The Informal Discussion Group invites you to an interactive session with

Aditya Nigam

(Political Scientist: CSDS)

on the topic:

The rise of Maoism and the problem of democracy in India

Aditya Nigam, Joint Director of the Programme in Social and Political Theory at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), works in the broad field of social and political theory. He is particularly interested in cultural politics and is engaged in attempting to understand political practices beyond limits of ‘political science’. He is currently working on a longer term project of looking at a counter-history of capitalism from a post-Marxist perspective.

He has published regularly on questions of nationalism, identity and radical politics in both English and Hindi. Nigam is author of several books including ‘The Insurrection of Little Selves: Crisis of Secular-nationalism in India’, ‘After Utopia: Modernity and Socialism in the Postcolony’ and is currently working on a book entitled ‘A Desire Named Development’.

Time: 8 PM

Date: Monday, 2^nd August 2010

Venue: Staff Room

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

Dr. Krishna Kumar

(Director, NCERT)

On the topic:

‘Why Cambridge is clean, and Delhi University is not’

(The real picture of higher education in India)

Dr. Kumar is one of India’s foremost educationists. He has worked at the Central Institute of Education (dean from 1988-91), been a national lecturer of the UGC, and served as a member of the Executive Committee of the National Literacy Mission. He was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship for a comparative study of history textbooks used in schools in India and Pakistan. Books written by him include Raj, Samaj aur Shiksha; Vichaar ka Dar; What is Worth Teaching amongst several others. His latest books are Battle for Peace (2007) and A Pedagogue’s Romance (2008). A columnist and a short story writer in Hindi, several of his books on education are in Hindi. Professor Kumar also writes for children. In September, 2004 he was appointed to the post of Director, NCERT.

Time: 8:00 PM

Date: Thursday, 11^th February, 2010

Venue: Staff Room