NYC Council Member Shahana Hanif, Keynote Speaker

On Being the First Muslim Woman Elected to the New York City Council: What This Means For the Muslim Community and the Future of our Democracy

Photo of Council Member Hanif

Council Member Shahana Hanif is the Council Member for Brooklyn’s 39th District. She was born and raised in Kensington, Brooklyn, and is the daughter of Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants. She is the product of public schools having attended P.S. 230 and Brooklyn College, an activist, community organizer, and public servant. Shahana is the first Muslim woman ever elected to the New York City Council and the first woman Council member for the 39th District. She currently serves as the chair of the Immigration Committee and is one of the two co-chairs of the Progressive Caucus. 

Featuring Student Speakers & Panelists 

Join student speakers, both domestic and international, as well as panel chairs from the University at Buffalo as they speak about some of the most important issues in South Asia. We will cover a diverse range of topics, discussing political, social, and environmental issues. 

This hybrid event is free, but registration is required.
To register visit https://bit.ly/rustgiregistration2023
For more information please contact southasiaundergradconf@gmail.com

Program Schedule 

Saturday, April 1st 

Breakfast: 8:00 am – 8:45 am

Opening Remarks: 8:45 am to 9:00 am

Panel 1: Resisting Monolithic Narratives of Identity in a Post-Colonial World

9:00 am – 10:15 am 

Panel Chair: Dr. Samina Raja, University at Buffalo 

Imaan Azeem, Habib University, “Language and Identity in a Post-colonial Context: An ethnographic study amongst students in Karachi” 

Rajkishore Mukherjee, University of Calcutta, “Identity, and its Role in South Asian Democracies”

Spoorthi Niranjan, FLAME University, “Caste Resistance to Caste Assimilation: The Brahminization of the Lingayat Community”

Panel 2: Expressions of Cultural Resilience                                       

10:30 am – 12:15 pm 

Panel Chair: Dr. Nadine Shaanta Murshid, University at Buffalo 

Caitlyn Marentette, University at Pennsylvania, “Emotion, Language, and Identity Politics in East Pakistan”

Neha Melwani, University at Toronto, “Creating Colonial Identities: The Impacts of British Colonial Forestry on Indian People” 

Malavika Kannan, Stanford University, “Spirited Wives: Critiquing Early Nationalism Through the Life-Writings of 20th Century Women” 

Kavya Srikanth, Stanford University, “Linguistic Identity Formation in Independent India”

Lunch Break 12:15 pm – 1:00 pm 

Panel 3: Transforming Cross-Cultural Depictions Across Entertainment           

1:00 pm – 2:15 pm                                                           

Panel Chair: Dr.  Suparna Soni, Buffalo State University

Clara Walling, Hamilton College, “Artistic Dreaming and the Role of Sound in Diasporic Longing”

Leela Cullity, Occidental College, “Cross-Cultural Love in the South Asian Diaspora: A Comparative Analysis of Michael Showalter’s The Big Sick and Mira Nair’s The Namesake”

Nithya Balakrish, Michigan State University, “A Queen by any Other Name: The Construction of Hijras in Indian Cinema”

Panel 4: Community Implications of South Asian Diasporic Ties

2:30 pm – 3:45 pm

Panel Chair: Dr. Christopher Lee, Canisius College 

Vansh Ruhela, University of Toronto, “The Quota-Caste System: A Double-Edged Sword”

Kush Chaudhari, Vanderbilt University, “The Complexity of the Hindu Mother Cow Gives Rise to Diverse Hindu American Perspectives”

Jaret Rushing, Vanderbilt University, “Conceiving Hindu-Muslim Translation: Shared Materiality and Kinship in the Indo-Persian Cosmopolis”

Keynote Talk 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm 

New York City Council Member Shahana Hanif 

“On Being the First Muslim Woman Elected to the New York City Council: What This Means For the Muslim Community and the Future of our Democracy”

Thank you to our event sponsors! 

Logo for University at Buffalo Asian Research Institute | Office of International Education
Logo for University at Buffalo Asian Studies | College of Arts and Sciences

The fifth annual Rustgi South Asian Undergraduate Research Conference is made possible by a generous gift from the families of Dr. Vinod Rustgi and Dr. Anil Rustgi, as well as funding from the University at Buffalo Asia Research Institute and Asian Studies Program.

Call for Proposals: 2023 Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia

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Identity and Cultural Dissonance 

March 31 and April 1, 2023

University at Buffalo, SUNY

The University at Buffalo, SUNY, is proud to hold its fifth annual Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia. We invite papers on the theme of “Identity and Cultural Dissonance,” which may be interpreted broadly in its social or political sense. The quintessential struggle with identity that the South Asian diaspora experience correlates to the importance of seeking out and understanding one’s origins. The 2023 Rustgi conference will feature a keynote lecture from New York City Council Member of District 39 Shahana Hanif, representing the divisions of Kensington, Borough Park, Windsor Terrace, and more. Her work in the community extends beyond her career as a Council Member: she has contributed to Participatory Budgeting and served as a tenants’ rights organizer and advocate for gender justice. 

Reused temple pillar, Qutbuddin Mubarak Khilji's Jama` masjid (since 1948, a Bharat Mata Mandir), 1318, Daulatabad fort
Reused temple pillar, Jamaʿ Masjid/Bharat Mata Mandir, Daulatabad fort (credit: Walter Hakala)

We welcome undergraduate participants studying South Asia from all disciplines to submit proposals, preferably but not necessarily working on any topic relating to the theme. Possible topics of discussion include: 

  • Identities in the diaspora
  • Identity in religion
  • Gender and identity
  • Fashion in identity
  • Identity and public health
  • Identity and politics
  • Online and offline identities
  • Names and identity
  • Burdens of representation 
  • Appropriation
  • Intersectionality 

This list of suggestions is by no means exhaustive. We encourage papers that explore sociopolitical issues, communities, or theories stemming from under-represented perspectives. We shall organize panels around presentations addressing similar issues that draw from various disciplinary perspectives, including the social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, management, humanities, fine arts, and others. 

Please visit https://bit.ly/rustgisubmissions2023 to submit proposals.

Format

The conference will be held on Friday, March 31st and Saturday, April 1st 2023. Student presenters should plan for 15-minute presentations. Each panel will include 30 minutes for discussion. Though the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may require the conference organizers to shift the conference online, we have every hope of holding the event in person.  

Deadline

Proposals, including 250-word abstracts and the contact information of a faculty supervisor, must be submitted via the online submissions portal (https://bit.ly/rustgisubmissions2023) by Sunday, January 8, 2023.

When submitting abstracts, applicants must affirm that they will be enrolled as undergraduate students at the time of the conference. Those in graduate programs or not currently enrolled in an undergraduate program will not be permitted to present. The organizers reserve the right to confirm student status with their advisor and home institution.

Funding and Accommodations

We are able to provide a limited number of presenters with a travel subvention of up to US$300. Accepted participants who attend in person will also be provided with individual hotel accommodations. The University at Buffalo cannot provide any additional assistance or guidance to international applicants seeking entry into the United States. 

Inquiries

Please contact southasiaundergradconf@gmail.com for more information about the conference.

To view past conference programs, please visit 

The fourth annual Rustgi South Asian Undergraduate Research Conference is made possible by a generous gift from the families of Dr. Vinod Rustgi and Dr. Anil Rustgi as well as funding from the University at Buffalo Office of International Education. 

Padma Rangarajan: “The Infernal Machine: A History of Terrorism in Three Parts” [May 3, 2022 – 4 pm]

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UC Riverside Department of English Associate Professor Padma Rangarajan will present “The Infernal Machine: A History of Terrorism in Three Parts” on Tuesday, May 3 at 4:00pm as part of the UB Department of English Juxtapositions Lecture Series. This virtual event will take place on Zoom. To join, please visit http://bit.ly/rangarajan

Padma Rangarajan is Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Riverside, where she specializes in nineteenth-century British literature. She is the author of Imperial Babel: Translation, Exoticism, and the Long Nineteenth Century (Fordham 2014). Her current project, Thug Life: The British Empire and the Birth of Terrorism interrogates discourses of modern terrorism through an examination of the legal and cultural legacy of nineteenth-century British imperialism. She has published articles in English Literary History, Studies in Scottish Literature, The Keats-Shelley Journal, Nineteenth Century Studies, and Nineteenth-Century Literature and is editing a special issue of Romantic Circles on “Contingent Romanticism.” 

April 29: Medha Bhattacharyya on “Rethinking Bollywood Women in the Twenty-First Century”

Asia@Noon, Lectures, , ,

Please join us at 12 pm on Friday, April 29 an Asia at Noon Lecture featuring Dr. Medha Bhattacharyya, Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at Bridgewater State University. Dr. Bhattacharyya will give a virtual presentation on “Rethinking Bollywood Women in the Twenty-First Century.” To attend this online event, please visit http://bit.ly/bhattacharyya

CfP: 2022 Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia (deadline Feb. 20, 2022)

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(Mis)Information 

April 29 and 30, 2022

University at Buffalo, SUNY

Man seated at table in Barton Library (Bhavnagar, Gujarat)
Barton Library (Bhavnagar, Gujarat) Photo Credit: Walter Hakala

The University at Buffalo, SUNY, is proud to hold its fourth annual Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia. We invite papers on the theme of “(Mis)information,” which may be interpreted broadly in its social or political sense. The echoes of misinformation ring in all our ears today as we interact with information endlessly. Regardless of whether it is inadvertent or purposeful, the spread of misinformation has affected how we communicate and process “truths” in our world. The 2021 Rustgi conference will feature a keynote lecture from novelist, essayist, and journalist Dr. Michael Muhammad Knight, Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Central Florida. As a scholar, Knight has explored misinformation by contending with prominent descriptions of Islam in media, dissecting concepts of religious othering both within and outside the Muslim community. His works include The Taqwacores, Why I Am a Five Percenter, and Magic in Islam.

We welcome undergraduate participants studying South Asia from all disciplines to submit proposals, preferably but not necessarily working on any topic relating to the theme. Possible topics of discussion include: 

  • Censorship (of journalism and activist voices)
  • Role of information in religious conflicts
  • Disinformation 
  • Digital literacy 
  • Institutions that diffuse information 
  • Determinants of beliefs arising from information 
  • Future of misinformation
  • Ethics of information dissemination

This list of suggestions is by no means exhaustive. We encourage papers that explore sociopolitical issues, communities, or theories stemming from under-represented perspectives. We shall organize panels around presentations addressing similar issues that draw from various disciplinary perspectives, including the social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, management, humanities, fine arts, and others. 

Please visit https://bit.ly/rustgisubmissions2022 to submit proposals.

Format

The conference will be held on Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30, 2022. Student presenters should plan for 15-minute presentations. Each panel will include 30 minutes for discussion. Though the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may require the conference organizers to shift the conference online, we have every hope of holding the event in person.  

Deadline

Proposals, including 250-word abstracts and the contact information of a faculty supervisor, must be submitted via the online submissions portal (https://bit.ly/rustgisubmissions2022) by Sunday, February 20, 2022.

When submitting abstracts, applicants must affirm that they will be enrolled as undergraduate students at the time of the conference. Those in graduate programs or not currently enrolled in an undergraduate program will not be permitted to present. The organizers reserve the right to confirm student status with their advisor and home institution.

Funding and Accommodations

We are able to provide a limited number of presenters with a travel subvention of up to US$200. Accepted participants who attend in person will also be provided with shared hotel accommodations. The University at Buffalo cannot provide any additional assistance or guidance to international applicants seeking entry into the United States. 

Inquiries

Please contact rustgiconference@buffalo.edu for more information about the conference.

To view past conference programs, please visit 

The fourth annual Rustgi South Asian Undergraduate Research Conference is made possible by a generous gift from the families of Dr. Vinod Rustgi and Dr. Anil Rustgi as well as funding from the University at Buffalo Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, UB Community for Global Health Equity, UB Humanities Institute, and UB Office of International Education. 

Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia (Feb 26 & 27, 2021)

Conferences, Lectures, ,

Isolation and Its Discontents

February 26 and 27, 2021, via Zoom

University at Buffalo, SUNY


Featuring

Saturday, Feb 27 at 3 PM EST

Dr. Aniruddha Dutta, Keynote Speaker 

“Isolation to Responsibilization: Contradictions of Trans Activism in India during COVID-19”

Dutta Pic.jpg
Dr. Aniruddha Dutta

The COVID-19 pandemic and the Indian state’s high-handed response in the form of severe lockdowns without adequate notice or welfare measures had profoundly debilitating effects on socially vulnerable groups, including trans and gender-diverse people. As many have documented, these impacts, including livelihood loss and psychosocial isolation, prompted a flurry of mobilization and fundraising by trans and kothi-hijra (transfeminine spectrum) activists and organizations for not just their own communities but also other marginalized social groups. This burgeoning sphere of COVID-related activism helped mitigate the intensified social and structural isolation of trans and other vulnerable groups during the pandemic, but evidences several contradictions. Since the immediate need for relief took precedence over challenging state policies, trans activism helped fill in for token welfare measures meted out to these communities, which intensified the process of neoliberal responsibilization wherein individuals and the “civil society” take up responsibility to make up for declining state infrastructure and social security. Further, this activism was characterized by profound inequalities in recognition and funding among activists based on class, caste and geographic location, and the state’s utilization of the pandemic period to institute undemocratic bodies for trans welfare, in which elite trans activists were complicit. Based on ethnography and collaborative activism in eastern India, this lecture will explore the conundrums and potentials of Indian trans activism during an unprecedented crisis.

Pandemic food distribution

Dr. Dutta is Associate Professor in the departments of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies and Asian and Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of Iowa. Their work has appeared in journals such as Transgender Studies Quarterly, QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, International Feminist Journal of Politics, Gender, and History, and South Asian History and Culture.

and

Friday, Feb 26 at 9 PM EST

Paul Livingstone & SANGAM, Guest Performers

Sangam - Livingston.jpg
Peter Jacobson (l) and Paul Livingstone (r) of SANGAM

Sangam is the chamber music duo of sitarist Paul Livingstone and cellist Peter Jacobson. They have been featured on three Grammy Award-winning records artists with Ozomatli, Quetzal & Rickey Kej.

Conference Program: https://bit.ly/rustgiprogram2021 (subject to change)

Program Schedule

Friday, February 26th

Panel 1: Contextualizing Gender Violence                               7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Syeda M. Bokhari (American University): “Object or Subjects: Women and Violence During the 1947 Partition”

Hannarose Manning (SUNY Geneseo): “Prostitution in Times of Rebellion: Examining the Roles Prostitutes Played in the 1857 Rebellion and the Legacy They Left Behind”

Olivia Frison De Angelis (The College of Wooster): “Criminals and Comic Relief: Hijra Misrepresentation in South Asian Films”

Mridula Sharma (University of Delhi ): “Escaping Isolation(s): (Re)Constructing the Kashmiri Woman in Popular Imagination”

               Performance: Paul Livingstone & SANGAM 9:00 pm

Saturday, February 27th

Panel 2: Mediated Spaces 9:00 am – 10:30 am

Amna Ejaz (Lahore University of Management Sciences): “Netflix in Pakistan: Navigating Evolving Screen Modalities among Young Adults”

Nimra Tariq (Lahore University of Management Sciences): “Blood, Guns, and Words: Response to violence in Palestinian and Kashmiri rap music”

Uswah e Fatima (Lahore University of Management Sciences): “A Shared Past & An Ambivalent Future: The Dynamics Between the Pakistani and Indian Film Industries”

               Panel 3: Reclamation of Identity 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Sukanya Maity (Jadavpur University): “Fleeing from the Nations of Pandemics and Epidemics: Walls, Isolation”

Wajeeha Amir (Lahore University of Management Sciences): “Ajab Khan Afridi in Pashto Cinema: Changing Representations and Shifting Identities”

               Panel 4: Isolation, Religion, and Othering 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Upasana Rajagopalan (Ashoka University): “Caught in the web of inequalities: The Devadasis’ Isolation”

Nicholas Hom (Elon University): “A Model of Religious Othering for Medieval Tamil Literature”

Lucas J Brenner (SUNY Geneseo): “Wahhabism and the Isolation of Indian Muslims After the 1857 Rebellion”

Keynote Speaker 3:00 pm

Dr. Aniruddha Dutta, “Isolation to Responsibilization: Contradictions of Trans Activism in India during COVID-19”

This online event is free but registration is required. To register, please visit https://bit.ly/rustgiregistration2021 Further details will be provided before the event to those who register.

Inquiries
Please contact rustgiconference@buffalo.edu for more information. 

To view past conference programs, please visit http://bit.ly/rustgi2018 or http://bit.ly/rustgiprogram2019

The third annual Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia is made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Vinod Rustgi and his family.

CfP: 2021 Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia

CfP, Conferences, , ,

Isolation and its Discontents
February 26th and 27th, 2021
University at Buffalo, SUNY

Lodhi Gardens at Night (photo credit: Walter Hakala)

We present the third annual Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia by reflecting upon the rich history of South Asia and its connection to present-day conditions. We invite papers on the theme of “Isolation,” where isolation may be interpreted broadly, whether in its social, political, or environmental sense. To a lot of us today, isolation on a global scale would seem like a novel phenomenon. But both in its metaphorical and literal manifestations, isolation has throughout history been a marker of something tempestuous and has provoked resistance. The conference will feature a keynote lecture from Aniruddha Dutta, Associate Professor in the departments of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies and Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Iowa.

Undergraduate participants from all disciplines, working on any topic relating to the region, are welcome to submit proposals. Possible topics of discussion include:

  • Socio-political forms of isolation, including separation and seclusion
  • Physical isolation
  • Surveillance
  • Efforts to isolate certain “master categories” (caste, race, gender, nationality) out of the messy reality of humanity
  • Myths of environmental isolation
  • Atavistic claims, be they nationalist, religious, linguistic, or otherwise
  • Isolation and diaspora

While this list of suggestions is by no means exhaustive, we encourage papers that address less commonly researched sociopolitical issues, communities, or theories. We hope to organize panels around presentations addressing similar issues that draw from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including the social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, management, humanities, fine arts, and others. 

Please click http://bit.ly/rustgisubmissions2021 to submit proposals.

Format

The conference will be held online on Friday, February 26th, and Saturday, February 27th, 2021. Students presenters should plan for 15-minute presentations. Each panel will include 30 minutes for discussion.

Deadline

Proposals, including 250-word abstracts and the contact information of a faculty supervisor, must be submitted via the online submissions portal (http://bit.ly/rustgisubmissions2021) by January 1st, 2021.

When submitting abstracts, applicants must affirm that they will be enrolled as undergraduate students at the time of the conference. Those in graduate programs or not currently enrolled in an undergraduate program will not be permitted to present. The organizers reserve the right to confirm student status with their advisor and home institution.

Inquiries

Please contact rustgiconference@buffalo.edu for more information about the conference. 

To view past conference programs, please visit http://bit.ly/rustgi2018 or http://bit.ly/rustgiprogram2019


The third annual Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia is made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Vinod Rustgi and his family.

2019 Rustgi Conference Program

Rustgi Undergraduate Conference on South Asia featuring keynote speaker Suraj Yengde (Nov. 2, 2019; University at Buffalo, SUNY)

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Exploring Culture, Climate, and Connections

November 2nd, 8:30AM – 6PM
Capen 107, University at Buffalo, North Campus
Free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Register at: bit.ly/2019rustgi

Join fellow scholars and distinguished faculty from around the world for the 2nd annual Rustgi Conference on South Asia. Featuring keynote speaker Suraj Yengde, renowned scholar and activist from Harvard University.

This conference is made possible by a generous gift from Anil and Vinod Rustgi and their family, the University at Buffalo Asian Studies Program, Department of English, Department of History, Department of Comparative Literature, Department of Linguistics, Department of Anthropology, Department of Sociology, and Community for Global Health Equity. 

Click here for the Online Conference Program
Opening Remarks                                                                          8.30A

Panel 1: Migration and Climate Change                                     8.45-10.00A
Chair: Dr. Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen (University at Buffalo)

  • Mahwesh Buland (KIIT University), “Analyzing the Possible Impact of Climate Change Based Migration in South Asia and the Role of International Organisations.”
  • Phariha Rahman (Binghamton University), “The Effects of Climate Change on Bangladesh.”
  • Anuush Vejalla (Cornell University), “The Effects of Migration and Earthquake on Indigenous-Dalit Interactions within the Hill Region of Nepal.”

Coffee Break                                                                                10.00-10.15A
Panel 2: Conservation and Sustainability                               10.15-11.55A
Chair: Dr. Samina Raja (University at Buffalo)

  • Aditi Natarajan (Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts), “Exploring the ‘Gemeinschaft’: An Ethnographic Study on the Role of Community in Conservation in Uttarakhand.”
  • Francine Barchett (Cornell University), “Waste and Women: A Gendered Study on Solid Waste Management in Telangana, India.”
  • Jon Bessette (University at Buffalo), “Water Quality Pilot Study for Traditional Water Structure Revitalization in the Deccan Plateau of India.”
  • Shermeen Imam (University of Virginia), “The Integration of Both Class and Workshop Based Approaches to Development and Empowerment Creates Longer, More Sustainable Development Towards Equity.”

Lunch                                                                                          11.55-1.00P
Panel 3: Systematic Discrimination                                          1.00-2.40P
Chair: Dr. Shaanta Murshid (University at Buffalo)

  • Oishika Neogi (Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts), “Global to Grassroots Transformations:  The effect of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) on Muslim Women in Bangladesh and India.”
  • Jordan Pilant (Yale University), “Sex Work in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan: De Jure and De Facto.”
  • Rachel Alexander (University of Virginia), “Mental Healthcare Delivery in Bangladesh: A System Which Forgets its Women.”
  • Sarah Ahmad (Northwestern University), “Libraries, Partition, and the “Ahmadi Issue”: the intellectual development of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.”

Coffee Break                                                                                  2.40-2.55P
Panel 4: Colonialism and Identity                                              2.55-4.10P
Chair: Dr. Peter Samuels (SUNY Geneseo)

  • Peter Diamond (Brandeis University), “Queer Citizenship, Caste, and the Literary Public Sphere in Contemporary India.”
  • Araxie Mehrotra (Ithaca College), “Love, Life, Marriage, Troubles, Alone: The Struggle for Indian Identity in Guyana.”
  • Rory Green (Newcastle University), “The Colonial Ghost Haunting Myanmar: The Rohingya Crisis in Historical Context.”

Keynote                                                                                         4.10P
Suraj Yengde (Harvard University), “Global Impacts on Caste and Racism”