The Informal Discussion Group invites you to an interactive session with

MICHAEL PELLETIER

(Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy at the American Embassy in New Delhi)

on the topic:

US Policy and the Volatile Middle-East

Michael Pelletier is currently the Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy at the American Embassy in New Delhi. He oversees the U.S. government’s public diplomacy mission in India, including operations at the Embassy, the American Center in New Delhi, and the U.S. Consulates General in Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Previously, Michael served as the U.S. government’s Arabic language spokesman and founding director of the Arabic Regional Public Diplomacy Hub in Dubai. Michael is a member of the Senior Foreign Service, and has worked for the Department of State and the U.S. Information Agency in various public affairs positions including Counselor for Public Affairs in Amman, Jordan; Dakar, Senegal; and Bamako, Mali. He has also served in Kaduna, Nigeria; Cairo, Egypt; and Chennai, India. He is fluent in French and Arabic, and continues to study Tamil.

Time: 8:00 PM

Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Venue: Staff Room

The Informal Discussion Group invites you to an interactive session with:
ALKA ACHARYA
(Author and Associate Professor of Chinese Studies, JNU)

On the topic:

‘The Problems of Being China Today’

Alka Acharya is Chairperson and Associate Professor of Chinese Studies in the Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has been teaching courses on Chinese Foreign Policy and Political Economy to the Masters and M.Phil students since 1993. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Chinese Studies (New Delhi) and the Editor of China Report, a journal of East Asian Affairs. She has written widely on India-China Relations and other aspects of China’s foreign policy. She is a member of the India-China Eminent Persons Group and also a member of the National Security Advisory Board of the Government of India.

Time: 8:00 PM

Date: Friday, November 13th, 2009

Venue: The Staff Room

Discussion Forum

The IDG invites you to the third meeting of the Students' Discussion Forum.

Our theme:

Music through the Ages

“We watch the shows, we watch the stars,
On videos for hours and hours.We hardly need to use
our ears,How music changes through the years”

· Mozart, The Beatles, Tupac or Rahman; who will be remembered?
· Songs that shook the world.
· Immortal albums or pop trash?
· What drives artists?

Date: 12th November, 2009

Time: 1.45 pm

Venue: Seminar Room

The Informal Discussion Group invites you to an interactive session with :
TIMERI N. MURARI
(Author and Columnist)

On the topic: ‘Re – writing History’

Essentially a writer and columnist, Timeri.N.Murari is now an acclaimed author, script-writer, film producer and playwright. He has written for the Guardian and the Sunday times, and published several works of fiction, including “Taj-A story of Mughal India” which has been translated into 14 languages. His film – “The square circle” was voted by TIME magazine as among the top ten of the year and he also adapted and directed it on stage. His work in these diverse fields has been nationally recognized by awarding him the R.K.Narayan award.

Time: 8:00 PM

Date: Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

Venue: The Staff Room

The Informal Discussion Group invites you to an interactive Q&A session with:

SHARMILA TAGORE
(Actress)
On the topic:
‘My Time in Cinema’

Born on 8th December,1946, Sharmila Tagore (now known as Begum Ayesha Sultana) is the great-granddaughter of poet Rabindranath Tagore. She is also the wife of His Highness Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Nawab of Pataudi, with whom she has three children, actor Saif Ali Khan, Saba and Soha Ali Khan.

Her film career started in the year 1959. She got her first break by playing the lead role in Satyajit Ray film Apur Sansar (The World of Apu). She was just fourteen years old, when she worked in her maiden film. Thereafter, she appeared in numerous Bengali classics before making the shift to Hindi cinema. Her first hindi film 'Kashmir ki kali' (1964) opposite Shammi Kapoor, directed by the famous Shakti Samantha launched her into Bollywood. Ever since, many would vouch that she embodied the glamour of Indian Cinema itself. Her important works include- 'An Evening in Paris','Amar Prem' and 'Araadhana' (opposite Rajesh Khanna), and Gulzar's 'Mausam' amongst others. More recently she has starred in ‘Viruddh’ (2005), ‘Eklavya: The Royal Guard’ (2006) and ‘Fool & Final’ (2007). In 2009, she played a part in Nagesh Kukunoor’s ‘8x10 Tasveer’ and Amol Palekar’s ‘Samantar’.

She has won several awards such as the Filmfare Best Actress Award in 1969,the National Film Award for Best Actress in 1976, the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 and the Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.In April 2005 she was appointed as the head of the Indian Film Censor Board. The same year in the month of December, she served as the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Venue: Staff Room

Date: Thursday, 17th September,'09

Time: 8 p.m.

The IDG invites you to an interactive session with :

T. K. Oommen

(Professor Emeritus of Sociology.JNU)

On the topic - 'Citizenship and Nationality'

T.K. Oommen studied for his M.A. (Sociology) at the University of Pune during 1958-60 and obtained his Ph.D in 1966 from the same university. He taught in Delhi University from 1964-71 and joined Jawaharlal Nehru University as Associate Professor in 1971 and retired in 2002 after being a Professor for 26 years, where he is Professor Emeritus at present.

He has served as President of the International Sociological Association as well as the President of the Indian Sociological society. During his distinguished career, Professor Oommen has been a visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley; the Maison des Sciences de I’Homme, Paris; the Wissenshaftszentrum, Berlin; and Senior Fellow at the Australian National University, Canberra, the Institute of Advanced Studies in Budapest and the Institute of Advanced Studies, Uppsala. He is the recipient of the V.K.R.V Rao Prize in Sociology (1981), the G.S. Ghurye Prize in Sociology and Anthropology (1985), and the Swami Pranavananda Award in Sociology (1997) was conferred the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India in 2008, for his contribution to the field of higher Education.

Professor Oommen is the author/co-author of 20 and editor/co-editor of six books. Books he authored include Citizenship, Nationality and Ethnicity: Reconciling Competing Identities, Polity Professor Oommen was/is editorially associated with 15 professional journals; seven Indian and eight foreign. He has delivered a large number of distinguished lectures including Tagore Chair Lectures (M.S. University Baroda), Annie Besant Lecture (Banaras Hindu University), Gandhi Peace Foundation Annual Lecture, Ambedkar Memorial Lecture, J.P. Narain Memorial Lecture, M.N. Srinivas Memorial Lecture to list a few. Professor Oommen was a member of the Prime Minister’s High Level Committee (2004-6) for the study of Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community in India.

Venue-Staff room

Date-Wednesday ,16th September

Time- 1.45 pm.