South Asian Studies

Shahzia Sikander, the Pakistani-born internationally acclaimed artist who now resides in New York City, will join in a conversation about the meanings and context of Sikander‘s newly installed glass mosaic. Perennial Gaze is the newest addition to Middlebury College’s renowned Public Art Collection.   A reception will follow the talk. FREE

Through her decades-long ethnography of Hindu temple rituals in the city of Bangalore, India, Tulasi Srinivas analyzes wonder as an anthropological concept; moments where ritual enmeshes with global modernity to create wonder- a feeling of amazement at being overcome by the unexpected and sublime. In this talk, Srinivas asks— What is the purpose of wonder and how does it link with creativity? Can it inform our practices of ethnography, our understanding of India, and of ourselves?

On June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India, suspending constitutional rights and rounding up her political opponents in midnight raids. In the twenty-one harrowing months that followed, her regime unleashed a brutal campaign of coercion and intimidation.