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R. Mahalakshmi

R. Mahalakshmi

R. Mahalakshmi
R. Mahalakshmi
Professor
Centre/School/Special Centre
Centre for Historical Studies,
School of Social Sciences
Room No
103
Off. Phone
011-26704475
Email
rmahalakshmi@mail.jnu.ac.in , mahaarakesh@gmail.com
Personal Webpage
http://www.jnu.ac.in/Faculty/mahalakshmi/cv.pdf
Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, 2006.

Master of Philosophy, Ancient Indian History, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, 1995.

Master of Arts, History (with theme specialization in Socio-economic history) from Central University, Hyderabad, 1993. 

Areas of Interest/Specialization

Evolution of state structures in the early medieval period in south India; Tamil influences in early historical and early medieval Sri Lanka; interrogating gender and patriarchy in early India; growth and transformation of brahmanical religious traditions and institutions in the early medieval period in India; the development of brahmanical and Buddhist art and architecture in South and Southeast Asia; and tribal histories of South Asia, particularly the Brahmanical/ Buddhist-tribal interactions in the pre-modern period.

Experience

14 years of teaching experience in the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU. 

Awards & Honours

Prof. Hira Lal Gupta Research Award for outstanding research work [The Making of the Goddess, Penguin, 2011] published by an Indian woman Historian, presented by the Indian History Congress, 74th session, 2013. 

International Collaboration/Consultancy

Co-Director with Prof. Vyjyanthi Raghavan, centre for Korean Studies, JNU, and Researcher in the International Project on ‘India and Korea: A Comparative Study of Colonialism’, funded by the AKS, Korea.
Organized a student field trip with 15 students and one staff member to Sri Lanka from 10th – 20th December, 2012, with financial support from the India-Sri Lanka Foundation..
Member of the History and Civics Course Revision Board, Indian Council for Secondary Education since July, 2011. 

Best Peer Reviewed Publications

'Intimately Bound: Woman and Family in early Tamil History, c. 300 BCE – 1300 CE’, in Saxena, Ashish, ed., Mapping Marginality and Social Justice, Rawat Publication, Jaipur, 2013.
‘Introduction to the Life and Work of Ananda Coomaraswamy’, in Coomaraswamy, Ananda, The Dance of Shiva, revised edition with a new introduction, Rupa and Co., Delhi, 2013.
‘Benevolent Consort or Dangerous Adversary? The Accommodation of the Goddess in the Hymns of the Tamil Saiva Saint Appar’, Studies in History, August 2011, 27: 2, pp. 269-80.
‘Political Economy and Society in India: A Historiographical Survey’, Asian Research Trends New Series, Toyo Bunko, 2011, No. 6, pp. 23-50.
‘Ca?kam Literature as a Social Prism’, in BD Chattopadhyaya (ed.), Social History of India in the First Millenium AD, ICPR & Pearson, Delhi, 2009, pp. 29-42. 

Recent Peer Reviewed Journals/Books

The Making of the Goddess: Korravai-Durga in the Tamil Traditions, Penguin India, Delhi, 2011.

The Book of Lakshmi, Penguin Viking, Delhi, 2009. 

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.