Pondicherry University - A central university

PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY

( A CENTRAL UNIVERSITY )

CENTRE FOR WOMEN’S STUDIES

National Seminar on
Relocating Gender Identity: Women, Culture and Society in India
23-25 Feb 2006

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The Centre for Women’s Studies, Pondicherry University is organizing a three-day National Seminar on Relocating Gender Identity: Women, Culture and Society in India from 23-25 February, 2006. Despite various forms of patriarchy that have been operating within the state and without, within home and elsewhere, women in India have succeeded in delineating a unique space for themselves. The seminar explores the ways in which the woman in India has relocated her identity to create a space for herself within and beyond the patriarchal structures of state and society. It is intended to foster debate about the construction and implications of categories of gender difference and sexual identity through an examination of notions of femininity and masculinity across the different linguistic, religious, social and historical aspects and how these concepts are represented within India’s diverse cultural traditions. The seminar focuses on gender and sexuality as primary categories of analysis and engages these domains in many different ways which include gendered family structures; the gendering of labor force participation; representations of women in literature and the visual arts; intersections of religion and gender; women’s legal status and women's participation in politics.

Keeping the concept of ‘gender’ as the tool of critical analysis, we invite papers from the interdisciplinary perspectives of literature, history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, religion, philosophy, media studies and cultural studies in order to address, debate and critique women’s issues in India, past, present and future. It is hoped that this seminar will provide new directions for rejuvenating women’s studies by interrelating academic theories to social realities. The following are the objectives and themes of the seminar:

Objectives

1. To explore new perspectives on Women’s role in the public and the private spheres of life.
2. To redefine Women’s traditional roles.
3. To recast women’s private spheres.
4. To reassess women’s place in the public spaces.
5. To foreground women’s roles that have been silenced and marginalized.

Themes

1. Reappraisal of women’s role in historical changes
2. Women’s religious discourse.
3. Critique of women’s involvement in religion.
4. Examining law and its implications for women
5. Understanding stereotyping and its impact on the politics of the body.
6. Analyzing emotional and psychological consequences of specific women related issues.
7. Examining the devaluation of women’s work.
8. Relocating gender identities in literary and visual narratives.
9. Debating the impact of science and technology on women’s activities.

We invite you to participate in the seminar. We request you to confirm your participation by February 10th 2006. Registration fee: Rs 150/- by DD payable to Dr Usha V.T.
Coordinator, Centre for Women’s Studies, Pondicherry University.

If accommodation is required and you want us to book space for you please pay Rs 500/- as advance towards booking after specifying dates and type of accommodation. Please note that this has to be done at the earliest as February is prime tourist season at Pondicherry. We hope that your institute will be in a position to sponsor your travel. We will be happy to provide you local hospitality.

Contact:
Dr. V. T. Usha, Reader and Co-ordinator, Centre for Women’s Studies, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry – 14.(email: usha_vt@redifmail.com)
phone 0413 2655991-463(o) 0413 2656101
Dr. G. Chandhrika, Reader, Department of History, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry – 14(email: chandhrika@sancharnet.in)

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