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SASA 2010 - South Asia and the West:
Entwined, Entangled and Engaged
Program
Saturday | Sunday
Saturday 10 April 2010
REGISTRATION OPENS AT 8:15 AM
OPENING PLENARY SESSION: 9:00 - 10:00 AM
Board Room
Institute for Continuing Education, La Mesa, CA
Topic: Women and Girls in Contemporary Afghanistan
MIXER/BOOK BROWSE: 10:00 - 10:30 AM
SESSION 1: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Panel 1A: Figueroa A
Empire and Information: Intelligence Gathering, Nationhood and Media in
India
Chair: Arnold P. Kaminsky, California State University, Long Beach
- Freedom of Press: India and the Empire / Commonwealth Press Union,
1940-50
Chandrika Kaul, University of St Andrews - Tristao Bragnca Cunha and Nationalism in Colonial Goa: Mediating Difference
and Essentialising Nationhood
Parag Datta Parobo, Goa University - Colonial State of Exception and Criminalization of the Political:
British Indian Intelligence and Nationalist resistance in the Early
Twentieth Century
John R. Pincince, Loyola University
Panel 1B: Alumni A
Postcolonial Perspectives in Literary Writings and Musical Orientalism
Chair: James McHugh, University of Southern California
- Mughals, Music, and "The Crown of India" Masque: A Reconsideration
of Elgar and the Raj
Joe Pellegrino, Georgia Southern University - Reincarnating the Raj on the Roof of the World: Postcolonial Critique
and Tibetan Nationalism in Jamyang Norbu's The Mandela of Sherlock
Holmes
Sumangala Bhattacharya, Pitzer College - Identity Politics and the Politics of Patriotism: A critique of writings
of some Contemporary Diaspora and India Writers of Historical Fiction
Nita Jain, Christ Church College - "Pull Up the People": M.I.A. and Global Alterity
Namita Thakker, Emory University
Panel 1C: Figueroa B
India-U.S. Relations in the Obama Era: A Roundtable
Chair: Ram M. Roy, California State University, Northridge
- Parkes Riley, Cal Poly, Pomona
- William Vanderbok, Independent Scholar
Panel 1D: Board Room
Screening of "Not in God's Name" - A Documentary on Religious Tolerance
- Discussant: Paula Fouche, Paradise Filmworks
LUNCH: 12:00 Noon
Vinyard Room
Speaker: Gunjan Bagla, Amritt Ventures
Topic: Globalization: India and the U.S.
SESSION 2: 1:30 – 3:00 PM
Panel 2A: Alumni A
India: A Land of Business Opportunity
Chair: Smita Bagla, Amritt Ventures
- How India is Changing, and Why Does India Need American Help?
Praful Kulkarni, GKKWorks - What's New about the Interaction between the Two Largest Entertainment
Centers? How do "Slumdog" and "My Name Is Khan" Change the Way the World
Looks at South Asia?
Ken Silverman, Tata Elxsi and Interactive Teamworks - Working for Home Grown Top Company in the News India
Sandeep Muju, Moser-Baer - How People from Outside South Asia Can Identify and Overcome Cultural
Pitfalls When Working With South Asians And South Asian Companies. Examples
Of How Mistakes Can Cost Business Or Hurt Career Prospects
Sangeeta Gupta, Cross Cultural Communication Consultant
Panel 2B: Figueroa B
Exploring the Creation of a Security Community in South Asia
Chair: Majid Sharifi, Eastern Washington University
- Contemporary European Security Processes and Scholarship
Kristen Edquist, Eastern Washington University - Strategic Altruism and Role of United States in Evolution of the Security
Community in South Asia
Vandana Asthana, Eastern Washington University - A Regime of Insecurity: Killing the "Bad" Guys and Implementing Good
Policies
Majid Sharifi, Eastern Washington University - Security Community: Resource Security and Insecurity in South Asia
Ashok C. Shukla, Independent Scholar, Environment and South Asian Studies
Panel 2C: Figueroa A
Round Table: Challenges and Opportunities around South Asian Studies at
the University of Southern California
Chair: Varun Soni, University of Southern California
- Priya Jaikumar, University of Southern California
- James McHugh, University of Southern California
- Indra Mukhopadhyay, University of Southern California
- Sumun Pendakur, University of Southern California
Panel 2D: Alumni B
Religion and Political Identity
Chair: Carlos Lopez, University of South Florida
- Common Concepts in Syrian Orthodox Church and Sikhism
Zbigniew Igeilski, Warsaw University - Examining Political Islam in Bangladesh as a Transnational Phenomenon
Mubashar Hasan, Al Makhtoum Institute - Scriptural Authority, Religious Identity, and Science in Hindu Nationalism
Jim Sharp, Claremont Graduate University - The Roots of Anti-West Sentiments in Modern South Asia: A Case Study
of Fatawa Literature
Mujeeb Ahmad, International Islamic University
MIXER/BOOK BROWSE: 3:00 - 3:30 PM
Beverages and Snacks Served
SESSION 3: 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Panel 3A: Figueroa A
Enlightenment Impacts, Cultural Resilience and Labor Migration in South
Asia
Chair: Paul Hanson, California Lutheran University,
- From Palashi to Pasthuns, The Deciphering Continues
Koushik Ghosh, Central Washington University - Oral Histories of Labour: Listening To the Diaspora in Manitoba, Canada
Emma Alexander-Mudaliar, University of Winnipeg - South Asia or Southern Asia: Debating the Region
Satyabrat Sinha, Sikkim University - Recent Developments in the Conversation on Nature and Culture in South
Asia
Jana Fornier, University of California, San Diego
Panel 3B: Alumni A
South Asia to the West: Linkages in Arts and Photography
Chair: Ingrid Aall, Cal State University, Long Beach
- The Evolution of Tantric Art: On the Artistic Genius of the Newars
of the Kathmandu Valley
Siddhartha Vibhakar Shah, Independent Art Historian - Frameworks for the Exhibition of Contemporary Pakistani Art in the
West
Allison White, Art Institute of Chicago - Looking in from the Inside/Outside on Falkland Road: Examining Mary
Ellen Mark's Photographs of Sex Workers in Bombay
Liz Lance, University of Missouri
Panel 3C: Alumni B
South Asia and the Search for Dialogue: Using the Internet and Web
Chair: Parkes Riley, Cal Poly, Pomona
- India and Pakistan: Connecting Through the Web
Madhavi Bhasin, Global India Foundation - Birds of a Feather - Professional Uses of Internet Social Networking
Sites
William Vanderbok, Independent Scholar - Fraternity of Civilizations: Prospects for Dialogue and Search for
Common Thread
Maryam Sakeenah, Pakistan
Panel 3D: Board Room
Screening of "Arising Light", A Documentary on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
- Discussant: David Blundell, National Chengchi University
RECEPTION & CULTURAL PROGRAM: 5:15 PM
Vinyard Room
AWARDS BANQUET: 6:00 - 8:30 PM
United University Church
Honoring Dr. Stanley Wolpert and Mr. Navneet Chugh
Welcoming Remarks: Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra
former Chairperson, Pakistan National Commission on the Status of Women
Concluding Remarks: Dr. Muhammad Khalid Ejaz
(Acting) Consul General of Pakistan
SUNDAY 11 April 2010
SESSION 4: 8:30 - 10:00 AM
Panel 4A: Figueroa B
Hinduism and Sexuality
Chair: Phyllis Herman, California State University, Northridge
- Hinduism: Love and Sexual Fluids
Deepak Shimkhada, Claremont Graduate University - The Divine Feminine in Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda: Reading
Radha as Divine Guide
LaChelle Elisabeth Marie Shilling, Claremont Graduate University - Hindu Concepts of Male and Female Divine Union
Adam Pave, Claremont Graduate University - Homoerotic Trope in the Seduction of Rsyasmga (MHB 3.110-113)
Carlos Lopez, University of South Florida
Panel 4B: Figueroa A
Poetry, Fiction and Intellectual History in South Asian Cultures
Chair: Ramdas Lamb, University of Hawaii at Manoa
- The New Agents: Variations in Form and Society in Swarup's Six Suspects
Tanvi Patel, University of Washington - Indivisible - The Poetry of South Asian American
Pireeni Sundaralingam, University of Oxford - An Autobiography of Ismat Chugtai as a Source for the Intellectual
History of South Asia
Sadaf Jaffer, Harvard University - Environmental Literature in Hindi: A New Vista for Global Understanding
Sujata Chaturvedi, Christ Church College
Panel 4C: Alumni A
Discovering the State of Art in Pakistan: Archaeological Perspectives
Chair: Rita Sherma, Taksha University
- South Asia and the West: Entwined, Entangled and Engaged From Its
First Civilization 'til Present through Amphorae
Nargis Rashid, University of Karachi - Badalpur: A New Discovery of a Buddhist Monastery in Taxila (Gandhara)
Pakistan
Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Quaid-i-Azam University - Present State of Buddhist Period Rock Art of the Swat Valley of Pakistan
Badshah Sardar, Allama Iqbal University
Panel 4D: Alumni B
Governance and Politics in India
Chair: Uma Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru University
- Norm Setting in India
Shazia Aziz Wulbers, University of Bremen - Does the Use of "The Supernatural" Distinguish "Western" Secularism
from "Eastern" Communalism in Indian Politics?
Dean Eugene McHenry, Claremont Graduate University - Democracy in the East: Understanding the Continuity and Crisis of
the World's Longest Elected Government
Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, Claremont Graduate University - Governance in Indian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Sector
Muthusami Kumaran, University of Florida
MIXER/BOOK BROWSE: 10:00 - 10:30 AM
Beverages and Snacks Served
SESSION 5: 10:30 AM – 12:00 Noon
Panel 5A: Figueroa A
Empowering Women in South Asia
Chair: Chandrika Kaul, University of St. Andrews
- Re-Evaluation of Gandhian Political and Economic Thought and Its Relevance
to the Empowerment of Women
Purnima Mehta Bhatt, Hood College - Western Feminist Movement and "Women Protection Bill 2006" of Pakistan
- An Analytical Study
Muhammad Hammad Lakhvi, University of Punjab - Educating Sita: Academics as a Vehicle for Promoting Gender and Caste
Balance
Ramdas Lamb, University of Hawaii at Manoa - Dr. Ambedkar - Quest for Liberation: Rights for Women and Religious
Toleration
David Blundell, National Chengchi University
Panel 5B: Figueroa B
Reshaping Spiritual, Cinematic and Artful Negotiations in the East
Chair: Joe Pellegrino, Georgia Southern University
- Transforming the Object Art: Devotional Fanscapes and M.F. Husain
Shalini Kakar, University of California at Santa Barbara - "Psy-Babas" Spiritual Labor and Ritual Exoticism in Tourist Goa
Pavithra Prasad, North Western University - Quest for Individuation: An Analysis of Deepa Mehta's "Water" through
the Jungian Therapeutic Lens
Paulson V. Veliyannoor, Pacifica Graduate Institute - New Media Empowerment for Rural India
Ramesh Srinivasan, University of California, Los Angeles
Panel 5C: Alumni A
Contextual Utilization and Interpretation of Gandhi's Philosophy
Chair: Dean Eugene McHenry, Claremont Graduate University
- The Hermeneutic of Re-Constructing the Paradigm of Nonviolent Resistance
and the Modern-Day Challenge of Terrorism
Veena Rani Howard, University of Oregon - Gandhi on Palestine
Geoffrey Cook, The Muslim Observer
Panel 5D: Alumni B
Peace and Conflict Resolution: Diaspora and Developing Societies in South
Asia
Chair: Vandana Asthana, Eastern Washington University
- Diasporas, Development and Conflict Resolution: A Sri Lanka Case Study
Asoka Bandarage, Georgetown University - Storm and Calm in Swat, Pakistan
Zahid Anwar, University of Peshawar - Intra-Ethnic Electoral Violence in Divided Societies: The Case of
Sri Lanka
Seema Shah, University of California, Los Angeles
LUNCH: 12:00 Noon
Vinyard Room
Roundtable Discussion:
Public Diplomacy, Cultural Identity, and Diasporic Engagement
Panelists:
Shamila N. Chaudhary joined the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff in February 2009 and is responsible for South and Central Asia. She also advises on Pakistan issues for Richard C. Holbrooke, the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Sajit Gandhi currently serves as a South Asia Analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State. Immediately prior to this he was the Deputy Director for Strategic Communications in the office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Christopher Steinitz is a Research Analyst in the Center for Strategic Studies at CNA, a Congressionally-established, non-profit think tank in Alexandria, VA. His areas of expertise are the Arab world, the Muslim world, and Terrorism/Counterterrorism.
SESSION 6: 1:30 – 3:00 PM
Panel 6A: Alumni A
U.S. Policy in South Asia
Chair: A. C. Shukla, Independent Scholar, South Asian Studies
- Intensive U.S. Engagement for Enhanced Stabilization in South Asia
Umbreen Javaid, University of Punjab - U.S.'s Af - Pak Strategy and Its Impact on India and Pakistan
Uma Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru University - Pakistan and West: Entwined, Entangled and Engaged
Rana Eijaz Ahmad and Abida Eijaz, University of Punjab
Panel 6B: Alumni B
Similarities and Interface of Art between the East and the West
Chair: Ingrid Aall, Cal State University, Long Beach
- Artistic Interaction Between Greece and India in Northwest India:
Role of Royal and Religious Establishments
Nalini Rao, Soka University of America - Evidence of Mythological Similarities Between Hindu and Greek Culture:
Study Based on Indo-Greek Coins
Renu Lal, Member, Canada - A Fresh Thought on Iconographic Symbolism of Buddhist Art: Buddha
Invited by Srigupta Represented in Gandhara Sculpture, Archeology, History
Art
Ghani-ur-Rahman, Quaid-i-Azam University
Panel 6C: Figueroa B
Science, Tradition and the Religious Landscape
Chair: Christopher Chapple, Loyola Marymount University
- Representing Hindu Traditions in the Hindu Students Council
Daniel Philip Cheifer, Syracuse University - Bridging Ancient Eastern Thought with Modern Science
Jesse Bettinger, Claremont Graduate University - Problems of East-West Transmission: Should Hindus Expect Gratitude
for the Gifts of Hindu Civilization to the West?
Rita Sherma, Taksha University
Panel 6D: Figueroa A
Cultures, Hegemonies and Identity Poliics
Chair: Kundan Singh, California Institute of Integral Studies
- Recreation of Identity Among the Second Generation Transnational in
the Little India Enclave in Southern California
Surekha Acharya and Lalit Acharya, Riverside Community College and City of Riverside - Yoga and Public Feelings: On the Imminent Expression of Identity Politics
Amy Champ, University of California, Davis - Racial and Ethnic Conundrums: South Asian-Americans and Formations
of Power
Roksana Badruddoja, California State University, Fresno
MIXER/BOOK BROWSE: 3:00 – 3:30 PM
Beverages and Snacks Served
SESSION 7: 3:30 – 5:00 PM
Panel 7A: Figueroa A
Nondualism Awareness in Yoga, Trika Saivism, Vira Saivism and Advaita
Vedanta
Chair: Nalini Rao, Soka University of America
- The Emergence of Power from Concentrated Awareness in Patanjali’s
Vibhuti Pada
Christopher Chapple, Loyola Marymount University - Abhinavagupta and the Flourishing Kashmir School
Viresh Hughes, Loyola Marymount University - Poet Saints and the Ascent from Devotion to Union in South Asia
Jodi Shaw, Loyola Marymount University - Nisargadatta, A 20th-Century Advaita: There Is No Self and There Is
No Self
Chad Richman, Loyola Marymount University
Panel 7B: Alumni A
South Asian Mosaic: Indigenous Knowledge, Medicine and the Fashion Industry
Chair: Rita Sherma, Taksha University
- Socio-Economic Implications, Forestlands and Tribal Knowledge of Bundelkhand,
India: Local Resource and South Asian Dimension
Ashok Kumar Awasthi, Brahmanand College - Indian Apparel Industry - Influencing the World
Divya Satyan, Institute of Fashion Technology - From Medicine to Complementary Medicine, Ayurveda at Home and Abroad
Sujata Venkatesh, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Panel 7C: Figueroa B
Examining Ideas of Enlightenment, Salvation and Ethics in Religions Texts
and Buddhist Studies
Chair: Deepak Shimkhada, Claremont Graduate University
- An Examination of the Sotopanna in Light of Buddha's Missionary Desire
Calvin Baker, University of the West - Religious Value or Superstition in the Soteriology of Samkaracharya:
A Contemplative Hermeneutic
Paul Devitto, Claremont Graduate University - Paul Hacker's Erroneous Conclusions on European influence on Swami
Vivekananda's Vedanta Ethics
Kundan Singh, California Institute of Integral Studies