Inaugural Public Lecture by first ICCR Chair at Uppsala University Professor Siddharth Singh The inaugural public lecture by the visiting Professor of Indian Studies, Dr. Siddharth Singh who is the first occupant of the ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) Chair at the Uppsala University was held on 12th December, 2014. The theme of the lecture was “Indian Studies in India and abroad: Challenges and Prospects”. Professor Siddharth Singh was the Head of Department for Pali and Buddhist Studies at the prestigious Banaras Hindu University. He has been a Fullbright Senior Research Fellow at Colorado Univesrity and a Japan Foundation Fellow at Osaka University. fellowships His lecture, inter-alia, covered broadly on the deep roots of Indian culture which has evolved and developed over centuries and various dynasties. It brought out that while the common perception about “Dharma” is to regard it as religion, in fact the term means a way of life, as understood and inherited by the society. He highlighted the richness of Indian studies in the terms of its wider approach, philosophy of co-existence through the means of the virtues like dialogue, humility etc. and direct and indirect cross-cultural interactions with the entire world; citing the examples of ancient Indian Universities like Nalanda, Vikramshila and others. He emphasized the need of exploring some important areas of Indian studies neglected abroad for further research and spoke about the benefits of setting up joint translation committees, full fledged Indian Studies centres, and short term Study India Programme on a Credit Transfer basis. He informed the audience about the role of ICCR, Indian University Grant Commission , Indian Council of Historical Research and others Indian governmental cultural and academic agencies which could be tapped for support and funding by future foreign researchers of Indian studies. The undersigned, together with researchers, scholars and other invited guests, attended the said lecture which was quite informative and useful.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 15:42:03 +0000