Program




		South Asian Studies Association Third Annual Conference April 3-5, 2009 Organized by the South Asian Studies Association. Hosted by the University of Central Florida, Orlando. If you have a question about the conference that is not answered here on the website, please contact us at info@sasia.org



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	Conference Venue: Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management 10021 N. Dartmouth Avenue Claremont, CA 91711 SATURDAY 29 MARCH Registration and Coffee/Tea: 8:00 – 8:30 am And throughout the conference on the lower level of the Burkle Building Room assignments and last minute adjustments to the schedule will be available at the registration table. SATURDAY SESSION A: 8:30 – 10:00 am Panel A1 – Hinduism in America Chair/Discussant: Shukavak Dasa, Head Priest, Riverside Hindu Temple Martha Allison, Virginia Commonwealth University Tantra Today: sexual lifestyle, or serious religious practice? Navin Jani, University of California, Irvine Cosmic cornfields: vastu veda practice and projects in Fairfield, Iowa Panel A2 – Sri Lanka: politics and the economy Chair/Discussant: Paul Hanson, California Lutheran University Maneshka Eliatamby de Silva, Institute for Conflict Analysis & Resolution, George Mason University From Victim to Violator: An Analysis of Women’s Involvement in Collective Warfare through a study of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka S.W.S.B. Dasanayaka, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka A Comparative Study on Profiles and Contribution of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Pakistan and Sri Lanka Panel A3 – New Trends in Buddhist and Ancient Indian Studies Chair/Discussant: Daniel Michon, Claremont McKenna College Ashwin Manthripragada, University of California, Berkeley The Sakuntala Poems Phillip Green, University of Florida Perfect Wives Make the Best Nuns COFFEE/TEA: 10:00 - 10:30 am SATURDAY SESSION B: 10:30 – 12:00 am Panel B1 – Globalisation and Diasporic Issues Chair/Discussant: Karen Leonard, University of California, Irvine Verne A. (“Van”) Dusenbery, Hamline University Diaspora Philanthropy: The Case of Sikhs Giving Back to Punjab Koushik Ghosh, Department of Economics, Central Washington University & Dipankar Purkayastha), Department of Economics, California State University, Fullerton, CA Globalization and Culture: Theirs and Ours Selma K. Sonntag, Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University Outsourcing English to India: A Cultural-Historical Perspective Panel B2 – Bewildered by foreign influence and domination, Nepal alternately embraces and rejects the outside world Panel chair: Nalini Rao, Soka University Discussant: Katherine Harper, Loyola Marymount University Dina Bangdel, Virginia Commonwealth University “Garden of Dreams”: Rebuilding Neo-Classical Tastes of Rana Nepal Marcella Sirhandi, Oklahoma State University Nepalese Royal Portraits in the 1930s by an American Photographer: Intimations of social, political, cultural conditions and change. Deepak Shimkhada, California State University, Northridge Clock Wrapped in a Colonial Flag Panel B3 – Tagore, Gandhi and Ambedkar Chair/Discussant: Staneshwar Timalsina, San Diego State University David Blundell, Navaloka Productions Arising Light: Visual Life Account of Dr. Ambedkar in India Sumangala Bhattacharya, Pitzer College Between Worlds: Rabindranath Tagore’s and the Victorian Gothic Chandrakala Padia, Banaras Hindu University Civilizing Mission of Gandhi: Hope for both the East and West SATURDAY PLENARY SESSION AND BUFFET LUNCH: 12:00-2:00 pm Keynote Speaker: Wendy Martin, Associate Provost, Transdisciplinary Studies Program, Claremont Graduate University Transdisciplinary Studies: An Adventure in Process SATURDAY SESSION C: 2:00 - 3:30 pm Panel C1 – Locating Culture: Space, City, and Environment Chair: Marc Jason Gilbert, Hawaii Pacific University Discussant: Arnold P. Kaminsky, California State University, Long Beach Nalini Rao, Soka University of America Multi-Zonal Integration and Network and Network Relations at Vijayanagar Ravi Kalia, City College of the City University of New York Measuring Modernism in Modern India: Nehru, Le Courbousier, Kahn Panel C2 – Media and the British Empire in India in the 1940s Chair/Discussant: Chandrika Kaul, University of St. Andrews, Scotland Chandrika Kaul, University of St. Andrews, Scotland ‘At the stroke of the midnight hour’: Lord Mountbatten and the British media at Indian independence, August 1947 Roger D. Long, Eastern Michigan University Dawn and the Creation of Jinnah as the Charismatic Leader of a National Political Movement and as a Factor in the Creation of Pakistan Brian Shoesmith, Edith Cowan University, Australia, and University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh An Unrewarding Time: The Indian film studios in the 1940s. Panel C3 -- Pakistan and Democracy Chair/Discussant: Geoffrey Cook, Pakistan Weekly & the Muslim Observer, Berkeley, California Shubhankar Dam, Singapore Management University School of Law In Pursuit of Democracy: Pakistan’s Classic Dilemma Yaqoob Bangash, Keble College, Oxford Sovereignty and Accession: Pakistan and the case of Kalat Syed Abdul Siraj, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan War or Peace Journalism in Elite US Newspapers: Exploring News Framing in Pakistan-India Geoffrey Cook, Pakistan Weekly & the Muslim Observer, Berkeley, California Pakistan’s Current Political Crisis: Change or the Status Quo? COFFEE/TEA: 3:30 - 4:00 pm SATURDAY SESSION D: 4:00 - 5:30 pm Panel D1 – Women and Work Chair/Discussant: Nita Kumar, Claremont McKenna College Bipasha Baruah, California State University, Long Beach Opportunities and Constraints Faced by Women in Non-Traditional Occupations: A Case Study of Construction Workers in Ahmedabad, India. Philomena Richards, Christ Church College, Kanpur, India Social Stratification of Women in Shekhpur India: Competing Public Health Hazards Panel D2 – Religion, Politics and Performance Studies Chair/Discussant: Paul Hanson, California Lutheran University Tim Ward, independent scholar Goddesses, East and West, Past and Present. Bishal Bhakta Kasu, Illinois State University Violation of ‘Rights to Development’ and Impact of Maoist Conflict on Assets Building Process in Nepal Brian Brophy, University of California, Riverside “He does not want to hear the views of his own age” A self-described communalist as critiqued by his fellow students Panel D3 – Roundtable on Diaspora Banking, Venture Capital and Economic Development Moderator: Dean McHenry, Claremont Graduate University Neena Bansil, President and CEO, State Bank of India (California) Ed Suave, Senior Relationship Manager, Silicon Valley Bank Vrajesh Lal, President & CEO, Just for Wraps/Wrapper Inc. Panel D4 – Roundtable Discussion on Film-Making on South Asian Religions: Problems and Solutions Moderator: Ruth Hayward, Executive Director of the Panchen Lama – Tashi Lhunpo Project, Inc. Paula Fouce, Director/Writer/Producer Aneetha Rajan, filmmaker, discussant David Blundell, Navaloka Productions RECEPTION: 5:30 - 6:00 PM BANQUET 6:00 - 7:45 pm CULTURAL PROGRAM , 8:00 - 9.30 PM SUNDAY 30 MARCH SUNDAY SESSION E: 8:30 - 10:00 am Panel E1 – The Politics of Water and Conservation Chair/Discussant: W. Parkes Riley, California Polytechnic University, Pomona Saurabh Gupta, SOAS, University of London National Goals, International Agenda and Local Needs: The politics of water conservation and watershed development in rural Rajasthan, India M. V. Boswal, Christ Church College, Kanpur, India Political Economy of Wetlands of Kanpur, India Saloni Gupta, SOAS, University of London Global Conservation Agenda and local livelihoods: a case study of ban on shahtooshtrade in J & K (India) Panel E2 – Medieval and Early Modern India: New trends and themes Chair/Discussant: Arthur Rosenbaum, Claremont McKenna College Lisa Balabanlilar, Rice University The Emperor Jahangir and His Pursuit of Pleasure Sadanand Shahi, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India Kabir: A possible bridge between east and west Panel E3 – Pre to Post Modern Schools of Indian Art: Context, Content, Change and Contribution Chair/Discussant: Ingrid Aall, California State University, Long Beach Debashish Banerji, Pasadena City College. The Bengal School of Art- Revivalism or Indian Modernism Nalini Rao, Soka University of America Contemporary Interpretation and Traditional Concepts in Modern Indian Art (1950 – 1980) Marisol Rodarte, California State University, Long Beach Women's Contributions in Indian Painting Past and Present. Ingrid Aall, California State University, Long Beach Concluding Remorks: Some Transformative Elements of the Bengal School: it’s Survival in Post Modern Art. COFFEE/TEA: 10:00 - 10:3:30 am SUNDAY SESSION F: 10:30 – 12:00 pm Panel F1 – India: Contemporary Issues in Economy and Society Chair/Discussant: Cynthis Humes, Claremont McKenna College Muthusami Kumaran, University of Hawaii, Manoa Role of the Indian NGO Sector in the Public Policy Making Process Siddharth Swaminathan, La Sierra University Bridging the Gap: Political Capacity and the Demographic Transition in India’s States Sandeep Kindo, Stanford University The Law and Policy of the Right to Education: Assertion of Rights and the Federal Budgetary Patterns in India Nameeta Mathur, Saginaw Valley State University Media and the Politics of Friendship: Communist East-Central Europe and Non-Aligned India, 1947-1989 Panel F2 – Roundtable Discussion - “Pakistan: Past and Present” Moderator: Roger D. Long, Eastern Michigan University Salma Malik, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad Nadeem Omar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ravi Kalia, City College of the City University of New York Panel F3 – Gender, Imperialism and Partition Chair/Moderator: Chandrika Kaul, University of St. Andrews Purnima Mehta Bhatt, Hood College Creating Gendered Space: An Encounter between East and West in India Bashabi Fraser, Napier University, Edinburgh The Woman’s Story in the Bengal Partition Rashné Limki, University of California, San Diego Azadi ki Chhaon Mein: Or Re-reading “Madness” in Partition Violence Panel F4 – Roundtable Discussion -- Films for Good: Trying to Create Social Change in and Beyond South Asia Moderator: Ruth Hayward, Executive Director of the Panchen Lama – Tashi Lhunpo Project, Inc. Ken Silverman, Iteamworks Lisa Leeman, Charisma and Causes: Is Neutrality Possible? Victorial Mudd, Making Tibet: “Cry of the Snow Lion” Rob Aft, The Business Side of Documentary Film-making PLENARY AND BOXED LUNCH: 12:00 - 1:45 pm Keynote Speaker: John Zavos, Manchester University Situating Hindu Nationalism in the UK: Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the development of British Hindu identity SUNDAY SESSION G: 1:45 – 3:15 pm Panel G1 – Identity and Race Chair/Discussant: W. Parkes Riley, California Polytechnic University, Pomona Dean E. McHenry, Jr., Claremont Graduate University Can Separation Lead to Integration? The Impact of the Extension of Reservation and the Creation of Small States on National Identity in India Nita Verma Prasad, Quinnipiac University Imperial Borders: The Construction of Identity Among the Hadhrami Community of Hyderabad, 1867-1888 Movindri Reddy, Occidental College Indian or Black: Race and Identity in South Africa and Trinidad. Panel G2 – Cultural Explorations and Exchanges: South Asia and the West Chair/Discussant: Betty Bernhard, Pomona College Debashish Banerji,Pasadena City College Cholamandalam as a modern Indian artists community KatherineHarper, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles A new vision for Nepal: the kashthamandap artists’ group Kathryn Myers, The University of Connecticut The Influence of India in Contemporary American Art Panel G3 – Round Table: American Media and the Coverage of South Asia Moderator: Jon Beaupre, Califnornia State University, Los Angeles Michael Potts, India West John Needham, Los Angeles Times (ret.) Syed Abdul Siraj, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan Geoffrey Cook, Pakistan Weekly & the Muslim Observer, Berkeley, California COFFEE/TEA: 3.00 - 3.30 pm SUNDAY SESSION H: 3.30 - 5.00 pm Panel H1 – Culture and Media Chair/Discussant: Phyllis K. Herman, California State University, Northridge Neha Kamdar, Northwestern University The Politics of Looking: Sexuality, Power and the Brown Gaze in “Beautiful Laundrette” Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, UCLA VCD Culture: Music for a Goddess in a Video-tech World Srilakshmi Ramakrishnan, University of Arizona Dark Complexions Mirror the Exotic: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Indian Media Representations against the Societal Norm of Fair Skin Panel H2 – Endangered Waters: Implications in a neoLiberal World Chair: Vandana Asthana Discussant A. C. Shukla A. C. Shukla, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign IL and Environmental Studies Unit Kanpur, India Water, Ethics and Values: Regional and National Water Visions Vandana Asthana Environment and Development: Politics of Interlinking Rivers in India Devesh Nigan, Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, UP India Political Economy of Water in Tehri: Contemporary Impacts on People