Tamil Studies Conference:
Tropes, Territories and Competing Realities
 Toronto, Canada,  May 11-14, 2006

[see also Official Conference Website ]

The Centre for South Asian Studies of the University of Toronto and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the University of Windsor will host an interdisciplinary Tamil Studies conference from May 11-14, 2006.

This conference will bring together Tamil Studies scholars from North America, Europe, South Asia, and Australasia. The disciplines represented range from History, Literature, Anthropology, Religion, Cultural Psychology, Linguistics, and Diaspora Studies. Over 30 scholars from universities as diverse as the School of Oriental and African Studies, Harvard University, Yale University, Uppsala University, Massey University, French Institute of Pondicherry, McGill University, Columbia University, University of Toronto, and the University of Jaffna will participate in this important conference.

The conference provides Tamil Studies scholars in North America a unique opportunity to present their work before theirs peers in a multidisciplinary context. Tamil Studies in North America has also overwhelmingly concentrated on studies of Tamil Nadu whereas this conference will bring together scholars working on Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka and provide a forum for a more cosmopolitan examination of these regions.

Themes

The conference papers will cover a range of subjects including the following themes:

The development of literary and performance traditions from the earliest genres of Tamil poetry to contemporary literature
The transformation of nationalist imaginaries in the medieval and modern period
The formation of Tamil diasporic communities in western metropolitan centres
Cultural analyses of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka
Social, cultural and literary transformations in modern Tamil Nadu in relation to gender, caste and religion

This conference will also introduce students, especially those of the Tamil diaspora in Toronto, to the diverse disciplines that constitute Tamil Studies. Therefore, an entire panel is set aside for students where scholars from different disciplines will speak about the opportunities for Tamil Studies in North American Universities and inform them about the academic and practical preparations required for these programs.