Image: Courtesy of Dev N. Pathak, Sociology, SAU.
About The Department - Vision and Beyond



Over the last half century or so, a vast body of knowledge(s) on the region has evolved within South Asia that mostly remain within the countries of their origin due to a number of reasons. In this specific context, there is a crucial need to share some of this knowledge in contemporary times when, despite assertions of localisations and mini-narratives, the universal does retain its emphasis through a constant dialectics of the two. The debate between the local and universal or mini-narratives and meta-narratives continue to rage, and is more clearly visible in the context of South Asian context. Even so, we are acutely aware of the non-existence of regular and serious forums for South Asian scholarship in social sciences to showcase our own research and thinking. We are also quite conscious of the fact that the process of establishing sociology in the region has created its own peculiarities which has established close inter-relationships between sociology and social anthropology, history, cultural studies, archeology and other related disciplines. We consider the porousness of South Asian sociology one of its most enduring strengths. On the other hand, we are not unaware of the unfortunate regressions sociology has experienced in different South Asian contexts over the last 30 years or so marked by numerous institutional failures.



It is within the context(s) outlined above that the Department of Sociology at South Asian university, initiated in 2011 witihn the Faculty of Social Sciences contributes to teaching, training and knowledge production. It is not intended to be a mere forum for the production of cutting-edge intellectual knowledge and exchange of that knowledge traversing across national borders in South Asia and beyond. Our expectation is that this knowledge would dislocate the persistence of an imposed framework emanating from the colonisation process and postcolonial politics of knowledge. Despite the passage of over fifty years since the process of official decolonization began in the region, much of the analyses of our problems, situations, histories and dynamics emanate from Euro American academia; this is certainly the case when it comes to conceptual formulations and theoretical approaches that are being employed in exploring the region’s social and cultural complexities often without much self-reflection.



The Department of Sociology strongly believes in the need to reformulate this situation by effectively centering South Asia without naively shunning thought from these established centers of knowledge be they in Europe or North America. We believe in an active and robust engagement with these issues within South Asia. In this context, through the work of its faculty and the research of graduate students, the Department would bring forward the newer forms of knowledge that comprehends and represents the South Asian context with a more authoritative and nuanced voice. We strongly believe in the need to actively intervene in the process of knowledge formation through a constant sharing of knowledge that the region produces as well as through interaction with the world beyond the region.



The courses taught in the Department as well as the research carried out by its faculty members reflect this overall vision and our collective commitment towards innovation, move beyond untenable stereotypes, and explore a new world of knowledge within the discipline of Sociology.


Class of 2011, Department of Sociology, South Asian University; Image: Courtesy of Dev N. Pathak, Sociology, SAU.

Cinema and Society: A Discursive Forum for Cinema

Faculty Coordinator: Prof. Dev N Pathak
Student Coordinators: Aditi Krishna, Anayika Chopra, Forkan Ali, Nafees Jilani s & Paromita Dutta.

Cinema and Society is a young sociologists’ discursive forum, under the aegis of the Department of Sociology, South Asian University. The threefold objective and significance of this forum is- to engage with popular cinematic texts and forms, allow students an opportunity to discuss them as young social scientists, and interact with invited scholars on the thematics of the selected film. In addition to the joy of engaging with the cultural manifestations of social, economic and political realities, this forum aims at cultivating intellectual faculty in students. The forum conducts weekly screening and discussion. A discussant for each screening is invited to watch and discuss the films.
The films chosen for the weekly screening and discussion program, for the Monsoon semester, in general reflects the idea of ‘Being Social’. As an informal discursive forum, operating within the logic of social sciences, the selection of films is aimed to help raise some crucial questions pertaining to the notion of Zoon Politikon. As such, the basic objective of the program is to enable students and other participants to discuss the various dimensions of the social being: What does it take to be social? How does one happen to be social? What is the system of signs and symbols at play in the existential social characters of social being? Why does one stick to the social in spite of felt constraints and possibilities? Why would even an ascetic like to become social? These series of questions are meant to mark our point of departure. However, as we proceed over the semester our aim is to look for and explore in detail many other specific questions that would emerge through different films that would include crisis of personal and ethno-religious identity, issues of pleasure and visuality, migration and dislocation, politics if violence, love and intimacy and so on. In fact, the kinds of issues and themes we can explore within such a forum are literally quite vast. But of course, this is the intellectual aspect of the program; we expect participants to simply ‘enjoy’ the films and also discuss their aesthetics and visual politics as part of the overall reading.

Methodology

The screenings are primarily organized for the MA students of the Department of Sociology. And for them, attendance is mandatory. However, students from other departments and faculties are also welcome to participate. One invited discussant, from the Department of Sociology, other faculties at South Asian University or from other academic institutions, would take the lead in directing and moderating the discussions. At the outset of every screening, the coordinator will introduce the film, and set the tone of discussion afterwards; links to useful Internet resources will be available at the Cinema and Society blog a few days prior to each screening.

List of films screened, discussants, and moot points of discussions

Date                 Film                             Discussant                                                    Moot Points
16/8/11           Cast Away                   Dr. Priya Naik (DU)                                      Being Social
23/8/11           Ardha Satya                Dr. Nabneepa Bhattacharya (DU)               Social repression
30/8/11           Sholay                         Mr. Sharda Prasanna Das (JNU)                  Stereotypes of evil
6/9/11             AFSPA                          Ms. Vinalaxmi Nepram
(Disarmament movement)                          Military govenrnace
13/9/11           Pratidwandi                Dr. Manish Thakur (IIAS, Shimla)             Youth and nation
20/9/11           Cinema Talk               Dr. Pankaj jha (LSR)                                      Gender, cinema and India
27/9/11           I am your Poet            Mr. Nitin Pamnani (film-maker)               Education andEnlightenment
4/10/11           Good Bye Lenin         Dr. Saroj jha (DU)                                           Revolution and Emotion
18/10/11         Udaan                          Ms. Rashi Mehra (Youth Activist)              Childhood and Imagination

Some of the reviewsof the films screaned so far can be read on the student blog, Rickshaw: https://sausociology.wordpress.com/
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