University of Alberta India-Related Activities 2007-08
submitted by Regula Burckhardt Qureshi
University of Alberta and Tata Consultancy Services Announce Global Partnership
June 12, 08: The University of Alberta has signed a five-year partnership agreement with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), part of the Tata Group, India鈥檚 largest private company and one of the world鈥檚 largest multinational conglomerates. The partnership agreement has three elements: * to provide student internship and co-op education placements within听TCS听* to create research collaboration and exchange between U of A and听TCS听researchers * to expand Canada-India relations
The agreement encourages collaboration between University of Alberta researchers and students and the more than 110,000 employees of听TCS, which has operations in more than 50 countries across the globe. University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera called this partnership truly exceptional for a 柏客娛樂城 university: 鈥淭CS is a key part of one of the most significant global business groups, and this commitment allows for countless research and learning opportunities for our students and researchers to work with and learn from TCS鈥� worldwide pool of experts.鈥�
Together, Tata Consultancy Services and University of Alberta will strive to enhance the relations between India and Canada and explore ways of expanding the U of A鈥檚 India-based courses, including its newly created course on modern India. Because of this agreement, there will also be potential partnerships and opportunities for Edmonton鈥檚 thriving and vibrant Indo-柏客娛樂城 community.
鈥淚n India, highly adaptable, collaborative partnerships have changed how postsecondary institutions and multi-national conglomerates, such as the Tata Group, work together,鈥� said Samarasekera. 鈥淭his partnership brings the University of Alberta, and also the province of Alberta, much closer to becoming a major centre of research excellence.鈥�
*University of Alberta Agreement with听IIS听Bangalore *
February 08: The University of Alberta signed an听MOU听with the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore for co-supervision of graduate students.
University of Alberta Agreement with Petrotech Society, New Delhi
December 07: The University of Alberta has signed an听MOU听with Petrotech Society and听CMD,听ONGC听in New Delhi for training of Executives from India involved in the petroleum industry as well as to exchange academic information, conduct academic programs and synergize respective strengths to promote closer business and professional exchanges between the two bodies.
*Dr. C.N.R. Rao Lectures to Alberta Energy Research Institute *
Dr. C.N.R. Rao gave the D. B. Robinson speaker series for the Alberta Energy Research Institute Lecture held in the Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering. Dr. Rao is the National Research Professor as well as Honorary President and Linus Pauling Research Professor at the Jawaharlai Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and a very long list of other distinguished honors. He is considered in many circles to be one of the top scientists in India. Area of research is in solid state and materials chemistry including nanomaterials.
Dr. Aloka Parasher-Sen: Prem and Saroj Singhmar Chair in Ancient Indian History and Polity
Dr. Aloka Parasher-Sen, University of Hyderabad and Heidelberg, will start her tenure as Prem and Saroj Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Polity and Society in Fall 2008, in the Department of History. She will teach a Graduate Seminar entitled: State and Society in India 500听BCE听鈥� 300 CE.
Canada-India Roundtable Agenda
A听CIRA听meeting was to be held in spring 2008, but had to be postponed due scheduling issues. The meeting is now planned for Fall 2008 and will be enhanced by the participation of Singhmar Chair Dr. Aloka Parasher-Sen.
First Time Course in Panjabi Language
A first course in Panjabi will be taught starting Fall 2008.
India Studies: Faculty and Student Research
Kaley Mason completed his PhD in 2006 with a dissertation entitled 鈥淪ocio-Musical Mobility and Identity in Kerala, South India: Modern Entanglements of Ritual Service, Labouring Musicians, and Global Artistry.鈥� In 2007 he was selected as Post Doctoral Fellow in Ethnomusicology at the University of Chicago and in 2008 he was appointed Assistant Professor of Music along with an affiliation with the University of Chicago鈥檚 South Asia Center, one of the strongest in the US. Kaley presented a paper on his dissertation research at the Society for Ethnomusicology鈥檚 2007 Annual Meeting.
Tanya Kalmanovitch has completed her PhD in Ethnomusicology, 2008. Her dissertation is entitled 鈥溾�橧ndo-Jazz Fusion鈥�: Jazz and Karnatak Music in Contact鈥� and based on field work in Chennai and New York as well as participation as a performer. She is teaching at the Boston Conservatory.
Niyati Dhokai, completed her MA in Ethnomusicology, 2007. Her thesis, entitled 鈥淓xploring the Acculturation of Second Generation Diasporic Indians through the Practice of Hindustani Music,鈥� is based on field research in the Washington DC area. Now in the doctoral program, Niyati is undertaking doctoral research on gender and contemporary musical practices in Gujrat. She presented a paper on her thesis research at the Society for Ethnomusicology鈥檚 2007 Annual Meeting.
Karim Gillani, completed his interdisciplinary MA in Music and Religious Studies, 2005. His thesis 鈥淕inan: A Musical Heritage of Ismaili Muslims from India and Pakistan,鈥� is focused on contemporary practice. Now in the PhD program, he is exploring regional diversity in Ismaili hymnody from an ethno-historical perspective. Karim presented a paper on Sufi popular music to the Society for Ethnomusicology鈥檚 2007 Annual Meeting.
MeeraVarghese completed her MA in Ethnomusicology, 2008. Her thesis, entitled 鈥淎scending the 柏客娛樂城 Stage: Dance and Cultural Identity in the Indian Diaspora,鈥� is grounded in Meera鈥檚 advanced study of Bharatnatyam on field research with Bharatnatyam teachers and students across Canada. For her PhD she is returning to Western Opera studies, but expects to return to an India reletad PhD program later. Meera presented a paper on her thesis research at the Society for Ethnomusicology鈥檚 2007 Annual Meeting.
Jessica Keyes, completed her MA in Ethnomusicology in 2007. Entitled 鈥淏logging Music: Indian Musicians and Online Musical Space,鈥� her thesis explores a virtual Indian community.
Regula Qureshi contributed a paper entitled 鈥淔olk Music: National Project to Global Spread鈥� to a Conference entitled 鈥淭he Changing Profile of Indian Music鈥� organized by the Sangeet Research Academy in Bombay January 11-13. She attended the Annual Board Meeting and Symposium of the Indian Musicological Society and is on the editorial board of the Society鈥檚 journal. The Conference presented her with the Music Forum 2007 Award for the Contribution to the Case of Indian Music by a Non-Indian Personality.
South Asian 柏客娛樂城 Music and Culture: Heritage, Acculturation, Transformation is a major grant awarded to Regula Qureshi by Heritage Canada. This 柏客娛樂城 Culture on Line Partnership project draws on the rich audiovisual South Asian 柏客娛樂城 archive of the 柏客娛樂城 Centre for Ethnomusicology and works in partnership with Edmonton Ragamala Society, Indo-柏客娛樂城 Women鈥檚 Association and Bazm-e-Sukhan Literary and Cultural Society. Sep.07-Aug 08.
Her Additional Publications and Presentations during 2007-8 include:
鈥淪ina-ba-Sina: Writing the Culture of Discipleship.鈥� Chapter in Richard Wolf ed. Theorizing the local: Music, practice, and experience in South Asia and beyond. Oxford University Press. 2008.
Concert of Sufi Songs by visiting artist Gulfam Sabri (Delhi) introduced and accompanied on the sarangi by Regula Qureshi. Royal Alberta Museum Auditorium. Sep 4, 07. 鈥淭he Indian Sarangi: Soulful Sound, Contested Meaning,鈥漢e Crossing Over 1jdConference, North Atlantic Fiddle Convention, Memorial University, Newfoundland, Aug.3-8, 2008 鈥淥ral Tradition and Musical Canons: a Global Perspective from India,鈥� Keynote Lecture, 柏客娛樂城 University Music Society. Congress 2008: 鈥淭hinking Beyond Borders鈥擥lobal Ideas: Global Values. University of British Columbia, June 5-8, 2008
鈥淥ral Tradition, Canons, and Going Global: An Indian Perspective,鈥� Symposium on Canons in Musical Scholarship and Performance,鈥� University of Illinois April 18-20, 2008
鈥淐hanging Worlds of Hereditary Indian Musicians,鈥� Barwick Colloquium, Harvard University Dept. of Music, Mar 10, 2008听
鈥淔olk Music: National Project to Global Spread鈥� The Changing Profile of Indian Music, Annual Conference, Sangeet Research Academy, Bombay, January 11-13, 2008.听
鈥淗industani Music Reform and the Disappearing Songstress 1920-60,鈥� Panel: Towards A Social History of Music Theory: Modernizing Discourses in Cross-Cultural Perspective. 39th听IDTM听World Conference, Vienna, July 4-11, 2007