Philosophy in India News

MHRD/AICTE Sponsored Summer School

Desh Raj Sirswal — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:37:51 +0000

MHRD/AICTE Sponsored Summer School
Imaginative Reading, Creative Writing: Language, Literature and the Teacher
(February 1-7, 2010)

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences,
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Overview
One of the pitfalls of our present day education system is its undue emphasis on cognitive modes of organising knowledge. Such a cognitive leaning and orientation towards knowledge runs the risk of destroying the imaginative and the creative roots of life as a result of which the student ceases to show interest in the formulation and exploration of life’s emotions and experiences. By focussing on Reading and Writing – the two advanced skills of language learning – and sprinkling upon these skills some colouring of imagination and creativity, the proposed winter school tries to redress the loophole present in our education system. By sensitizing teachers towards the magic potentials of Imaginative Reading and Creative Writing, this training programme aims at enabling them to appreciate, politically as well as aesthetically, the world of literature and culture. In this context it is prudent to remember the simple but a well-established axiom that language, in its literary manifestation, provides a vital and lively means for engaging teachers and students in transformative learning. It is in order to sensitise students and teacher towards this dimension of learning that this theme is proposed for the MHRD/AICTE sponsored winter school.
Course Content
• Literature and Literary Studies
1. Reading a Text: With Theory and Without Theory
2. Is there a Postcolonial Reading of Literature?
3. Feminism: Subversive Reading and Creative Writing
4. Reading a Text at the Expense of the Author: Revisiting Roland Barthes
5. Can You Write Creatively?: A Creative Writing Workshop
6. Translation, Tradition and Intertextuality: Reading a Classic in Translation
• Media Studies
1. Reading a Moving Text vis-୶is the Frozen Text: Cinema and Novel
2. Teaching Jhumpa Lahiri through Mira Nair: Writer, Director and Teacher
3. Reading Reality & Portraying Life: Artistic Movies and Commercial Movies
4. Satyajit Ray: A Writers’ Dream
5. Writing Short Documentaries
• Performing Arts
1. Reading through Colours: Painting as Text
2. Rabindranath Tagore: Painter as Writer or Writer as Painter?
3. Smile Please: Language of Photography
4. Reading Shakespeare through Performance
5. Singing Text: Music and Poetry
Resource Persons
Experts in the fields of Literature, Literary Studies, Media and Performing Arts are invited from different parts of the country to deliver lectures and conduct workshops. Apart from them, faculty members of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur will conduct sessions/deliver lectures.
How to Apply
Interested candidates teaching in AICTE recognized colleges may send their applications through the Principal/Director of their institutes. Registration Forms can be downloaded from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur website. Applications may be faxed or scanned and emailed, sent by speed post to the address below before December 30, 2009. Selected applicants will be notified by January 5, 2010.
Download Application Form
Registration Fee
There is no registration fee for teachers of AICTE approved engineering and management institutes. Selected candidates will be provided with AC-3 train fare as per AICTE norms. Participants from other than AICTE approved institutes have to send a DD for Rs.5000 in favour of CEP, IIT Kharagpur.
Lodging and Boarding
Participants will be provided with lodging and boarding facilities within the institute premises.
Location
IIT Kharagpur is 116 kms away from Kolkata. It is the first and the largest of all the IITs. Kharagpur is an important junction in South-Eastern Railways and is well connected to all major cities in India. The Indian Institute of Technology is about 5kms from Kharagpur railways station and is accessible by rickshaws, autos and taxis from the station.
Contact
Dr H S Komalesha
Principle Coordinator
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Kharagpur – 721 302 (West Bengal)
Phone: 032222 – 283618; Fax: 03222 – 282270
Mobile: 09474721967; Email: komalesha.stc@gmail.com

Ms Priyanka Tripathi
Co-coordinator

Dr Jayashree C
Co-coordinator
Link:
http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/news/showannouncedescr.php?newsid=415

MHRD/AICTE Sponsored Winter School On Logic and Applications of Logic

Desh Raj Sirswal — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:35:40 +0000

MHRD/AICTE Sponsored Winter School On Logic and Applications of Logic

MHRD/AICTE WINTER SCHOOL
ON
LOGIC & APPLICATIONS OF LOGIC
DECEMBER 7-18, 2009
Department of Humanities & Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
West Bengal 721302
OVERVIEW
As the essential foundation for rational investigation, logic is a part of every systematic field of inquiry. Its versatility is evinced in its vast & varied applications in digital electronics, computer and manufacturing, technologies, and also for deliberating in law, public policy and business strategy. In view of the above, it is a value-addition to one’s skill-base to be exposed to this all-important subject and its recent applications
AIM OF THE COURSE
This course is designed to enable the participants
• To refresh acquaintance with the basics of classical logic and other kinds of logic
• To strengthen foundation with a rigorous and problem-oriented training
• To develop a ’soft skill’ with informal logic for decision-making & appraisal
• To get acquainted with some of the recent and important applications of logic
SOME OF THE PROPOSED TOPICS
A. Propositional Logic
B. Logic of Categories
C. First Order Predicate Calculus
D. Basic Fuzzy Logic and its applications
E. Type-2 Fuzzy logic
F. Temporal Logic and its applications
G. Neurofuzzy Logic
H. Probabilistic Logic, Bayes’ theorem and inductive logic
I. Modal Logic
J. Rough Set, Rough Logic and Application
K. Cellular Automata: Theory and Application
COURSE MATERIAL
Required course material will be provided.
CERTIFICATE
After successful completion of the course, participants will receive a certificate issued by Continuing Education Programme (CEP), IIT Kharagpur.
SOME IIT KHARAGPUR FACULTY INVOLVED
• Prof P P Chakraborti, Dept of Computer Science and Engg
• Prof S Barai, Dept of Civil Engg
• Prof N Chakraborti, Dept of Metallurgy and Materials Engg
• Prof. C. Chakraborti, Dept of HSS (Coordinator)
Some External Faculty involved:
Prof Partha Chakroborty, Dept of Civil Engg IIT Kanpur
Prof Mohua Bannerjee,Dept of Maths, IIT Kanpur
Prof Jaya Sil, Dept of Computer Science, Bengal Engineering and Science University
ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATION
Faculty of AICTE approved Engineering Colleges and Universities, research personnel from R&D organizations, faculty and students from other than AICTE approved Engineering Colleges of different academic background including the related fields of humanities and social sciences, are eligible.
COURSE FEES
Faculty from AICTE approved Engineering Colleges and Universities with approval from the organization as QIP candidate NO FEES (TA and Other benefits as per AICTE norm). A registration fee of Rs. 300 (refundable) is required with application.
Sponsored candidates from private sector /industry: Rs. 5000
Faculty from other than AICTE approved Engineering Colleges: Rs 3000
Research scholars /students from other than AICTE approved organizations(UG students not eligible) Rs 2000
IIT Kharagpur faculty/staff(UG students not eligible) No fees

Accommodation for candidates from AICTE approved Organizations will be arranged in IIT Kharagpur Guest Houses/ Dormitories as per availability.
Travel, boarding and lodging expenses are to be borne by participants from other than AICTE approved Engineering Colleges. However, upon request well in advance, efforts will be made to book accommodation as per availability.
Course fees are to be paid strictly by bank draft drawn in favor of ‘CEP-STC, IIT Kharagpur’ payable at Kharagpur.
HOW TO APPLY
Interested persons may submit the completed application form along with a 1-page CV.
Download Application Form
Mailing address:
Prof. Chhanda Chakraborti
Coordinator, STC on Logic and Applications of Logic
Dept of HSS, IIT Kharagpur
W.B.721 302.
Other contact information:
Tel: 03222-283602 (o), 03222-283603 (R) Fax:03222-255303/282280
Email: chhanda@iitkgp.ac.in, chhanda@hss.iitkgp.ernet.in
About the Coordinator:
Dr Chhanda Chakraborti obtained her Ph D from University of Utah, USA, and she is double M.A from University of Washington, USA, and Jadavpur University. She joined IIT Kharagpur in 1999. Her teaching and research interests are logic and cognitive science. She has more than 15 years of experience of teaching logic in India and abroad. She has delivered many invited lectures in reputed universities abroad and in India, and has held visiting positions abroad. Her most recent publication is a book on logic “LOGIC: Informal, Symbolic and Inductive”, PHI, 2006 (2nd edition forthcoming in 2007).
IMPORTANT DATES
Last date for receiving application: December 1, 2009
Course dates: December 7-18, 2009
LOCATION
Situated 116 Km away from Kolkata, IIT Kharagpur boasts of being the oldest and the largest IIT. Its green, tranquil campus provides a refreshing contrast to the polluted city life. Kharagpur is an important junction in the South-Eastern Railways, and is connected to all major cities in India. Local and express trains connect it to Howrah Station. The IIT is about 5Km from Kharagpur railway station, and is accessible by rickshaws, autos, and taxis from the station. The beach town of Digha on the Bay of Bengal is 120 Km from Kharagpur.

For more details:
http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/news/showannouncedescr.php?newsid=405

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE EXCELLENCE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION

Desh Raj Sirswal — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:12:25 +0000

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
“EXCELLENCE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION” DECEMBER 28-30, 2009 IIT DELHI

CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN
PROF. VINAYSHIL GAUTAM

CONFERENCE CO-ORDINATOR
DR. HARISH CHAUDHRY

Address all Communication to:
Priyanka Dewan 507, Department of Management Studies, Vishwakarma Bhawan, Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg, IIT Delhi, New Delhi-110016 Contact: 011-26591170, +919582337659
email: educonference09@gmail.com

for more details:
http://www.iitd.ac.in/events/BrochureDMS.pdf

Science & Technology in Ancient Indian Texts (STAIT)

Desh Raj Sirswal — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:55:32 +0000

Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies (SCSS)
Jawaharlal Nehru University
in collaboration with
Center for Indic Studies
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, USA
is organising
International seminar
Science & Technology in Ancient Indian Texts (STAIT)
on
January 9-10, 2010
The Special Center for Sanskrit Studies, JNU, in collaboration with the Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth is organizing a two day seminar on “Science & Technology in Ancient Indian Texts (STAIT)” during January 9-10, 2010. This seminar is an activity under a project running at the Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth under the directorship of Prof. Bal Ram Singh. This project aims to explore provable scientific and technological concepts in ancient Indian texts.
The seminar is proposed to invite experts from India and abroad working on natural sciences in Sanskrit under the following broad categories. This seminar aims at bringing together persons having academic interest in diverse areas of Sanskrit and Science. Though the area of Indic Science is broad, we are trying to focus on the following themes -
• Biological & Environmental Sciences
• Chemical Sciences & Metallurgy
• Physical Sciences & Astronomy
• Medical Sciences, Ayurveda, Yoga for healing
• Mathematical and linguistic Sciences
• Engineering including vaastu, vimaana shaastra, ship building, war, armament
• Agricultural sciences & animal husbandry
• Other novel sciences (not covered under 1-7)
REGISTRATION:
Please send the following information to Dr. Girish Nath Jha by email
(girishjha@gmail.com) -
Name, Designation, Affiliation, Address, email id, phone number, mobile number.
Registration fee of Rs 500/- should be paid by demand draft (in the name of
“Finance Officer, J.N.U.” payable at New Delhi

The registration fee will cover the food and seminar materials during the seminar.
Contact:
Prof. Bal Ram Singh, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Indic Studies
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
285 Old Westport Road
Dartmouth, MA 02747
Phone: 508-999-8588
Fax: 508-999-8451
bsingh@umassd.edu
http://www.umassd.edu/indic

Dr. Girish Nath Jha
Associate Professor,
Computational Linguistics
Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies.
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi-110-067
Phone- 91-11-2673-8834
Fax – 91-11-2674-1308
girishjha@gmail.com
http://sanskrit.jnu.ac.in
For more details go to:
http://sanskrit.jnu.ac.in/conf/stait/index.html

Winter School on Community, Tribes and Modernity

Desh Raj Sirswal — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:02:48 +0000

A most frequently used concept in the human sciences such as anthropology, sociology, political science and history is the concept of a community. In recent times the idea of a community has also acquired a great deal of importance in philosophical debates. It is inevitable that the variety of uses of this idea in diverse academic disciplines will influence each other- in many cases in a tacit or subterranean fashion. Apart from the more or less technical use of the concept of a community in these various disciplines, it has also entered into common everyday vocabulary in phrases such as ‘the international community’, ‘the business community’, ‘the student community’ etc. Since very far reaching arguments in these disciplines centre round the idea of a community and that of its supposed opposite, the individual, it is of the utmost importance that we have before us as clear a map of this concept as possible for clarity of debate.

Another related idea is that of a tribe. Although this idea has a fairly well demarcated use in the discipline of anthropology, its use, like that of the concept of a community, has acquired a very significantly variegated perspective in contemporary intellectual parlance. Occasionally the employment of this concept in the practical political domain can be quite bewildering.

The two concepts of a tribe and a community together play a pervasive role particularly in our political debates within the framework of a democratic structure. There is also a tacit assumption that the two are most intimately connected. And yet there is very little analytic debate about either or about their inter-relationship.

In the context of the very wide use of the idea of a community and that of a tribe, the following aspects of modernity need to be seriously re-examined:

I. Liberalism and its focus on the individual.
II. Universal acceptability of certain values.
III. Context-independence of reasonability and truth.
IV. Moral responsibility of institutions and individuals for past actions of which they were not part. (Such responsibility as ground for “affirmative action”.)
V. The gulf between the so called global community and the geographically delimited tribal community.

In order to acquaint young scholars with these concepts a Winter School is planned from 22 February – 4 March 2010 in Shillong by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. The venue of the winter school is most likely to be North Eastern Hill University and the ICSSR regional Centre. The proposed winter school will be devoted (in the form of lectures, seminars, presentations by participants) to above mentioned issues.

The Winter School will be conducted by various eminent scholars from several disciplines such as of politics, anthropology, sociology, philosophy and literature.

Applications are invited from young College and University teachers/researchers in the discipline of Philosophy (preference will be given to the candidates from North East of India) in the age group of 22 to 40 years.

A batch of 25 participants will be selected from amongst the applicants. Those interested may send their bio-data (that should include their academic qualification, experience, research interest and area of specialization).

All expenses will be borne by the IIAS. Applications for the above programme should reach IIAS on before 20th December 2009. Those selected will be informed by 31 December 2009.

Applications may be sent by email at autumnschool@gmail.com or by post at:

Winter School in Philosophy
Indian Institute of Advanced Study
Rashtrapati Nivas
Shimla 171 005

Link: http://www.iias.org/winter_School_2009.html

Spring School on Mahabharata

Desh Raj Sirswal — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:00:41 +0000

Applications are invited for the first Spring School on the Mahabharata at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. The duration of the School will be from 14 April, 2010 to 28 April, 2010. It will consist of lectures by Philosophers, Historians, and Sanskritists followed by discussions among the participants on a set of pre-selected readings. The themes covered will include but will not be restricted to the following: modes of narration, the critical edition and its methodology, the central characters, the ideal life style, dharma and its transgressions, dissidence, non-violence and cruelty, the Gita and its modern interpretations. A detailed Concept Note can be found at the Institute’s web site at www.iias.org . At the end of the School, every participant will be required to submit a monograph on a relevant theme approved by the Coordinators.

Applicants should be preferably in the age group of 25-40 and should hold a Masters Degree in any subject from Humanities or Social Sciences. Proficiency in Sanskrit is NOT essential. However, working knowledge of the language is desirable. Those interested are requested to send a one page write up on why they would like to attend the School, the level of their acquaintance with the Mahabharata, along with their CV. All expenses will be borne by the IIAS.
Applications must reach IIAS by 15 December 2009. Those selected will be informed by 31 December 2009.
Applications may be sent by email at autumnschool@gmail.com or by post at:

Spring School on Mahabharata
Indian Institute of Advanced Study
Rashtrapati Nivas
Shimla 171 005

Link:

http://www.iias.org/spring_School10.html

Seminar on FUTURE OF PHILOSOPHY

Desh Raj Sirswal — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:33:48 +0000

International Philosophy Day

SEMINAR ON

FUTURE OF PHILOSOPHY

December 14-15, 2009

International Confrence

Desh Raj Sirswal — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:16:29 +0000

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BUSINESS ETHICS AND CORPORTE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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3 to 5 December 2009
Belgaum, KARNATAKA, India

Website: http://www.klsimer.com
Contact name: Dr. A.B. Kalkundrikar – Director

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Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility have become critical business issues in the scenario of the recent global economic meltdown. The main theme of the ICBECSR’09 will be to relook at Business Ethics and CSR.

Organized by: KLS’s Institute of Management Education and Research, Belgaum
Deadline for abstracts/proposals: 15 June 2009 for