| May
31, 2007
Narendra
Parson
Collector of Sikh & Jain Art
|
Narendra Parson,
a major collector of Sikh and Jain art in the United States,
spoke of building his collection.
|
| April
17 , 2007
Dr.
Shinder Thandi
Head of Department of Economics,
Finance and Accounting
Coventry University, United Kingdom
|
Dr. Shinder Thandi,
of Coventry University, gave a lecture on South Asians in the
United States.
|
April
11, 2007
Dr.
Judith Brown
Beit Professor of the History of the
British Commonwealth
Oxford University, United Kingdom
|
Dr. Judith Brown,
the leading historian of Modern India based at Oxford University,
shared stories about her early years in the Punjab.
|
March
5, 2007
Inderjit
Kaur
Music Department
University of California, Santa Cruz
|
Inderjit Kaur
of the Music Department at the University of California at Santa
Cruz spoke Sikh music.
|
February
17 , 2007
Gurpal
Singh Bhuller
Collector of Sikh & Jain Art
|
Gurpal Singh Bhuller,
a major collector of Sikh and Jain art in the United States,
spoke of building his collection.
|
February
15, 2007
Dr.
Farina Mir
Assistant Professor
Columbia University
|
Dr. Farina Mir,
of the History Department at the University of Michigan, made
a presentation on the British policy towards Punjab in the 1850's. |
February
14 , 2007
Dr.
Tejwant Singh Gill
|
|
Friday,
May 20, 2005
Dr.
John S. Hawley
Ann Whitney Olin Professor
Department of Religion
Barnard College, Columbia University
|
"Producing
the Eternal: Sanatana Dharma as the Twentieth Century Began"
Professor Hawley
began his talk by revisiting a controversy that erupted in the
Punjab in the early 1870s. Then he moved east, exploring two
of the earliest textbooks of Sanatana Dharma. One was published
in Hindi in 1878, emerging from a pathshala (elementary school)
in Shahjahanpur. The other was composed in English in 1901 by
Annie Besant for use in the Theosophical Society's new Central
Hindu College and Collegiate School in Banaras. Hawley introduced
these two textbooks, then asked which of them better predicted
the Sanatanist discourse that would become "eternal"
in the century that has passed between then and now.
|
May
23, 2005
Dr.
Tejwant Singh Gill
|
Professor Gill
presented a survey of Punjabi poetry from Baba Farid to contemporary
writers by focusing on the creative synthesis between the indigenous
elements and those that entered with the steady in flow of new
people and influences from the outside. He elaborated on how
the Punjabi writers have successfully incorporated the influence
of modernity that came with the British into their own creative
impulses.
|
April
22, 2005
Dr.
Farina Mir
|
"Imperial
Policy, Provincial Practices: The Contradictions and Implications
of Language Policy in Colonial Punjab"
Dr. Mir examined
the British language policy in the Punjab in the latter half
of the 19th century by focusing on the political imperatives
and linguistic biases that went into its making. In the second
half of her presentation, She expanded on the implications of
this policy in both state and non-state arenas such as state-sponsored
education and private publishing industry.
|
November
19, 2004
Dr.
Caroline Sawyer
SUNY - Old Westbury
|
“Shaykh
Ahmad al-Sirhindi: Punjabi’s Renewer of Islam in a Turbulent
Age"
Dr. Caroline Sawyer
spoke about Ahmad al-Sirhindi (1564-1624), a charismatic leader
of the Naqshbandi order, whose teachings marked a new age in
Islamic thought, interweaving traditional Sufism with essentially
modern fundamentalism.
|
November
4, 2004
Dr.
Gopal Krishan
Punjab University
|
"Vitality-Vulnerability
Syndrome in the Development Strategies of Post-Independence
Punjab"
Dr. Gopal Krishan,
a leading demographer of the Punjab spoke about economic development
strategies in Punjab during the late twentieth century, and
the vision for the region in the twenty-first century.
|
May 20,
2004
Om
Prakash Narula
|
Om Prakash Narula,
a retired Brigadier General from the Indian army and the author
of I Still Remember: a small town in Punjab (Delhi:
Srishti Publishers, 2001) spoke about the Punjab of the 1930s.
In his fascinating presentation, he reflected on the fading
culture of the pre-1947 Punjab and the personal pain of having
been dislocated by the events of 1947.
|
April
30, 2004
Pashaura
Singh
|
Pashaura Singh of
the University of Michigan spoke about the early history of the
Sikh tradition. In his presentation he highlighted several areas
that remain largely unexplored and suggested sources and possible
approaches in addressing them.
|
April
23, 2004
Shinder
Thandi
|
Shinder Thandi
of Coventry University, England, spoke about the week of Sikh-targeted
rioting and massacre that followed the assassination of Indian
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. He recapped
the events leading up to and following these riots, placed the
events in light of relevant theoretical models, and told us
about the frustrations of victims families seeking justice for
atrocities committed.
|
March,
2004
Dr.
Constance Elsberg
|
Constance Elsberg,
the author of Graceful Women: Gender and Identity in an American
Sikh Community (The University of Tennessee Press, 2003). Prof.
Elsberg spoke on the issues facing the Euro-American Sikhs in
the North America. March 2004.
|
March
2004
Gautam
Bhadra
|
Gautam Bhadra,
a founding member the Subaltern School, and a Professor of History
at Calcutta University, shared his reflections about the development
of the Subaltern Studies project during its early phase in the
1970's.
|
| Gurpreet
Singh Lehal |
Gurpreet Singh
Lehal, Director, Advanced Center for Technical Development of
Punjabi Language, Literature, and Culture, Punjabi University,
Patiala, made a demonstration of their new program in Gurmukhi
and its conversion into Shahmukhi.
|
Fall 2003
Folk
Singers
from Central India |
We had a unique
opportunity to listen to a musical presentation of Kabirs compositions
by a group of folk singers from central India
|
April
2003
Garib
Das |
Garib Das, a leading
exponent of the Dhol in Punjab, was invited to UCSB as an Artist
in Residence
|
Spring
2003
Shivdev
Singh |
Shivdev Singh,
a physician turned painter, spoke on his life career and artistic
pursuits in the US.
|
Spring
2003
Gurumail
Singh Siddhu |
Gurumail Singh
Siddhu, a Fresno State University scientist and a poet and critic,
shared his reflections about writing Punjabi poetry in a diasporic
context.
|
Spring
2003
Kirtan
Singh |
Kirtan Singh, a
Euro-American Sikh, shared his experiences of being part of
the Sikh community
|
October
2002
Surjit
Patar |
Surjit Patara,
legendary Punjabi poet, spoke on the creative process and concluded
his lecture by singing some of his unpublished poems
|
June 2002
Rajinder
Gill |
Rajinder Gill of
Punjabi University, Patiala, led a discussion on Punjabi music
and poetry
|
November
2001
Shahid
Nadeem |
Shahid Nadeem,
a leading Pakistani playwright, reflected on the problems a
creative writer faces in Pakistan
|
May 2001
Adam
Nayar |
Adam Nayar,
Director of Lok Virsa, an Institute of Folklore in Islamabad,
spoke on Punjabi Sufi poetry
|
May 2000
Iqbal
Qaiser |
Iqbal Qaiser, a
Pakistani scholar of Sikh history, shared his ideas regarding
the preservation of Sikh heritage in Pakistan |
| |
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