JNU Collaboration

Research Collaboration between

School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

And

School of Theatre, Performance, and Cultural Policy Studies, University of Warwick

Background

At the institutional level, University of Warwick and Jawaharal Nehru University signed an agreement to treat each other as ‘preferred partners’ and to collaborate on joint research ventures across the faculties in 2008. Theatre and Performance Studies and the School of Arts and Aesthetics were highlighted in the agreement as good prospects for partnership. In March 2009, Jim Davis and Janelle Reinelt travelled to Delhi at the invitation of Bishnupriya Dutt to begin discussions about an on-going partnership and programme between the two schools. Since that time, the two Schools have developed an on-going multi-faceted collaboration including the following highlights:

October 2009: Bishnupriya Dutt was nominated for, and subsequently received, and IAS Visiting Fellowship to Warwick. She visited, giving public lectures and teaching in the Erasmus Mundus masters program.
March 2010: The first research colloquium was held at JNU on the topic 'Research and Documentation in Theatre and Performance Studies: Strategic locations, disciplinary challenges, and critical dialogue' (see pages on Colloquium, Concept Note, and Programme). Seven staff and post-graduate students from Warwick attended.
November 2010: The second research colloquium was held at Warwick on the topic 'History, Memory, Event and the Politics of Performance'. Seven staff and post-graduate students from JNU attended.
November 2010: Dr. Samik Bandyopadhyay (JNU) delivers the 2010 Donald Charleton Lecture at Warwick: ‘Living Many Cultures Simultaneously: The Problematic Indian Experience’. See Charlton Lecture sub-page link (above)
Spring and Autumn 2011: Urmimala Sarkar Munsi (JNU) teaches and lectures as part of the MAIPR programme (Warwick).
August 2011: Janelle Reinelt and Nobuko Anan (Warwick) join Bishnupriya Dutt (JNU) and Elaine Aston (Lancaster) to present a joint panel on Feminist Theatre at the International Federation for Theatre Research conference in Osaka, Japan.
February 2012: Janelle Reinelt awarded an UKIERI grant and an IAS fellowship (from JNU). Spends one month teaching, lecturing, and mentoring post-graduates at JNU
Summer 2012: First joint-authored publication in a referreed journal See Dossier sub-page link (above)
February 2013: Milija Gluhovic, Sonja Jestrovic and Janelle Reinelt (Warwick) teach and lecture for two weeks at JNU
July 2013: JNU and Warwick conduct two joint panels at the International Federation for Theatre Research conference in Barcelona:
'Re-routing Religion in Performance' with Milija Gluhovic, Silvija Jestrovic and Ameet Parameswaram; and 'Re-routing (Sex) Traffic in Performance' with Bishnupriya Dutt, Urmimala Sarkar Munsi, and Janelle Reinelt

Ongoing Plans:

In 2013 at meetings in Delhi, the two Schools decided to take up the topic, 'What's Left of the Left?' in order to excavate the history of left-wing political movements and their relations to theatre and performance, with a comparative focus on India, the UK, the US, and the former Yugoslavia. Plans include future colloquiums and publications after an intense period of reading and research. In the meantime, a number of grant applications are pending. The collaboration is robust and ongoing, and the two Schools continue to be committed to joint scholarship.