S. Vishnu Sharma
CMS of IIT Madras hosted Asia’s first international memory studies workshop.
This event by CMS (Centre for Memory Studies) of IIT Madras precedes the official launch of the Indian Network for Memory Studies (INMS) and brought together participants from all over the world.
INMS is likely to be launched in mid June this year through a virtual event at IIT Madras.
CMS of IIT Madras conducted the event from 26 to 30 April and had 108 registered participants.
CMS of IIT Madras hosts great workshop on memory studies
The highlight of the event by CMS of IIT Madras was a number of participants acknowledged the academic as well as the deeply existential need to engage with the field of Memory Studies in the current pandemic world where memory, connectivity and empathy emerge as vital human attributes.
The key objectives of this workshop held by CMS of IIT Madras are:
Ø To provide a pioneering scholarly platform to train and mentor doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in Memory Studies.
Ø To align interests from different disciplinary locations and identify research convergences to foster institute-level collaborations in India as well as internationally.
Ø To facilitate the emergence of research methods and innovative, interactive, immersive tools in Memory Studies with the aid of digital technologies
Ø To facilitate the formation of research clusters and networks academically as well as with industry partners.
Professor Jyotirmaya Tripathy, Head, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), IIT Madras delivered the inaugural address at the event of CMS of IIT Madras.
Humanities and Social Sciences Department always attempts to bring training and research together, so teaching and research are seen as complementary pursuits, he said.
‘I congratulate our young and energetic faculty members Dr. Avishek Parui and Dr. Merin Simi Raj for their work on this domain of Memory Studies.’
CMS at IIT Madras functions under the ‘Institute of Eminence’ (IoE) scheme funded by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
Its Principal Investigators are Dr. Merin Simi Raj and Dr. Avishek Parui, Assistant Professors (English), Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras.
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Dr. Merin Simiraj speaking about the workshop of CMS of IIT Madras said this workshop may be seen as a formal starting point of the acknowledgement of the domain of Memory Studies in Indian academia.
‘We have already begun to receive immense interest from scholars for pursuing PhD, Post-doc, and Project and Internship positions.’
What stood out throughout the sessions in this event by CMS of IIT Madras was the deliberate but systematic departures from Euro-centric memory studies frameworks of thought and practice.
This was evident in the choice of texts and sites for discussion where materiality, space, caste, gender, race and class could be foregrounded through the medium of machines and fiction.
Dr. Avishek Parui also spoke about the workshop by CMS of IIT Madras.
This signals a shift in Humanities education. Through international collaborations with memory studies centres and groups in University of Warwick (UK), University of Andrews (UK), Frankfurt Memory Studies Platform (Germany) and Memory Studies Association (Amsterdam) we hope to be able to streamline and offer innovative courses in Memory Studies with partnerships from industry, offering a pioneering platform in Indian academia for students and scholars in the times to come, said Dr. Avishek.
The sessions led by Professor K. Nayar, Professor Bharathi Harishankar and Dr. Sathyaraj Venkatesan at the workshop by CMS of IIT Madras helped the participants connect methodologies and frameworks through graphic art, feminist literature and graphic medicine.
Professor Pramod is President’s Visitor’s Research awardee and is from University of Hyderabad.
Professor Bharathi Harishankar is from University of Madras and Dr. Sathyaraj Venkatesan is from NIT Trichy.
What added innovative flavour of immersive technology to the workshop of CMS of IIT Madras? The sessions on Spatial Storytelling and Digital Humans Dr. Ashok Maharaj and Lakshmi Deshpande from Tata Consultancy Services.
These also remained core to the philosophy and activities from CMS of IIT Madras.
The final session at the workshop of CMS of IIT Madras was on ‘Research Road Ahead.’
A number of participants identified convergences in their researches and endeavoured to make more formal and institutional collaborations.
The researchers from University of Warwick, Leeds Beckett University, IIT Madras and Jadavpur University showcased their ongoing research work.
Professor Nandini Saha, former Head, Department of English, University of Jadavpur, said the workshop by CMS of IIT Madras was wonderfully curated with brilliant plenary sessions, extremely engaging discussions, so much to learn from, and such excellently fantastic research work being done.
Thanks again to Dr Parui and Dr Raj and all the scholars and students for this enriching and wonderful experience, she said.
Professor Devendra Jalihal, Chairman, Centre for Continuing Education, IIT Madras spoke during the valedictory session of the workshop by CMS of IIT Madras.
He appreciation the workshop and the participants.
The workshop was offered as a certified Continuing Education Programme (CEP) course through the Centre for Continuing Education.