South Asian Identity Week
November 15 - 21

Mon, Nov 16 Prof. Rachel Dwyer: Hindi Films and the Happy Ending

Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute
5 pm  .

In collaboration with the Year of India.
Rachel Dwyer is professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and author of the soon-to-be-released Bollywood's India: Hindi Cinema as a Guide to Modern India (London and Chicago: Reaktion Books; New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2010), as well as Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema and One Hundred Bollywood Films.
Her talk is part of South Asian Identity Week, in the Year of India at Brown University.

Tue, Nov 17 SAIW Opening Convocation: “A Change of Heart”

List 120, 7 pm

In collaboration with the South Asian Women's Creative Collective (SAWCC), based in New York City, we have assembled a group of artists to present a performance and panel discussion on queer South Asian performance poetry. The event brings together performance poets from India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan whose work inform and intersect each other in a myriad of way. The artists tell stories through music, dance, and speech, exploring issues of sexuality, transgenderedness, family, politics, and history through the lens of the queer South Asian experience.

The artists include Sarah Husain, editor of Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women
on War, Faith and Sexuality; Roopa Singh, an award-winning Professor of Law, hip
hop, and politics at City College (CUNY) and Pace University; Dulani, A trans-identified Desi from a low-income immigrant family, his work uses personal narrative as a means for political discourse; YaliniDream, a Sri Lankan Tamil raised in Outside Lands, conjures sprirt through her unique blend of poetry, theater,
storytelling, dance & song; and D'Lo, a Tamil Sri L.A.nkan-American, political theatre artist/writer, music producer and director.

The panel discussion following the performance will be moderated by Natasha Bissonauth, Program Director of the South Asian Women's Creative Collective. The event creates a unique space for discussion and exploration, one rarely seen within South Asian dialogue, and we are certain the event will garner much interest amongst the Brown community.

Wed, Nov 18 South Asia Rising: Brown Faculty Panel

Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute, 7 pm
Taste of India Reception to follow

This panel seeks to illuminate the multifaceted nature of the South Asian Identity through an interdisciplinary discussion. Professors Ashutosh Varshney, Patrick Heller, Vasuki Nesiah, and Shayoni Mitra will speak about the various factors that have informed and transformed the way South Asia has come to define itself in the last few decades, through the lenses of their respective disciplines.

Professor Ashutosh Varshney is a premier scholar of South Asian politics and ethnic conflict. He has conducted intensive research on the factors of peace/conflict of Hindus and Muslims in Indian cities. Professor Patrick Heller’s main area of research is the comparative study of civil societies, specifically focusing on how key institutional levels influence participatory forms of governance. He is currently exploring the role of subordinate classes in the transformation to capitalism in the Indian state of Kerala. Professor Director of International Affairs Vasuki Nesiah has done extensive research on terrorism and security. She has published and lectured in international and comparative law, feminist theory, law and development, postcolonial studies, constitutionalism, and governance in plural societies. Visiting Assistant Professor Mitra wrote her dissertation “Contesting Capital: A History of Postcolonial Political Performance in Delhi” on the intersection of theatre and politics over the last fifty years both on the stage and on the street of the Indian Capital. Mitra was also an actor with the street theatre group Jana Natya Manch for several years, performing in over two hundred shows all over the country.

The panel will be moderated by Professor Meera Viswanathan, associate professor of comparative literature. This event is part of South Asian Identity Week.

Thur, Nov 19 Peace and Progress in South Asia: an evening of musical activism

McCormack Family Theatre
7pm

Arooj Aftab - Concert and Discussion

An aspiring young musician from Lahore Pakistan, Arooj Aftab is currently pursuing a Degree in Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. She speaks openly for betterment of social problems in her country and around the world, and is particularly interested in music as a means for social change. At Berklee, she is one of four individuals who have started the Berklee Peace Institute. Arooj envisions musicians working together as social activists, motivating people with music and instigating strong, positive changes. With a lineup of musicians from Greece, Turkey, India, Malaysia, Japan, Israel and many more, Aroojs' music and musical collaborations are a refreshing and peaceful fusion of world instruments with contemporary classical Pakistani vocal styles. She is keen on introducing her music to western audiences and hopes to explore even newer musical horizons.

Fri, Nov 20 Lecture and DJ set by DJ Rekha

Lecture at Salomon 001 @ 5.30 pm
DJ Set at Graduate Student Lounge @ 10 pm

DJ Rekha (Rekha Malhotra), is an accomplished and critically acclaimed DJ and music producer. She has been credited with putting bhangra music on the map in the US, and hosts incredibly popular performances and lectures all over the world. London-born and of Indian origin, DJ Rekha now resides in New York City. She is the creator of the internationally known event called Basement Bhangra, the New York dance party which takes place every first Thursday of the month.

Follow the lecture, celebrate your Friday night with DJ Rekha's electrifying mix of South Asian Bhangra and contemporary hiphop! Student DJs will also be performing.