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Celebration of 50 years of Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health (CSMCH), JNU

Celebration of 50 years of Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health (CSMCH), JNU

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Event Title
Celebration of 50 years of Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health (CSMCH), JNU
Event Details
Celebrating 50 years of
Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health (CSMCH)
Jawaharlal Nehru University
[Organised by CSMCH Alumni and  the Centre]
April 13, 2023
 Convention Centre, JNU
Auditorium-II
Registration: 9.30 am
10-10.40 am
Inaugural Session
Chair’s welcome
Address by Special Invitees
Prof. S.K. Sopory, Prof. Patricia Uberoi, Prof. SK Thorat, Prof. Arun Kumar
Felicitation of the Founders of CSMCH
Moderator: Sanghmitra Acharya
10.40-11.00 am
Reflections on contributions of CSMCH to Public Health
By Senior Public Health Researchers and Practitioners
Prof. Sheila Zurbrigg, Prof R.K. Mutatkar, Prof. V. Navarro, Dr. Abhay Bang, Dr. Srinath Reddy
Moderator:  Rama Baru
11.00-11.30 am
On the origins and trajectory of the Centre
Prof. Debabar Banerji & Prof. Imrana Qadeer
Screening of their Interviews
By other faculty members and staff who have superannuated
Remembering the departed faculty and alumni
11.30am -12.00noon: Tea break
12.00-1 pm
Reflections on CSMCH by its alumni & friends
(Video collage & in person)
Moderator: Sunita Reddy
1-2 pm:  Lunch
2-5 pm
Panel discussion on
Challenges & Opportunities for the Discipline of Public Health  in Contemporary Times*
(with a tea break)
Moderator: Ritu Priya
Vote of thanks: Prachin Ghodajkar
5 pm onwards

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.