===================================== MONASH ASIA INSTITUTE BULLETIN 12/2003 2 December 2003 ===================================== In this bulletin 1. MAI Postgraduate Seminar 2. MAI International Conference, Mumbai 3. MAI Security Dialogue 4. India Update 2003 Papers 5. Book Launch: "Reflections from an Indian Diary" 6. Symposium: Traffic in Southeast Asia. 7. Website of the month 8. Message from Director, MAI ---------------------------------------------------- Item 1. MAI postgraduate Seminar Friday, 5 December 2003, 10.00 am to midday, Room S807 "Tibetan Buddhism" David Templeman Buddhism entered Tibet from the 7th to the 13th centuries through the medium of a variety of charismatic Indian religious figures. After the Muslim invasions of North India in the 12th century Buddhism is believed to have gone into a swift decline and these "missionary visits" waned and not much is heard about Indian Buddhism thereafter. It is generally accepted that once the large monastic edifices had been destroyed, Buddhism as an entity also disappeared. However, Tibetan biographical sources clearly show that Indian Buddhist visitors continued to come to Tibet right up to the 17th and possibly even the 18th centuries. My preliminary talk will focus on perhaps the most renowned of these later visitors and will make some tentative suggestions as to the state of Buddhism in India in this previously unthinkably late period. Following this seminar, noon to 2pm, there will be an informal meeting of staff, students and associates to discuss the MAI in 2003-4. Luncheon will be served during this meeting. Enquiries and RSVP to: Juliet Yee ---------------------------------------------------- Item 2. MAI International Conference, Mumbai The First Annual Conference of the Monash Asia Institute 9 - 13 February 2004, Mumbai, Maharashtra State, India This is the first annual international conference held by the Monash Asia Institute (MAI). Based on the theme, "Cultures and Technologies in Asia - the paradigm shifts", the conference aims to identify how the relationship between cultures and technologies is changing. By holding the first conference in the commercial capital of India, the MAI also seeks to exchange ideas and promote international collaborative research on this subject in the Asia-Pacific region. It is hoped that a network of scholars and thinkers from across the disciplines will be established with a view to generating research results relevant to policy making in the region. The abstracts of 35 papers have now been received and can be viewed the official conference website at: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mai/ructa/conference/index.html Orders for conference proceedings from people who wish to follow the debates but cannot attend the Mumbai conference can be placed with Ms Juliet Yee via the email address below. Conference proceedings will be available on CD Rom but printed versions can be requested. For further information email Juliet Yee, ---------------------------------------------------- Item 3. MAI Security Dialogue The Monash Asia Institute will be holding its 3rd Security Dialogue in partnership with the Institute of Asia Pacific Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing on 3-5 March 2004. This event is supported by grants from the Japan Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The dialogue follows on from earlier successful dialogues in late 1998 and early 1999 in Melbourne, Washington and New York. In preparation for the Beijing dialogue, the Monash Asia Institute held two roundtable discussions last year at the Monash Centres in Prato (near Florence) Italy and at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London. These roundtables enabled Monash to build research and other links with EU and British scholars. The dialogue process began in 1998 in reaction to nuclear tests by India and Pakistan. Details about the Beijing dialogue will be announced shortly. Information about the Monash Asia Institute's previous dialogues and roundtables can be found at: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mai/virtualforum/prato/index.html and the 'archives' link on that webpage. As part of the MAI's security program, we have a book IN PRESS due for released in January-February 2004: Marika Vicziany, David Wright-Neville and Pete Lentini (eds.), 'Regional Security in the Asia Pacific: 9/11 and after', Edward Elgar, London/New York, 2004. This is a book of 17 chapters by scholars and policy makers in the Asian region. A limited number of copies will be sale through the Monash Asia Institute. Enquiries: Professor Marika Vicziany, Director, Monash Asia Institute marika.vicziany@adm.monash.edu.au ---------------------------------------------------- Item 4. India Update 2003 Papers The two day symposium and forum for this year's India Update focused 'tough questions' about Indian business and economics. The India Update was a joint project of Monash Asia Institute, the University of Canberra, Curtin University of Technology, University of New South Wales, Australia India Business Council, Australia India Chamber of Commerce (Victoria) with the support of the Australia-India Council (DFAT). Keynote speakers included: Professor Arun Kumar, Head, Department of Economics, Jawarhalal Nehru University, New Delhi and author of 'The Black Economy in India''; Mr Haseeb Prabhu, National Editor of the Business Standard in Mumbai; Professor Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Director, Institute for Development Studies, Kolkata; Mr Tim Harcourt, Senior Economist, Austrade, Sydney; Mr Richard Cameron, CEO, Australian Hospital Design Group, Melbourne; Mr Anton Michelson, Director, Maunsell, Melbourne; His Excellency Mr Rathore, Indian High Commissioner to Australia, Canberra. A collection of the papers by speakers will be made available in the forthcoming weeks. Anyone interested in purchasing the CDRom containing the papers should contact Juliet Yee at monash.asia.institute@adm.monash.edu.au. For persons who do not have CDRom facilities, a printed version will be available. For more information about India Update 2003, see: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mai/indiaupdate/ =============================================================== Other items of interest =============================================================== Item 5. Book Launch Wednesday 17 December 2003, 6.30 pm Readings: (new address) 701 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn (Council car park at rear of adjacent 'Coles' provides ample space) Wakefield Press (Aust) extends to you an invitation to the launching of John B. Murray's book, "Reflections from an Indian Diary", by Dr Barry Jones AO. John Murray is a respected film producer & Director: "Lonely Hearts", "We of the Never Never", "The Plight of Tibet and the Dalai Lama", and more: whom some will know from the South Asian Studies Group. "Reflections from an Indian Diary" is an exploration into the mentality and psyche of India. The author interprets India's resurgent culture through the lens of his own spiritual experience, and helps to bridge the divide between East and West. He takes the reader on a physical and metaphysical pilgrimage, in the spirit of Peter Matthiessen's "The Snow Leopard." Enquiries: johnbmurrayau@yahoo.com.au ---------------------------------------------------- Item 6. Traffic in Southeast Asia Cornell University Southeast Asia Programs 6th Annual Graduate Student Symposium 2-3 April 2004 The Kahin Center for Advanced Research on Southeast Asia 640 Stewart Ave, Ithaca NY 14850-3857 CALL FOR PAPERS The 2004 SEAP Graduate Symposium welcomes papers that explore the multiple meanings of "traffic" in Southeast Asian contexts. From medieval trade networks through the "Age of Commerce," and from colonialism to contemporary nation states, this symposium seeks to address both the changes and continuities in the traffic of goods, art, people, texts, sacred objects, drugs, contraband, and more. And, of course, there is the traffic itself, which has prompted many Southeast Asian metropolitan areas to grapple with mechanisms of social control. Both "trafficking" and "traffic" provide an apt metaphor for modes of governance and resistance that negotiate the contested realms of the state, society, and the individual. We invite graduate students working on Southeast Asia to submit papers that consider how different "traffic regimes" control the circulation of bodies and goods across different times and places. We encourage submissions from any and all disciplines as well as those that cross the double lines between them. We ask that prospective presenters submit a one-page abstract and curriculum vitae by February 1, 2004 to: DCL33@cornell.edu. Papers should be in English with a reading time of no more than 20 minutes. Modest travel grants are available. ---------------------------------------------------- Item 7. Website of the month: Aboriginal Affairs Victoria http://www.dvc.vic.gov.au/aav.htm During Professor John Olsen's recent visit to the Monash Asia Institute, we developed links with Aboriginal Affairs Victoria. Their expertise in many aspects of indigenous Australian studies is most impressive. Given the many and diverse tribal communities in the Asia Pacific region, we thought readers might be interested in learning more about what Aboriginal Affairs Victoria is doing in this part of Australia. Their work is of special relevance to scholars interested in comparative issues. ---------------------------------------------------- Item 8. Director's Greetings for the Festive Season Dear friends - the staff of the MAI, postgraduates and Hon Research Fellows all wish you a safe and happy holiday period. We have enjoyed working together with you and with the wider community in the promotion of Asian Studies. 2003 has been a year of consolidation for the newly restructured Monash Asia Institute. We have developed a vigorous postgraduate program from zero postgraduates on 1 January to 20 today and more applying to join us. We have developed academic links with Indian universities, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the University of Arizona and strengthened our relationship with universities in Malaysia, eg Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and our own campus, Monash University Malaysia. We have increased our published output thanks largely to the work of postgraduate students and Hon Research Fellows at the MAI. And we have continued to attract research consultancies, including a project involving high-ranking Indian officials who came to the MAI in order to study Australia's experience with Federal-State Fiscal Reforms. Monash Asia Institute Press is an important part of what we do and in 2003 published 13 new books and working papers. 2003 has been an especially enjoyable and stimulating year as a result of outstanding international visitors to the Monash Asia Institute including Dr Omkar Goswami (Chief Economist to the Confederation of Indian Industries), Her Excellency, Ms Penny Wensley, AO, Australia's High Commissioner to India and also High Commissioner to Bhutan, Professor John Olsen (Arizona University, Tuscon), Ms Sidney Jones (International Crisis Group, Jakarta), Professor Amiya Kumar Bagchi (Institute for Development Studies, Kolkata), Professor Arun Kumar (Economics, JNU, New Delhi) and Dr Haseeb Drabu (National Editor, Business Standard). These visitors all participated in highly successful public seminars/lectures that attracted a large and diverse audience of scholars, government, business and NGO representatives. We look forward to 2004 as a year in which the Monash Asia Institute will develop critical mass in its research and outreach programs. Amongst the activities that are planned and well in progress are the following: 1. The first MAI International Conference to be held in Mumbai in early February 2. The 3rd regional security dialogue to be held in Beijing in March 3. The visit by Dr Trudy Griffin-Pierce, our second University of Arizona guest in mid March 2004 to talk about traditional and modern medical beliefs and practices amongst the Navajo 4. The Annual Workshop on Southeast Asian Women 5. The Annual Indonesia Lectures 6. The Biennial Residential Postgraduate Student workshop on South Asia And the above list is for only the first half of 2004! The Christmas/New Year shutdown for Monash University will be from 24 December 2003 to 4 January 2004 inclusive. Staff of the Monash Asia Institute will be on leave and will return to work on Monday 5 January 2004. During this period, any urgent requests relating to the MAI should be sent to by email to monash.asia.institute@adm.monash.edu.au or marika.vicziany@adm.monash.edu.au ======================================================================== The Monash Asia Institute Newsletter incorporates news items from the six research centres of the Monash Asia Institute, partner organisations and other groups working to promote Asian Studies in Australia. For further information about the Monash Asia Institute and this newsletter: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mai/ email: monash.asia.institute@adm.monash.edu.au ========================================================================