Dhamaal performers at the shrine of Shewan Sharif. Photo credit: Mutamainna Syed (http://www.dostpakistan.pk/sehwan-sharif-city-of-hazrat-laal-shahbaz-qalandar/)
This workshop focuses on the theory and practice of fieldwork in South Asia, primarily discussing religion and identity in South Asia. Dr. Delage has conducted fieldwork at Sufi shrines in India and Pakistan, and this workshop is an opportunity for graduate students to broaden their perspective on field methods. Some of the questions Dr. Delage addresses through his fieldwork: How do followers of saints and other kinds of devotees, by participating in mass religious gatherings, understand and articulate their religious affiliations? Can we draw clear boundaries between Sufism and other local forms of worship, such as Hinduism? And how do these local religious practices relate to broader configurations of Islam in a globalized world?
Speaker:
Dr. Rémy Delage received his PhD. in Social and Cultural Geography at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and is a member of the Centre d’Études de l’inde et de l’École des Hautes Études en Science Sociales, Paris. He joined the Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities (CSH) in 2010.
Dr. Delage’s research focuses on the social, territorial and political dynamics of religious movements in contemporary India and Pakistan. In addition to coordinating a project at the CSH dealing with religious minorities in contemporary India, he is also working on a project dealing with the urban history of Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan.
Refreshments will be provided. We encourage all graduate students and faculty interested in South Asian Studies to attend, and to RSVP at the following address: RSVP
Sponsor: The Centre for India and South Asia Research, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Department of History at UBC.
By: The Centre for India and South Asia Research
Type: Workshop
