From: ikallick@ncsa.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Tagore Conference at U of I - Urbana - long
Date: 15 Sep 92 22:11:45 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

THE FOURTH ANNUAL RABINDRANATH TAGORE FESTIVAL 
23 & 24 OCTOBER 1992, URBANA ILLINOIS

A full description & schedule follows...
Internationalism and Cross-Cultural Exchange will be the theme of the 
Fourth Annual Tagore Festival, 23-24 October 1992.  The legendary South 
Asian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) combined art, 
politics, spirituality, and rational thought, in an effort to promote 
internationalism. The goal of this  conference and festival is to explore 
Tagore's vision of internationalism, and to relate this vision to present 
day ethnic and political crises, and cultural assimilation in America.

The Festival is sponsored by The Tagore Center, the UIUC Program in South 
and West Asian Studies, The UIUC Program in Comparative Literature, the 
UIUC Department of International Programs and Studies, the Indian Students 
Association, the Indian Cultural Society, The Bangladesh Association of 
Urbana-Champaign and The East Central Illinois Bengali Association 

The keynote address will be given by David Kopf, Professor of History, 
University of Minnesota, specializing in the histories of South and West 
Asia. Dr. Kopf is Vice President of the International Society for the 
Comparative Study of Civilizations, and frequently lectures on the 
historical roots of internationalism and cultural conflicts. He will speak 
on "Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengal Renaissance Revisited," on Friday 
23 October at 8PM.  A question and answer session will follow.

Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Professor of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur 
University, Calcutta, India, is an internationally renowned poet and 
lecturer on creative writing and related cultural and gender issues. She 
was awarded the Sisirkumar Prize for original contribution to Bengali 
literature, and has lectured at Harvard, Oxford and Cornell.  She will 
present her paper on "The Crisis of Civilization and the Poet's 
Alternative," during the morning session of the conference on Saturday 24 
October, 9AM - 10:30AM.  

FULL SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY EVENING, 23 OCTOBER

6PM Dinner
A catered vegetarian South Asian style meal will be served.  Limited 
seating is available. You can make advance ticket reservations by calling 
(217) 344-1776 M-F 9AM-Noon, or leave a message there, or at (217) 
384-6569. 

8PM Introduction by Dr. Aparajita Mazumder, Conference Coordinator
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"Cultural Assimilation and Tagore."

8:15PM Keynote Address by Professor David Kopf
University of Minnesota
"Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengal Renaissance Revisited"  
A question and answer session will follow.

SATURDAY, 24 OCTOBER

9AM - 10:30AM. Panel on Political/Social issues

Garth Todd Katner, St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wisconsin. 
"The Road to Hell.. Mediation and Ethnic Conflict in the Next World 
Order." 
Three conflicts and efforts to resolve them have caught the attention of 
the world.  These are the Middle East peace conference, the Yugoslav peace 
talks, and the Three Strand talks on the future governance of Northern 
Ireland.  An examination of each reveals the opportunities and challenges 
in conflict intervention.

Professor Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India. 
"The Crisis of Civilization and the Poet's Alternative,"
The paper deals with Tagore's wide and varied areas of effort in 
recognizing the nature of crisis in civilization and his ways of 
countering it.  Application of his ideas to current conflicts will be 
discussed.

10:45AM - Noon. Panel on Education/Language issues

Kathleen M. O'Connell,  University of Toronto.
"Visva Bharati: Tagore's alternative to Gandhi's Swaraj."
This paper examines the foundation of Tagore's Visva-Bharati and 
Sriniketan in 1921-22, and their relation to Gandhi's non-cooperation 
movement.  It also examines the relationship between Gandhi and Tagore 
when the students of Gandhi's Phoenix school of Africa were shifted to 
Tagore's school in 1914.

Marc Deneire, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 
"Paradigms of Language and Power." 
The aim of this paper is (1) to show how language has been used by 
different ideological systems to maintain both the power of the elite and 
the systems themselves, and (2) to analyze some of the mechanisms used to 
exert power through language, and (3) to suggest ways in which language 
could be used to resolve, rather than to foster, conflict.

2PM -4PM. Panel on Literature, Drama and Music 

Professor Giri Tikku, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 
"Tagore and Persian Literature." 
This paper explores Tagore's influence on the Literature of Persia.

Dr. Ananda Mitra, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 
"Tagore, Indian Television and Contemporary Culture." 
This paper looks at images of Tagore on Television and in the popular 
culture.

Nelson Handel, Director, Eastern Edge Theater Company, Los Angeles, 
"The Presentation of CHITRA, a dance-drama by Rabindranath Tagore." 
Rabindranath Tagore's CHITRA, written in the early nineteenth century, 
celebrated the equality of the sexes in a time and place where such 
progressive thought was rare. A contemporary production of CHITRA played 
for seven weeks in April of and May of 1992 at the Skylight Theater, Los 
Angeles.  Nelson Handel will speak about the production of CHITRA with an 
international cast for an American audience.

The dinner, keynote address, and conference will be held at the 
Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 West Oregon Street, Urbana, IL.  Phone 
344-1176 for directions or details.

SATURDAY EVENING, 24 OCTOBER

7PM Cultural Performance
A performance of Tagore's songs, dances, poetry, and drama in Bengali with 
commentary in English. Beginning with an invocation to Siva, Nataraja, 
the Cosmic Dancer, the themes of Love, The Seasons, and The Country will 
be illustrated. Performances will be organized by the East-Central 
Illinois Bengali Association with participation by The Bangladesh 
Association of Urbana-Champaign,  The Indian Students Association, and the 
Indian Cultural Society. 

The Performance will be held at the Music 
Building Auditorium, 1114 West Nevada Street, Urbana, IL.

IMPORTANT FESTIVAL INFORMATION

If you are coming from out of town to attend the festival, please note 
that accommodations will be limited due to a home football game. Call the 
Champaign-Urbana Convention and Visitor's Bureau at 217 351 4133 for 
information on accommodations.  You may also leave a message at 217 384 
6569, and we will try to arrange private accommodations.


....ABOUT THE TAGORE CENTER AND FESTIVAL

The Tagore Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to the 
appreciation of the Arts and Humanities of South Asia and South Asians 
abroad.  In the spirit of Tagore's world-view, the Center places special 
emphasis on cross-cultural exchange, between nations, regions and 
individuals. This interest in intercultural understanding can be traced to 
the first meeting between Tagore and the people of Urbana, Illinois in 
1912. 

The story began in 1906, when Tagore sent his son Rathindranath to Urbana, 
Illinois, to study Agriculture.  He hoped that the introduction of modern 
farming techniques could ease the burdens on the tenants of his inherited 
estates.  This decision by Tagore marked the beginning of a unique 
relationship between the people of India and the people of 
Champaign--Urbana. Rathindranath counted among his best friends the 
minister of the Unitarian Church of Urbana, who encouraged him to express 
his views about South Asian culture and religion at the Sunday services.  
In turn, church members served as faculty advisors to the International 
student organization that Rathindranath founded -- the Cosmopolitan Club. 

Rathindranath returned to Bengal after graduating in 1910.  He put his 
education to use at his father's agricultural experiment station and 
training facility, Sriniketan. Developing the facility was a challenge, 
and soon Rathindranath decided to return to the University of Illinois for 
further training.

Rathindranath returned to Urbana in the fall of 1912.  Accompanying him 
was his father Rabindranath.  They were enthusiastically welcomed by their 
friends, and they responded with affection and gratitude.  The mutual 
understanding between the Tagores and the Unitarians can be traced in part 
to historical links between the Unitarians and the Brahmo Samaj.  The 
Brahmo Samaj was a Hindu-inspired reform movement that was also influenced 
by rationalist Unitarian thought. It was started by Dwarkanath Tagore, the 
poet's father.  There was significant critical appreciation of Unitarian 
writers by the Tagore family.  And so, when they came to Urbana, they 
found an immediate community of interest with the Unitarians.  

The Tagore Center today holds many of its events in the old Urbana 
Unitarian Church, where Tagore gave his first lecture in America.  It was 
on 10 November 1912, at the request of the Reverend Albert Vail, that 
Tagore spoke on the Upanishads, thereby initiating better understanding of 
South Asian Culture in the Midwest.  This event is commemorated in the 
annual Tagore Festival.  Tagore received the Nobel prize for literature in 
1913.  His subsequent world fame brought attention to the bounties of 
South Asian art and ideas.  Today we remember him as an energetic artist, 
thinker, reformer and international figure.  

This year we hope to apply Tagore's ideas to contemporary problems of 
ethnic and national identity. For more information on the Tagore Center 
call Ingrid Kallick at 217 337 0960 or 217 384 6569 (leave message).
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian