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.
|
May
23, 2005
Dr.
Tejwant Singh Gill
Guru
Nanak Dev University,
Amritsar 
|
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.
|
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.
|
November
19, 2004
Dr.
Caroline Sawyer
SUNY - Old Westbury
|
“Shaykh
Ahmad al-Sirhindi: Punjabi’s Renewer of Islam in a Turbulent
Age"
Dr. 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. Krishan 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
Languages and Culture,
University of Michigan 
|
Dr. Singh
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
Economics, Coventry University 
|
Dr. Thandi 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
Gautam
Bhadra
History, Calcutta University 
|
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
Director, Advanced Center for Technical Development of Punjabi
Language, Punjabi University, Patiala |
Dr. Lehal 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
Physician Turned Painter |
Dr. Singh spoke
on his life career and artistic pursuits in the U.S.
|
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
Leading Punjabi Poet |
Surjit Patara spoke
on the nature of the creative process and concluded 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
Punjabi Poet |
Mr. Nadeem reflected
on the problems a creative writer faces in Pakistan.
|
May 2001
Adam
Nayar
Director of Lok Virsa, an Institute of Folklore in Islamabad |
Dr. Nayar spoke
on Punjabi Sufi poetry.
|
May 2000
Iqbal
Qaiser
a Pakistani scholar of Sikh history |
Iqbal Qaiser shared
his ideas regarding the preservation of Sikh heritage in Pakistan. |
