EVENTS

Abstract

The Institute of Chinese Studies is organising a Research Methodology Workshop on Chinese Studies, bringing together scholars and researchers to reflect on the diverse approaches and methodological challenges involved in studying contemporary China. The workshop is designed to provide participants with an opportunity to engage with established and emerging approaches to Chinese Studies, while also encouraging discussion on the complexities of interdisciplinary research. The workshop will comprise four thematic sessions, each featuring a 30-minute presentation by an invited resource person, followed by a 30-minute interactive question-and-answer session. The sessions will address different dimensions of research on China, including approaches to studying China, internal dynamics, and emerging themes in economy, business and technology. Through these conversations, the workshop seeks to encourage methodological reflection, critical engagement, and greater rigour in research on China. We are pleased to have distinguished scholars and experts share their insights and experiences with the participants, making the workshop an engaging space for researchers to discuss methods, sources, conceptual frameworks, and the challenges of conducting research on China.

SESSION I

Moderator

Rityusha Mani Tiwary is Assistant Professor, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi and an Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. She has been the Assistant Editor of China Report: A Journal of East Asian Studies, the flagship journal of the Institute, since 2016. She holds a Ph.D in Chinese Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The current focus of her research includes unpacking the interplay of leadership, power and hegemony in East Asia and China’s role in shaping regionalism in the twin domain of political economy and foreign policy. She likes to employ critical theory-comparativist lenses to study China and India regarding nationalism, borders, gender and culture. She was the recipient of the Visiting Program for Young Sinologists in 2017, awarded by the Ministry of Culture, People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing. She was earlier awarded the International Visitor Leadership Program by the Department of State, USA, in 2016 and Pavate Fellowship at the Politics and International Studies Department, University of Cambridge, UK, in 2013. She was a Visiting Scholar at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai, in 2012 and a Visiting Researcher at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, in 2009.

Speakers

Hemant Adlakha is Vice-Chairperson and Honorary Fellow at the ICS, Delhi. He was professor of Chinese at the Centre for Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, JNU, New Delhi. His areas of research include political discourse in the PRC and modern Chinese Literature and Culture. He is on the editorial board of China Report.

Topic: Understanding Approaches to Study China

Alka Acharya is currently the Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi. She was previously Professor and Chairperson at the Centre for East Asian Studies (Chinese Studies), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). From 2005-2013, she was the Editor of the journal China Report and had an earlier stint as a full-time Director and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Chinese Studies, from 2014-2017. Her current research focuses on India-China-Russia Trilateral Cooperation and comparing the Indian and Chinese strategies of regional engagement.

Topic: Foreign Policy, International Relations and Political Economy

SESSION II

Moderator

Hemant Adlakha, Vice-Chairperson and Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi

Speakers

Ajit Phadnis completed his FPM in Public Policy from IIM Bangalore, where his doctoral research was an effort at melding the academic streams of public policy and political science. Prior to the doctoral degree, he received a management diploma from IIM Bangalore and a bachelor degree in electrical engineering from IIT Bombay. He has four years’ experience as a practitioner of public policy, working in the varied capacities of a consultant, policy advocate and a researcher. During the FPM, he was awarded the Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellowship to pursue a portion of his doctoral research at Duke University. His research interests include comparative legislatures; legislative politics; political parties and business-politics linkages.

Topic: Research Methodology

Snigdha Konar is Research Associate at the Institute of Chinese Studies. She holds a PhD from the Centre for Chinese and South East Asian Studies at the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University. She was a recipient of the Chinese Government Scholarship 2015-2016 (MHRD, Govt. of India) andcompleted a Certificate Course in Chinese Studies Research and a Certificate Course in Advanced Chinese from the Beijing Language and Culture University. Her research interests include Chinese language and literature, gender and social issues. She has presented at several national and international conferences and has published in Assonance, The Wire and Economic and Political Weekly.

Topic: Understanding Approaches to Study Chinese Society and Culture and Navigating Language Barriers