International Conference on 'Ireland-India-Asia' at JNU New Delhi
Last Date: 31st May 2013

Upcoming international conference on Ireland-India-Asia: Entangled Histories and cultural Process at JNU.

For details:
http://www.jnu.ac.in/Conference/

Ireland-India-Asia: Entangled Histories and Cultural Processes
An International conference hosted
by
Centre for Historical Studies,
School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi,
and
School of Asian Studies, University College Cork, Ireland

Venue: JNU Convention Centre, New Delhi
Date: Monday 28 – Tuesday 29 October 2013

First call for papers

The scholarly study of historical connections between Ireland and India has, with a few exceptions, traditionally subsumed Irish-Indian relationships especially during the colonial period within a broad UK-India narrative, viewing Irish protagonists as variants of 'the British'. While some Indian and Irish nationalists notably collaborated in the mid- 20th century, Irish interest(s) in India largely declined after Irish Independence when both the Irish and Indian historical gaze turned away from their citizens' and institutions' prior involvement in empire and towards pronationalist and postcolonial narratives. As a consequence of this averted gaze, awareness of specific India-Ireland connections including the history of Irish people's long involvement with India has re-emerged only recently, in tandem with 21st century economic, social, political, ideological and educational globalisation.

This conference of JNU and international scholars seeks to advance our understanding of Irish-Indian connections and interactions, past and present, through a multi- and inter-disciplinary exploration of the often-forgotten people, events and undertakings which have constituted the multifaceted Ireland-India relationship over many generations. While the main focus of the conference is on Ireland and India, Irish people and events cannot properly be understood without reference to the wider UK and European imperial project, while on the Indian side long-established connections and interactions with neighbouring Asian regions and latterly with the Soviet Union and China are equally integral to any deep understanding of events. Hence, whilst maintaining an emphasis on Ireland-India we will consider also papers which examine broader Irish-Asian interactions in any relevant area, bearing in mind that the study of Ireland's involvement in Asia overall has been neglected in past decades and that there are very many new topics to be explored.

The conference organisers invite papers on any aspect of Ireland-India-Asia connections, particularly papers which unearth new or forgotten material on Ireland-Indian-Asian relations in the past and present. We anticipate that some papers may for the first time highlight the specifically Irish dimension of individuals and enterprises traditionally categorised as 'British'.

The conference is not restricted to humanities/social science topics; we welcome papers addressing medical, scientific and technological interactions and collaborations past, present and projected.

Papers which make a theoretical contribution, for example by interrogating issues of historiography, gender, power/authority, ethics, identity, etc. through case studies are particularly welcome. The organisers hope to publish selected papers from the conference.

Individual paper proposals from India should be submitted to Dr Jyoti Atwal jyoti_atwal [at] mail.jnu.ac.in .

Proposals from Ireland should be submitted to Prof Brian Bocking b.bocking [at] ucc.ie. by 31st May 2013. Proposals for panels received by the same date will also be considered by the organisers.

Accommodation and travel costs

Participants will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation expenses. The JNU campus is located a few kilometres from Delhi airport on the way into Delhi centre. A limited number of JNU guest rooms at an economical price will be allocated to international delegates, subject to availability. A delegate whose paper has been accepted and who wishes to reserve such accommodation should contact Dr Jyoti Atwal (email address above) before 31 May 2013.

Conveners: Dr. Jyoti Atwal and Prof. Brian Bocking.

JNU Advisory Committee
Prof. Mridula Mukherjee
Prof. Bhagwan Josh
Prof. Aditya Mukherjee
Prof Rajat Datta
Prof. Kumkum Roy
Prof. Ranabir Chakravarti
Prof. Sucheta Mahajan
Prof. Arvind Sinha
Prof. Pius Malekandathil
Prof. Yogesh Sharma
Dr. Najaf Haider
Dr. Joy Pachuau
Dr. R. Mahalakshmi
Dr. Heeraman Tiwari

UCC Advisory Committee
Prof. Hong FAN
Prof. Caroline Fennell
Prof. Pat Fitzpatrick
Prof. Anne Murphy
Prof. Nikky Singh
Prof. Tadhg Foley
Dr. Laurence Cox
Dr. Lidia Guzy
Dr. James Kapalo
Dr. Michael Murphy
Dr. Maureen O’Connor
Dr. Oliver Scharbrodt
Dr. Yafa Shanneik
Dr. Christopher Shepard
Dr. Alicia Turner