Centre for Indigenous Cultural Studies

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF JHARKHAND

Brambe, Ranchi, Jharkhand
www.cuj.ac.in

INVITATION

Dear Colleagues

Centre for Indigenous Cultural Studies (ICS), Central University of Jharkhand, Brambe,
Ranchi, Jharkhand is organizing a two day National Workshop on Recent Trends in
Cultural Studies from 22nd to 23rd November, 2010. The workshop will be spread over
into several academic tracks including inaugural and valedictory functions. (A copy of
write-up on the concept note of the workshop is enclosed herewith).

We shall be highly obliged if you could spare your valuable time to participate in the
workshop. We will appreciate if you kindly accept our invitation and convey your
acceptance by 10th of November, 2010.

In this regard, and for any information, the correspondences shall be made with

Coordinator, ICS or
Organizing Secretary
Workshop Organizing Committee
A National Workshop on Recent Trends in Cultural Studies
(22nd - 23rd November 2010)
Central University of Jharkhand
Brambe, Ranchi – 835205
Jharkhand
Contact Number: +91 75491 98583

With warm regards.

Organizing team

Prof. D.T.Khathing (Patron)

Mr. Ankush Bhuyan
Dr. Rabindranath Sarma
Mr. Rajanikant Pandey
Dr. Seema Mamta Minz
Mr. Dhritiman Sarma
(Chairperson)
(Organizing Secretary)
(Treasurer)
(Assistant Organizing Secretary.)
(Assistant Organizing Secretary.)
 A National Workshop on
Recent Trends in Cultural Studies
22nd - 23rd November 2010
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF JHARKHAND
Brambe, Ranchi, Jharkhand
www.cuj.ac.in

WELCOME TO CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF JHARKHAND

The President of India gave assent to the Central University Act, 2009 by which the Central University of
Jharkhand (CUJ) was established with Her Excellency, Shrimati Pratibha Patil as the Visitor. A non-
affiliating university, CUJ’s primary focus would be research, teaching-learning innovations and
interfacing with industry.

CUJ’s vision is to create a world class university in every aspect, be it research, teaching, administration
or co-curricular activities, to produce world class students ready to excel in every chosen field with honour
and uprightness.

On the 24th of July ’09, CUJ moved into a temporary campus at Brambe, near Ranchi. On the 3rd of
August, the First Academic Session started with four 5-Year Integrated Courses; namely, Mass
Communication, Business Administration, Applied Mathematics and English. This achievement of staying
ahead of the Prime Minister’s 100 Day Programme brought CUJ into the limelight across the country!

This year saw six more courses added: Nanotechnology, Water Engineering, Life Sciences, Indigenous
Cultural Studies, Applied Physics and Applied Chemistry – all in 60 newly constructed pre-fabricated, air
conditioned smart classrooms and laboratories in a WiFi campus – with hostel/ quarters facilities, a
modern auditorium, sports complex and 3 gyms. CUJ can proudly boast of India’s state-of-the-art
Language Laboratory to raise the level of language proficiency in English. The library is growing at a fast
rate and, through INFLIBNET, accessibility to e-Journals are being made available. Its infrastructure is
truly world class.

CUJ firmly believes in value-based transformational education in a collaborative, cosmopolitan

environment. Personality development programmes and extracurricular activities play dominant roles
while community work would be part of the curriculum.

CUJ, with its motto “Knowledge to Wisdom”, has already become a trailblazer not only for Jharkhand but
for the whole country as well.

About Indigenous Cultural Studies (ICS)

Under the School of Cultural Studies, the Centre for Indigenous Cultural Studies was established in 2010.
The first batch of students was admitted in July 2010 and Guest Faculties were also appointed in July
2010.

On behalf of the Centre for Indigenous Cultural Studies, the Workshop Organizing Committee cordially
invites you to CUJ’s maiden National Workshop at its Brambe Campus.
About the Workshop:

Recent Trends in Cultural Studies

The traditional tendency to understand ‘culture’ as a naturalized concept is still quite dominant
not only among the common folk in general but also among those engaged in the academic
arena of culture. Such an understanding of culture also has its consequent reflection in the
various forms of cultural activism covering documentation, preservation, and conservation of
culture.

It leads not only to the classification of various cultural items like music, dance, literature, and
language etc. but also to their hierarchization. Recent cultural theories have shown that while
classification of cultural objects is not exactly irrelevant, their hierarchization into ‘high’ and ‘low’,
‘great’ and ‘little’ is definitely unwarranted because it is based on the celebration of the ‘high’
and ‘elite’ culture at the expense of the ‘low’ or ‘folk’ culture. But at present, such terms like
‘high’ and ‘low’ are no longer used in cultural theories, because they consider all cultures are
equal. However, Anthropology proclaims that every culture has its own set of perspectives. That
this hierarchisation is not natural but rather a construction of a dominant, powerful few has been
forcefully highlighted by many recent theories on culture.

Without subscribing to these theories, many regional perspectives are emerging which focus
upon the cultural situation of a particular region. Students and activists in the realm of culture in
the third and fourth worlds can no longer afford to remain ignorant of these issues of power and
inequality.

A multi-disciplinary approach towards understanding indigenous culture is called for to enable

one to take a holistic view of culture. The world is moving towards a homogenous culture. This
workshop is a preliminary attempt at reviewing the recent trends in Cultural Studies in the Indian
context

Objectives

1. To locate the recent trends in the discourse and practices of cultural studies and its
significance in India

2. To impart the idea, scope and utility of cultural studies as an emerging discipline
in India, among the academician and scholars
3. To frame a pragmatic perspective of the cultural studies, emphasizing the
performance, documentation and media representation
4. To find a way to make people aware of their own cultural heritage-the material
and non-material.

Participants: Students, Research scholars, and faculties of Cultural Studies and allied
disciplines.
 WORKSHOP TRACKS*

Day 1: Monday, 22-11-2010

9.00 am: Inauguration of Workshop

Welcome Speech: Ankush Bhuyan, OSD (Planning)
Tracks President: Prof. D.T.Khathing, Vice Chancellor
Tracks Chief Guest: Prof. Jawaharlal Handoo (President, Indian Folklore Congress.
Former Director, Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore)
Vote of thanks: Organizing Secretary

9.30 am – 11.00 am Track 1 Prof. Desmond L. Kharmawphlang Cultural Studies as an emerging

(Head, Department of Cultural and discipline in India
Creative Studies, North-Eastern Hill
University, Shillong, Meghalaya)
11.00 am - 11.15 am Tea break
11.15 pm - 01.00 pm Track 2 Prof. Jawaharlal Handoo Discourse on practices of Cultural
Studies
01.00 pm - 02.00 pm Lunch break
02.00 pm - 03.30 pm Track 3 Dr. Kishore Kumar Bhattacherjee Introduction to Cultural Studies
(Head
Department of Folklore Research
Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam)
03.30 pm - 03.45 pm Tea break
03.45 pm - 05.00 pm Track 4 Prof. Kailash Pattanaik Cultural heritage-the oral and written
(Department of Oriya
Viswa Bharati University
Shanti Niketan, West Bengal)
07.30 pm Vice Chancellor’s Dinner

Day 2: Tuesday, 23-11-2010

09.30 am - 11.00 am Track 5 Prof. Jawaharlal Handoo Folkloristics: Theory

11.00am - 11.15 am Tea break
Indigenous knowledge & Intellectual
11.15 pm - 1.00 pm Track 6 Dr. Kishore Kumar Bhattacherjee
Property Rights
01.00 pm - 02.00pm Lunch break
02.00 pm -03.15 pm Track 7 Prof. Desmond L. Kharmawphlang Indigenous Culture & Eco-criticism
03.15 pm - 03.30 pm Tea break
Prof. Jawaharlal Handoo
Prof. Desmond L. Kharmawphlang
Participants Presentation and
03.30 pm - 05.00 pm Track 8 Dr. Kishore Kumar Bhattacherjee
Discussion
Prof. Kailash Pattanaik
All participants
05.00 pm - 05.15 pm Valedictory function

* Changes will be updated in the website www.cuj.ac.in

Registration Fee: Rs 1000.00 only

For students: Rs. 750.00 only.

(It includes workshop kit, breakfast, working lunch, and tea/coffee)

Important Dates:

Last date for Registration: 10th November 2010

Workshop Dates: 22nd -23rd November 2010

 REGISTRATION FORM

Participant’s Details:

Name (IN CAPITAL LETTERS):

Designation:
Institution:

Mailing Address:

Tel: E-mail:
Arrival Information: Date:
Time:
Train No./Flight No.:
From:
Departure date:
Whether accommodation required: Yes:
(limited) No:
Food preferences: Vegetarian:
Non-vegetarian:
Date:
Payment Details: Demand Draft in favour of
“Central University of Jharkhand”, payable Amount:
at Ranchi.
Bank drawn on:

Date Signature
About Ranchi:

Ranchi is the capital city of state of Jharkhand. Situated in the step-plateau of Chotanagpur, the
city and its surrounding hilly areas carry a charm of their own – lush green forests and beautiful
waterfalls. This calm and quiet natural habitat is made complete by a variety of indigenous
ethnic groups with their special customs, language and culture, unified into a long period of
historical existence and identity. From the very beginning this region has attracted scholars from
different fields of Social Sciences.

Ranchi is also an important hub for quality education. Ranchi University, Birla Institute of
Technology (BIT), Lac Research Institute (LRI), Birsa Agriculture University, Rajendra Medical
College, State Government Mental Hospital (RINPAS), Indian Institute of Management (IIM),
Indian Institute of Coal Mines (IICM), and the Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP) are known
world-wide.

The people of this city are known for their warmth and hospitality, for their traditions. This makes
it an attractive destination for academic endeavors.

Weather: Located at a fairly high altitude (2000’ above msl), Ranchi has a cool, salubrious
climate throughout the year. The average winter temperature is 22.9° - 10.3° C during Nov –
Feb) while summers average 37.2° - 24° C.

Language: Hindi is commonly spoken while the official language is English. The indigenous
people of Jharkhand speak a number of languages belonging to three major language families:
the Munda languages which include Santhali, Mundari, Ho, Kharia, Bhumij and Kurmali; the
Dravidian languages which include Oraon (Kurukh), Korwa and Paharia (Malto) and the Indo-
Aryan languages which include Magahi, Nagpuri, Sadri, Khortha, Angika, Oriya and Bengali.

How to reach Ranchi:

Mode of Travel Connectivity

Air→ Ranchi is well-connected with Calcutta, Patna, Mumbai and New Delhi.

Train→ Ranchi falls under the South-Eastern Railway and is directly connected
with Calcutta, Patna, Rourkela, Delhi etc.
Road→ Ranchi is connected to major cities by NH 23 and NH 33 and has a
good network of roads. Regular Inter-State and Intra-State bus
services are also available.

Workshop Secretariat
Centre for Indigenous Cultural Studies
Central University of Jharkhand,
Brambe, Ranchi, Jharkhand 835 205
E-mail: rabindranathcuj@gmail.com

Phone number: +91 6531 224182 Cell: +91 75491 98583