[Reader-list] Greek Workshop: 'The Sprit of Hellas' landmarks in history, language, literature & culture of the Greeks

Tue Oct 23 22:28:31 IST 2007

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The sprit of Hellas: landmarks in history, language,
literature & culture of the Greeks 

Workshop

A workshop on  the theme The sprit of Hellas:
landmarks in history, language, literature & culture
of the Greeks shall be organized in the School of
languages literature and cultural studies, Jawaharlal
Nehru university, New Delhi from 13th to 17th November
2007. The workshop has been planned to provide an
insight to young scholars into the various elements of
Greek culture and thought and also the comparative
aspects of Indian and Greek civilization. Experts and
specialists have been invited to present lectures and
conduct the course as resource persons. Special
screening of short films and slide shows that relate
to Greek history and culture with be done. A food
festival is also on the planned for. Certificates will
be awarded to successful participants. There are
limited seats for which applications are invited from
young scholars. The last date for submitting
application to join the workshop is 31st October 2007.
Interested young scholars should contact the
undersigned. 

U. P ARORA
Room no. 394
SLL&CS, JNU
Mobile no: 9873673300
Tel: 26704736, 26704875

email:uparora12 at yahoo.com

Jawaharlal Nehru University
School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies
New Delhi-110067

Workshop
On

The Spirit of Hellas: Landmarks in History, Language,
Literature and Culture of the Greeks

(13th  17th November 2007)

Hellas or Greece is considered to be the Cradle of
Western Civilization. It was the discovery of ancient
Greek Wisdom after the fall the Constantinople which
has been recognized as the main causative factor
responsible for the end of medievalism and the
beginning of Renaissance in Europe. The Greek ways of
exploring the problem of cosmos, the creation of
language in which such problems are  explored,
understanding the physical world and human society,
describing the past, still underlie the Western
Cultural tradition. It is, therefore, very much
essential for the young scholars to understand the
Greek mind in order to appreciate the Greek
contribution to human civilization.

The cultural contacts between India representing the
Asiatic consciousness and the Greek World representing
the Western consciousness occur since remote
antiquity. There may be noted connections and
parallels between India and Greek mythology,
literature, art and aesthetics, political ideas and
institutions, philosophical and scientific
understanding. The striking analogies between the
Vedic and Greek deities in their names and functions
had led early European scholars coming to India to
propound the theory of their common Indo-European
origin. They also discovered the equivalents of the
Greek inflections in Sanskrit and ancient Iranian
language. It resulted in the birth of the comparative
philology and the efforts were made for the
reconstruction of the Indo-European lexicon.

Objective
The object of the proposed Workshop is to create an
awareness among young researchers and scholars about
the civilization which is often remarked as Greek
Miracle. The focus will be on explaining the
development of Greek civilization in its various
aspects, its strengths and weaknesses, materially,
socially, politically, culturally. Many scholars may
thereby be tempted and initiated to serious research
into Classical Greek Culture; which is a great
desideratum in face of the fact that a Centre of Greek
Studies, which is pride of any European academic
institution, is completely absent in South Asia. India
has too long been the object of historical research by
western scholars; it is now time for the Indians to
turn their attention to the Greek World, to be the
authors of researches on the so-called classical
civilizations. The present Workshop is directed
towards this goal.

The Theme and Sub-themes
The proposed theme for the Workshop is divided into
two parts; the first shall cover the aspects of
history, language, literature and culture of the
Greeks, while the second part shall deal with the
comparative analysis of Indian and Greek civilization.

Part One:
(i)	Land and the People
(ii)	The World of Homer
(iii)	Social division and gender relations
(iv)	Greeks and the barbarians
(v)	Athenian democracy
(vi)	Rise and decline of the Polis
(vii)	Language and Literature
(viii)	Philosophical and Scientific Concepts
(ix)	Myth, religion and rituals 
(x)	Art and aesthetics
(xi)	Economy
(xii)	Byzantium
(xiii)	Heritage of the Greeks
(xiv)	Greece: Past and Present

Part Two
(i)	Perception of India in Greek Writings
(ii)	Yavanas in ancient Indian literature and
inscriptions
(iii)	Comparative philology: Greek and Sanskrit
(iv)	Comparative mythology
(v)	Greek and Indian epic literature
(vi)	Dramatic concepts: Indian and Greek
(vii)	Interaction between Art and Architecture
(viii)	Greek and Indian philosophical and scientific
understanding
(ix)	Political institutions: Indian and Greek
(x)	Greece in Modern European Literature and Thought

Participation
The eligibility to join the Workshop is restricted to
University and College teachers and registered
research scholars, from Literature, Humanities and
Social Sciences. There shall be an intake of a maximum
of 30 participants. The eligibility conditions may be
relaxed by the Organizers in case of seats falling
vacant.

Each participant shall be provided local
hospitality/daily allowance and travel allowance as
per the rules of the University.

Programme
The Workshop shall comprise of 24 Lectures for five
consecutive days from 13th to 17th November 2007. The
participants will be required to present or submit a
paper at the conclusion of the Workshop. Certificates
will be awarded on successful completion of the
Course. 

List of Speakers

Name 	Topic
1. Prof. Jean Marie Lafont	The Greek presentation in
Afghanistan  and Northern India
2. Prof. D.N. Tripathi	India and Greece : Pre and
proto historic connection
3. Prof. R.N. Misra	Greek and Indian Art : Mathura and
Gandhar
4. Dr. Naman P. Ahuja	Dionysus in Indian Art
5. Prof. G.C. Tripathi	India and Greece : Early
Philosophical understanding
6. Dr. Ishrat Alam 	Influence of Greek Science on
India
7. Dr. A.J. Khan 	Greek Medical Science and India
8. Prof. Om Prakash	Political Institution : India and
Greece
9. Prof. S.C. Bhattacharya	Greek and Indian
Historiography 
10. Prof. A.K. Sinha	Idea of History in India and
Greece
11. Prof. Abhay Kumar Singh	Indo-Greeks : A
Reappraisal 
12. Dr. Prashant Srivastava	Greek Coins
13. Prof. R.P. Singh	Dialogue Dialectic and
Reconstruction: Socrates, Kant, Hegel, and Derrida
14. Ranvir Chakrabarti	India and Graeco Roman Word :
Trade Connections 
15. Prof. Bharat Gupt	Dramatic Parallels in India and
Greece
16. Prof. Prem Singh	Indo-European Background of Greek
and Sanskrit Lanuage
17. Prof. Kapil Kapoor	Language and Literature in
Greek Thought
18. Prof. Anil Bhatti	Greek Fascination in Modern
European Literature
19. Prof. U.P. Arora	Greek Civilization : A Critique
Ancient India and Greece : On Overview
20. Prof. Varyam Singh	

Names of Greek Professors have not yet been received.
The names of Professor of Cyprus will be received on
Friday 26th October 2007.

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