SETTLING AND UNSETTLING: THE CITY IN SOUTH ASIA 

April 18-20, 2012

All Events in School of Architecture, Room 214

In the next twenty years, the number of people living in cities in South Asia will be close to 40 percent of the region’s total population. Yet, the South Asian city presents a conundrum. Much of what can be imagined about the city remains unmapped. Perceptions of South Asian cities often oscillate between the urban-rural dichotomies. South Asian cities also continue to be framed within the parameters of urbanization. Stepping outside of technocratic approaches, and the view of the city as a site of intractable problems, this symposium aims to highlight the multifaceted energies and imaginaries that animate contemporary interpretation of  cities.

Invited Keynote Lectures

Kazi Ashraf, University of Hawaii, 4/18, 4PM- “There’s a There There: Recovering the City in South Asia”
Ravi Sundaram, Center for Study of Developing Societies, India, 4/19, 9AM- “The Debris of the Indian Urban Century”
Will Glover, University of Michigan, 4/19, 1:30PM- “Modernism beyond the Municipality: Reformatting Indian Villages in 20th Century India”
Uzma Khan, University of Hawaii, 4/19, 7PM- “Misfit Geography: Cityscapes and the Impulse to Not Fit In”
Dilip Da Cunha, University of Pennsylvania, 4/20, 9AM- “Things do not settle; they anchor.  And so do people.”

Panels

Staging and Sensing the City, 4/19, 10:30AM
New Dynamics in Old Cities, 4/19, 3PM
Neoliberal Urbanisms, 4/20, 10:30AM
Dhaka: Designing for Flux, 4/20, 1PM

Reception and Literary Reading

4/19, 5:30 – 8PM, Pupus, performance and conversation followed by literary reading by Uzma Khan

FULL SCHEDULE

Wednesday, April 18
3:30pm — 4:00pm        Welcome Remarks, Courtyard
4:00pm — 5:00pm        Opening Keynote Lecture – Kazi Ashraf (UH-Mānoa)

Thursday, April 19
8:30am — 8:45am        Morning Coffee          
8:45am — 9:00am        Welcoming Remarks
9:00am — 10:15am       Keynote Lecture  — Ravi Sundaram (CSDS)

10:15am — 10:30am     Coffee Break
10:30am — 12:00pm    Panel 1: Staging and Sensing the City
                                          Anna Stirr
                                          Gautam Premnath
                                          Sanjay Kumar       
1:30pm — 2:45pm        Keynote Lecture  — Will Glover (Michigan)

2:45pm — 3:00pm       Coffee Break
3:00pm — 4:45pm       Panel 2: New Dynamics in Old Cities
                                          Sarwat Viqar
                                          Sugata Nandi        
                                          Anniruddha Bose
5:30pm — 8:00pm      Reception and Literary Reading
                                          Uzma Khan (UH-Mānoa)

Friday, April 8
8:45am — 9:00am        Morning Coffee
9:00am — 10:15am       Keynote Lecture  — Dilip Da Cunha (University of Pennsylvania)
10:15am — 10:30am     Coffee Break
10:30am — 12:00pm    Panel 3: Neoliberal Urbanisms
                                          Manish Chalana
                                          Amita Sinha and Rajat Kant 
                                          Rohan Kalyan
1:00pm — 1:45pm         Panel 4: Dhaka: Designing for Flux
                                          Aarthi Padmanabhan, Junghwa Suh, Chretien Macutay
                                          Sofija Kavcic, Tai Sunnland
                                          Ria Lyn Sardo Mitchell