The return of the "sacred" in world affairs

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The return of the "sacred" in world affairs


A respected Indian thinker in fields as diverse as politics and religion, science and technology, and cricket, will address the resurgence of religion in world affairs in a public lecture next Tuesday (12 September) at the University of Technology, Sydney. Professor Ashis Nandy, Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, is delivering the second annual lecture for Trans/forming Cultures, the key UTS research centre in communication and culture. His topic is: "The Return of the Sacred, the Language of Religion and the Fear of Democracy in a Post-Secular World." Director of Trans/forming Cultures, Dr Devleena Ghosh, said Professor Nandy had had a long and prolific career illuminating an extraordinary number of subjects. "He lists his research interests as: 'political psychology, mass violence, cultures and politics of knowledge, utopias and visions', but he has also written on the history of science and technology, the nature of the post-colonial state, alternatives to 'development', alternate politics, the role of religion in society and the game of cricket in India," Dr Ghosh said. "His works have been translated into Chinese, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malayalam, Polish, Russian, and Spanish - not to mention most of the languages of the Indian subcontinent." Professor Nandy, who is in Sydney until Friday 15 September, will also deliver a series of workshops for postgraduate students of the UTS Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Friday 8 September 2006