November 2009 | December 2009 | Jackson School calendar | archive and advanced search

The South Asia Center

This Week

• The Dream of a Philologist: Deciphering the Buddhist Legend of Manicuda
  Thu Nov 12, 2009
• Diwali - India Association of Western Washington
  Sat Nov 14, 2009

All Events

November 2009

Thursday November 12, 2009
3:30 PM
Thomson Hall 317, UW Campus, Seattle

Presenter: Professor Michael Hahn Philipps, University of Marburg, Germany

Sponsored by the South Asia Center and the Department of Asian Languages and Literature

Contact: Keith Snodgrass 206-543-4800

In 1948, the Italian scholar Giuseppe Tucci photographed in a Tibetan monastery an Indian manuscript written in a rather unusual script, the so-called arrow-headed script. According to the colophon, the manuscript contains the Buddhist legend of prince Manicuda who excelled in acts of generosity. Misplaced for a long time, the photographs were rediscovered only in 1999 and then given to Michael Hahn (Marburg, Germany) because of his interest in the Manicuda legend. Hahn's student Dr. Albrecht Hanisch transcribed the manuscript, and he and Hahn translated it into English. The manuscript contains the first complete work written in this rare script and is also the first specimen of a hitherto unknown middle Indic dialect that was most likely the literary version of the canonical language of the school of the Sammitiyas. The fact that the text was composed by Sarvaraksita, a famous Buddhist poet and grammarian and is complete and practically free of mistakes allows us to give a fairly reliable description of this new middle Indic language. Moreover, the work is a remarkable piece of literature that demonstrates the unbroken creativity of Indian Buddhism even on the eve of its destruction by foreign invaders.
 

Saturday November 14, 2009
4:00-9:00 PM
Eckstein Middle School, 3003 NE 75th St., Seattle

Multiple Presenters

Sponsored by India Association of Western Washington

Contact: diwali2009@iaww.org

Full information is available at iaww.org

Tuesday November 17, 2009
7:00 PM
Kane 220, UW Campus

Dipesh Chakrabarty, Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History, South Asian Languages & Civilizations, and the College, University of Chicago

Sponsored by the Simpson Center for the Humanities, University of Washington

Contact: Simpson Center 206-543-3920

Dipesh Chakrabarty is Laurence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History and South Asian Languages & Civilizations at the University of Chicago, where he is also a Faculty Fellow of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory. His scholarship has been central to postcolonial history and historiography, from his early work with the Subaltern Studies collective and the publication of Rethinking Working-Class History: Bengal, 1890-1940 (1989) to Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference (2000; new edition 2007) and Habitations of Modernity: Essays in the Wake of Subaltern Studies (2002). His Katz lecture on the science of climate change and its impact on historical thinking draws on a new book project in-process.

December 2009

Thursday December 3, 2009
7:00-8:30 PM
Thomson Hall 317, UW Campus, Seattle

Presenter Author Ethan Casey

Sponsored by the South Asia Center

Contact: Keith Snodgrass 206-543-4800

Overtaken By Events: A Pakistan Road Trip is Jackson School MA candidate Ethan Casey's account of a six-week overland journey from Mumbai, India to Karachi, Pakistan between February and April 2009. It will be published in March 2010, with 16 pages of photographs by Seattle-based photographer Pete Sabo.

Overtaken By Events is a sequel to Alive and Well in Pakistan: A Human Journey in a Dangerous Time (2004), which has been praised as “Magnificent … a travel book that travels through the mind” by Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban and Descent Into Chaos, as “Intelligent and compelling” by Pakistani novelist Mohsin Hamid, author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Moth Smoke, as “A search for common humanity” by The Daily Telegraph, and as “Wonderful … a model of travel writing” by American novelist Edwidge Danticat.

Both books document the human dimension of events in and involving Pakistan, report on recent events as they affect ordinary Pakistanis, and humanize Pakistan and Pakistanis for a global and particularly American readership. Casey visited Pakistan first in 1995 and most recently in early 2009, and he lived for five months in 2003-04 in Lahore, where he taught journalism at Beaconhouse National University. Venues he'll be speaking at during the 2009-10 academic year including Brown University, Texas Christian University, and the Air Force Academy.

Tuesday December 8, 2009
5:00-8:00 PM
Thomson Hall, UW Campus

Presenters include Ethan Casey, Dr. Talant Mawkanul

Sponsored by South Asia Center, Ellison Center, East Asia Center, Southeast Asia Center, and Center for Global Studies of the Jackson School

Contact: Keith Snodgrass 206-543-4800

Three Cups of Tea: Islam and Schooling in Asia
Islam, Asia, Modernity Professional Development for Educators Workshop
Muslim societies in Asia are fast changing, and often at the crossroads of global social, economic and geopolitical conflicts. Long standing educational systems and traditions are evolving in multiple ways as these societies became more integrated into the global economy. Local institutions, national bureaucracies, international non-governmental organizations, and other actors are influencing how schools educate both male and female students.
This workshop will focus on Pakistan, Indonesia and Xinjiang, China, and how different influences are coming to bear on educational systems in these areas.
Join us for this engaging 3 hour workshop intended for educators of grades 6-12.
Each attendee will receive at least 20 copies of Greg Mortenson's award winning book
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time
Space is limited, so register early.

Date: Tuesday, December 8
Time: 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Location: Thomson Hall, UW Campus, Seattle
Cost: $25.00
Dinner will be provided.
Clock hours available at no extra charge

To register: visit

https://catalysttools.washington.edu/webq/survey/snodgras/85759

where you will enter information about yourself. Then mail your payment of $25.00 to:
South Asia Center, University of Washington, Box 353650, Seattle, WA 98195. Questions or inquiries, please call 206-543-4800 or contact snodgras@u.washington.edu.

Your registration is not complete until full payment of $25.00 is received.