Archaeological Survey of India Shimla Circle, Himachal Pradesh Human imagination from the advent of civilization has found myriad ways of expressing its creativity. Images crafted on stonewall in ancient caves that must have served as homestead/shelter for the early humans are repositories of human ability to create. Rationalizing its existence is an enigma that connoisseurs […]
Rescripting the Anthropocene: Health, Happiness and Hope
Conference Report The Department of Anthropology, University of Delhi organized a three-day International Pre-Congress under the aegis of the United Indian Anthropology Forum (UIAF) on the topic ‘Rescripting the Anthropocene: Health, Happiness and Hope’ from January 11th -13th, 2023. The conference commemorated the centenary foundation year of the University of Delhi and marked the 75 […]
Yes, it matters when …… it hurts!!!
Rtd. Faculty, Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune For several weeks, in the UIAF WhatsApp group, discussions on complex and intricate issues involving ethics in biological, archaeological and social anthropological research has taken centre stage. Given my years of engagement with research on skeletal remains that requires painstaking field excavations, and handling of human […]
CONTOURS OF EXILE: DISPLACED AND BRUISED
Field Narratives of Kashmiri Pandits from Jagati, Jammu and Delhi-NCR Email: [email protected] As I pondered over possible areas of research for my thesis, I was naturally drawn to the idea of exploring my own community. With time, I realised I wanted to engage with the history of what happened to the Kashmiri Pandits more than […]
Professor L K Mahapatra
A dreamy-eyed 18 years old attended a series of lectures by Prof. K.P.Chattopadhyay of Calcutta University. Lectures, that discussed the plight of the oppressed sections of society, especially tribal people. This young man, Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra, was overwhelmed and decided to dedicate his life to comprehend the causes of tribal subjugation. Instantaneously, he decided to […]
RECONSTRUCTING NARRATIVES AND HISTORICTY OF CASTE
Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology (retd.) Department of Anthropology [email protected] Many a doctrine is like a windowpane. We see truth through it but it divides us from truth. On opening first few pages of N. K. Vaid’s recent publication titled Truth about Caste (2022), Khalil Gibran’s famous quote about truth echoed in my ears. […]
Ethics in Research | UIAF
Relativity applies to physics, not ethics Albert Einstein Following ethics is a way of life. Ethics is also a personal attribute, which one follows in all walks of life, be in personal, professional, research and institutional. However, we may teach the principles of ethics, and if self-conscience is not attuned, there is a tendency to […]
Professor S R K Chopra
History of palaeoanthropology in India would be incomplete without acknowledging the contributions of Professor Shiv Raj Kumar Chopra, Founder Head of the Department of Anthropology at Panjab University, Chandigarh. Erudition, dedicated commitment to knowledge and valuing others above self are the few widely acknowledged attributes of this distinguished scholar. Admired for his charisma and ability […]
Professor L P Vidyarthi
This extraordinary internationally acclaimed anthropologist of the Third World spent his childhood very ordinarily (Sahay, 1988, 2001). Born in a remote village of Bariyarpur, under the Barh Police Station, District Patna in the State of Bihar, Vidyarthi learned the initial alphabets under the shade of a tree in a gurupinda (a village school of traditional […]
Drafts | UIAF
December 20, 2020 6.30 PM to 8.30 PM IST Dr. Zazie Bowen, Anthropologist, The Australian National University will be delivering the lecture and the programme will be presided by Professor Vijoy S. Sahay, Former Head, Department of Anthropology, Allahabad University.
Professor Dhirendra N Majumdar
Professor Dhirendra Nath Majumdar, an anthropologist par excellence, was born in 1903 at Patna. A post graduate from the University of Calcutta, his journey in ethnographic research was influenced by Shri Sarat Chandra Roy from whom Majumdar learnt his ‘ first lessons in field investigation’( Majumdar 1937) when he undertook intensive fieldwork among the Ho […]
William Halse Rivers (W.H.R. Rivers) (12th March 1864 – 4th June 1922) | UIAF
W.H.R. Rivers (FRC, FRAI)(Photo Credit: Wikipedia) The anthropological conversations among the members of the United Indian Anthropology Forum engages constructive and critical deliberations on various important issues and highlights the significance of anthropology and contributions of anthropologists in these debates. These conversations bring about critical thinking driven by inference from anthropological research and validated information […]
Professor M. N. Srinivas
Padma Bhushan awardee renowned social anthropologist and sociologist late Prof. M.N. Srinivas has inspired an entire generation of Social Scientists to shift from Book view of the Societies to its Field View. Mysore Narsimhacharya Srinivas was born in a traditional Brahmin family in Mysore on 16th November 1916. He came from a family that valued […]
Professor Gopala Sarana
Indian anthropology is often critiqued for not having made significant contributions to anthropological theory and methodology. This is primarily due to the absence of concerted efforts to document and present contributions of eminent anthropologists in the public domain. Lack of access to open international academic spaces is one of the reasons for denying this legitimate […]