South Asia Conference of the Pacific Northwest
University of Washington, Seattle

May 5–6, 2023

Husky Union Building (HUB) 145
(campus map / google map)

Call for Proposals | Registration | Transportation | Schedule

The South Asia Center in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington welcomes you to the annual South Asia Conference of the Pacific Northwest (SACPAN). Founded in 1966 by an interdisciplinary group of colleagues from UW and the University of British Columbia, SACPAN is today a collaborative venture sponsored by South Asia specialists at UW, UBC, the University of Oregon, and other institutions in the region. One of the oldest centers of South Asian migration in North America, the Pacific Northwest is an ideal location for a public conference that promotes a richer understanding of South Asia in global, transnational, cross-border, and transregional contexts.

Stretching across the humanities, social sciences, applied sciences, medical sciences, and professional fields, the South Asia Center is an important intellectual and pedagogical hub for the study of South Asia. A National Resource Center funded by the Title VI program of the United States Department of Education, our mission is to enhance the study of South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) on campus, in the community, across the Pacific Northwest, and throughout the United States. The South Asia Center promotes knowledge about South Asia through innovative research, curricular development, graduate student training, and outreach to educational, civic, and business institutions and the general public.

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Transportation

Campus is accessible for cyclists, those taking public transportation, and for drivers. For general transportation information visit the transportation services website. Events will be held in the Husky Union Building (HUB).

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Schedule

 

FRIDAY, MAY 5

HUSKY UNION BUILDING 145

12:30-1:00 PM: WELCOME AND REGISTRATION

Anand Yang (University of Washington)

1:00-2:30 PM: PANEL 1 – Labor and Precarity | Gendered Voices from a New Generation

Meghna Mohandas (University of British Columbia) “Private Space as Political ‘genderscape’: How Social and Political Contexts Shape the Rental Housing Experiences of Indigenous Migrant Women in Bengaluru, India

Meghna Amin (University of Washington, Fulbright Visiting Scholar) “What Constitutes a Mogaveera Generation?”

Malvya Chintakindi (University of Oregon) “Informal Labor Blues: Gender, Caste and Development”

Devyani Tewari (University of Victoria) “Women with Invisible Disabilities and the Limits of Indian Matrimonial Laws”

Moderator: Anand Yang (University of Washington)

2:30-2:45 PM: BREAK

2:45-4:15 PM: PANEL 2 – Social Media, Networking, and Dissent in South Asia

Nishat Parvez (University of Oregon) “Social Media and Political Influence: Analyzing the Use of Facebook by Political Parties in Bangladesh”

Panch Sharma (University of Victoria) “Federal Emergency in South Asia: A Comparative Constitutional and Theoretical Investigation of Constitutional Machinery Failure in States/Provinces (Emergency) CMFE in South Asia”

Anubha Anushree (Stanford University) “Between the Students and the States: JP Movement in 1974-1975”

Wajiha Mehdi (University of British Columbia) “Placed beyond the Modern: The Production of Indian Muslim Women as Non-Citizens”

Moderator: Anis Rahman (University of Washington)

 4:15-4:30 PM: BREAK

4:30-6:00 PM: KEYNOTE PRESENTATION – Ravinder Kaur, University of Copenhagen | “Who Owns the Memory of Partition”

6:30-8:30 PM: CONFERENCE DINNER (off campus)

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SATURDAY, MAY 6

HUSKY UNION BUILDING 145

8:30-9:00 AM: COFFEE AND TEA

9:00-10:15 AM: PANEL 3 – Ethics, Urbanity, and Citizenship

Manas Murthy (University of Oregon) “Undivided Share’ – Reframing Land Property Relationships in Delhi”

Gayatri Gopalan (University of British Columbia) “Critical Citizenship in the Shadow of Delicate Democracies and Narrow Nationalisms”

Md Mizanur Rahman (University of California, Santa Cruz) “Ethical Harmony: Fitra as a Critique of Modern Individualism”

Moderator: Radhika Govindarajan (University of Washington)

10:15-10:25 AM: BREAK

10:25-11:55 AM: PANEL 4 – Remaking a Literary World | Periodicals, Nationalism, and Agency in South Asia

Anna Learn (University of Washington) “South Asian Periodical History through the Fiction of R.K. Narayan”

Sanjana Ramesh (University of Washington) “Kannagi: Anklets and Agendas”

Amaal Akhtar (University of Washington) “Recovering Nigam’s Zamana [World]: Kayastha-Urdu Affinity in the Era of Hindi Nationalism (1920s–1940s)”

Sanjit Bhakta Pradhananga (University of Washington) “Bringing Authors Home: ‘Foreignizing’ Translation as a Praxis for Minority Language Revitalization”

Moderator: Jennifer Dubrow (University of Washington)

11:55-12:30 PM: BREAK

12:30-1:00 PM: BOOK DISCUSSION – Anne Murphy, University of British Columbia | A Possible Punjabi? Decolonization and a Political Theory of the Creative

1:00-2:15 PM: PANEL 5 – Media, Representation, and the Afterlife of Trauma

Anika Saba (University of British Columbia) “Autobiographical Memoirs as Archives: Voices from the Global South”

Ruhail Andrabi (University of California, San Diego) “Where Do Kashmiri’s Dead Bodies Go: Secret Burial, Seditious Mourning, and the Politics of War on Terror in Kashmir”

Sarfraz Khan (University of Washington, Fulbright Visiting Scholar) “Experiences of Exclusion and Emotions among Repatriated Irregular Gujrati Migrants.”

Moderator: Alka Kurian (University of Washington)

2:15-2:25 PM: BREAK

2:25-3:40 PM: PANEL 6 – Multiple Frameworks | Solidarity, Affinity, and Ethics in Postcolonial Cultures

Shekha Kotak (University of Michigan) “Translating the Language of Love: Romance and Intimacy in Contemporary Hindi Dalit Short Stories”

Hamza Ahmad (University of Washington) “Manto’s Afro-Asian Solidarities”

Prerna Choubey (University of Washington) “Many Draupadis of the Popular Culture”

Moderator: Heidi Pauwels (University of Washington)

3:40-3:50 PM: BREAK

3:50-5:10 PM: PANEL 7 – Whose “Tradition?” | Meaning Making in Contemporary and Past Networks

Alex Yu (University of Toronto) “The Magic Mountain: Entanglement of Mountaineering, Ecology, and Medicine in Nepali Himalayas”

Anjali Yadav (University of Washington) “A Saint of One’s Own: Religious Appropriation of Kabīr between 1600–1800 CE”

Mir Salar Razavi (Princeton University) “Nawruz Celebration in Mughal India: Politics of A Persian Legacy”

Hamad A. Nazar (University of British Columbia) “Madhhab-e-ishq, in Heer Ranjha and other Punjabi texts”

Moderator: Purnima Dhavan (University of Washington)

5:10-5:25 PM: Kuldeep Singh, University of Washington | Ecology in Indian Dance: An Immersive Performance

5:25-5:30 PM: CLOSING REMARKS

Purnima Dhavan (University of Washington)