Asia Pacific Week 2009
Building Australia's Asia Pacific Expertise
ANU Campus 27 - 30 January

The ANU South Asia Studies Summer School (SASSS) and conference is a week-long program of intensive research activities designed to bring together PhD and masters students working on South Asia through out Australia, New Zealand and other countries to exchange knowledge and experience at one of the leading centres on South Asian studies.

The broad goals of the program are to provide a forum for research students to present their work, build contacts and discuss their research with intellectual inputs from experienced researchers, to expose students to the work being done at the frontiers of South Asian studies by ANU faculty and invited guest faculty, and to provide for networking through the exchange of knowledge and experiences surrounding the study of South Asia. The program will also provide the students with opportunity to make use of the rich and diverse resources on South Asia held at ANU libraries and the National Library of Australia. In addition, students will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a range of social and cultural activities that will be held in ANU as part of the Asia-Pacific Week.

Your academic hosts and mentors will include
Professor Robin Jeffrey, Professor Raghbendra Jha, Professor Prema-chandra Athukorala, Dr Debjani Ganguli, Dr Richard Barz, Dr Assa Doron, Dr McComas Taylor, Dr Barbara Nelson, and Dr John Powers. Present in this SASSS will be several academics from other Australian universities. From JNU, India, we are hoping to host amongst others the well-known environmental historian Dr Rohan D’souza, and the Chairperson of the international body, Gender Water Alliance, Dr Sara Ahmed.

You will have opportunity to:

• Forge links and exchange ideas with researchers from universities around Australia, New Zealand and Asia and the Pacific
• Establish links with ANU scholars as informal on-going mentors
• Receive feed back on your research in progress
• Get tips on publication of research results
• Strengthen insights into challenges facing South Asian Studies
• Make use of the resources of the ANU libraries and the National Library of Australia

Program

• Interactive seminars by senior researchers
• Round table discussions on selected issues
• PhD/Masters project workshops (presentations based on work in progress, followed by comments by an invited seniors researcher and group discussion)
• Individual consultations: opportunities will be made available for students to consult with individual ANU staff and invited researchers on their research projects.

ANU Asia Pacific Week

The 2009 SASSS is to be held in conjunction with summer schools in China Studies, Indonesian Studies, Pacific Island Studies, East Timor Studies and Japan Studies. The Asia-Pacific week will feature special events such as keynote speeches, films, performances and exhibitions. Participants at the SASSS will interact with participants from other summer schools in combined social functions.

Scholarships

All of the cost of accommodation and meals are covered. Participants will be accommodated on the ANU's campus in John XXIII College.
There may be some contribution towards domestic travel costs for participants presenting their research. Students are strongly encouraged to apply elsewhere for travel funding.

Application

To apply for admission in the SASSS complete the online application. There is no registration fee.

Applications close on 3 October 2008.
Applicants will be advised of a result of their application by early November 2008.

Contact

For further information contact the convener:
Dr Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt
Fellow
RMAP, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200 Australia
ph: 61-2-6125-4343
fax: 61-2-6125-1635
email: Kuntala.Lahiri-Dutt@anu.edu.au