South Asia Program
Two Indian Half-Sisters are the Talk of 'Bridgerton' -- and of Modern-day India, too

Durba Ghosh, PACS and SAP
“While it’s impossible to say how many, there would have been South Asian aristocrats in these circuits as well. There are cases of [Indian] women who have traveled to Britain with their partners and who are a part of society and who have raised their children,” says Durba Ghosh, professor of history.
Additional Information
European Leaders Again Reject Russia's Demand That Gas Deliveries Be Paid in Rubles

Eswar Prasad, SAP
“Putin seems determined to show that he can dictate terms and force countries that are dependent on his country’s natural gas exports to sing to his tune,” says Eswar Prasad, professor of international trade policy. The piece syndicated to The Boston Globe.
Additional Information
Deprovincializing the Dhamma: Internal Conversions, and the Micropolitical Management of ‘Harmony’ via Inter-Asian Buddhist Movements."

April 15, 2022
12:00 pm
Rockefeller Hall, 374
Please join us for a talk by Neena Mahadev (Yale-NUS).
The Cornell Buddhist Studies Seminar Series is co-sponsored by the GPSA-FC, the Departments of Anthropology, Asian Studies and Philosophy, by the South Asia Program, and by the Society for the Humanities. The talk is open to all members of the Cornell community; for accessibility queries please contact buddhiststudies@cornell.edu
Additional Information
Program
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
South Asia Program
Media Studies Colloquium: Iftikhar Dadi

April 15, 2022
1:30 pm
Uris Library, 311
Please join us for the media studies colloquium on Friday, April 15, 1:30-3:00pm, in Uris Library 311. If you need remote access, please pre-register for the Zoom link here.
Iftikhar Dadi (History of Art and Visual Studies) will be discussing an exhibition and writing project on “Pop Art and South Asia: Aesthetics and Politics.” There is no pre-circulated material.
Please feel free to get in touch with the event organizer if you encounter any technical difficulties or have any questions about the event.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
South Asia Program
Cryptocurrency Could Help Governments and Businesses Spy on Us

Eswar Prasad, SAP
Eswar Prasad, professor of international trade policy, writes this opinion piece about how governments and businesses could use cryptocurrency to spy on people.
Additional Information
Program
"Bridgerton" Hasn’t Solved Its Diversity Problem

Durba Ghosh, SAP/PACS
“It was more common for men to return to England and settle down, leaving behind their children and the Indian women who’d given birth to them,” says Durba Ghosh, professor of history.
Additional Information
Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee: Forging Lasting Peace

May 3, 2022
5:00 pm
Alice Statler Auditorium
Forging Lasting Peace: Movements for Justice in a Pluralist World (Bartels World Affairs Lecture)
In our ethnically, racially, linguistically, and religiously diverse world, how do we find common ground? Amid ongoing conflict and violence, how do we foster lasting peace? In our world full of inequalities, what practices of activism and solidarity lead to transformative change? Drawing on her experiences of mobilizing, demanding, and brokering peace, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee shares how action and activism can shape a just world.
A book signing and reception with refreshments will follow the lecture.
Lecture: 5:00–6:30 p.m. | Alice Statler AuditoriumBook signing and reception: 6:30–7:30 p.m. | Park AtriumFree ticket required for in-person attendance: Reserve your ticket. Join the lecture virtually by registering at eCornell.
***
Learn more about our distinguished speaker by reading her book, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War. Pick up your copy from The Cornell Store and bring it to the book signing! Buffalo Street Books will also have copies for sale at the event.
***
How did Leymah Gbowee's protests lead to lasting peace? Read a Bartels explainer by Naminata Diabate.
***
About Leymah Gbowee
Nobel Peace laureate Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist, trained social worker, and women's rights advocate. She currently serves as executive director of the Women, Peace, and Security Program at Columbia University's Earth Institute and is the founder and current president of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, founding head of the Liberia Reconciliation Initiative, and cofounder and former executive director of the Women, Peace, and Security Network Africa. She is also a founding member and former Liberian coordinator of Women in Peacebuilding Network/West Africa Network for Peacebuilding.
Host and Sponsors
The Bartels World Affairs Lecture is a signature event of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Part of Einaudi's work on Inequalities, Identities, and Justice, this year's lecture is cosponsored by Einaudi's Institute for African Development and Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, in cooperation with Peace is Loud. To learn more about Peace is Loud and discover other empowering women peacebuilders, visit www.peaceisloud.org.
Bartels World Affairs Lecture
The Einaudi Center’s flagship event brings distinguished international figures to campus each academic year to speak on global topics and meet with Cornell faculty and students, particularly undergraduates. The lecture and related events are made possible by the generosity of Henry E. Bartels ’48 and Nancy Horton Bartels ’48.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
Institute for African Development
Comparative Muslim Societies Program
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
What Would Paying for Natural Gas in Rubles Mean?

Eswar Prasad, SAP
“Either Putin is getting terrible economic advice or he is going further off the rails in his hatred for the West,” says Eswar Prasad, professor of international trade policy. “It would be cheaper for foreign importers to pay for Russia’s exports in a currency that is collapsing in value, but it is difficult to acquire rubles and make payments in a manner that avoids the sanctions.”
Additional Information
How "Bridgerton" Touches on Colonialism in India

Durba Ghosh, SAP/PACS
“By casting actors of color, the two seasons of Bridgerton challenge a long-held presumption that those circulating in social circles in Britain were historically white,” says Durba Ghosh, professor of history. “To me, that seems a meaningful way to think about colonialism and racism in 1810s Britain.”
Additional Information
Threads: Sustaining India's Textile Tradition

April 13, 2022
4:45 pm
Willard Straight Theatre
w/post-screening discussion with Denise Green (Director, Cornell Fashion & Textile Collection) and filmmaker Katherine Sender (Dept of Communication/FGSS)
2022>Directed by Katherine Sender and Shuchi Kothari
Threads: Sustaining India’s Textile Tradition is a documentary film that follows the stories of fashion designers and fabric artisans as they transform traditional textile practices for contemporary fashion markets. After decades of decline in demand for legacy fabrics, these stories demonstrate that committed, collaborative relationships between designers and artisans can innovate traditional practices. We meet Chanderi Master Weaver Bhagwandas who describes how Sanjay Garg (Raw Mango) refined motifs and color in Chanderi weaving. We explore Rahul Mishra’s collaboration with bandhani Master Craftsman Jabbarbhai to innovate tie-dyeing processes in merino wool. We watch Aneeth Arora (Péro) as she works with artisans and craftspeople to modernize traditional silhouettes. And we discover how Rahul and Shikha Mangal (Vrisa) marry handmade with machine-made processes to sustain artisans and appeal to contemporary consumers. The film features interviews with designers in Delhi and Jaipur; hand weavers in Chanderi, 350 miles south of New Delhi; bandhani tie-dyers in Bhuj, in India’s north west; and block printers near Jaipur in Rajasthan. The clothes they produce appeal to an increasingly affluent Indian middle class and global diaspora by using textiles that reference traditional techniques in a contemporary way. Threads argues that sustainability involves more than environmental stewardship and improved economic circumstances for workers: Designers and artisans collaborate in ongoing creative relationships to reinvigorate both traditional textile techniques and the communities who produce them.
In English, Gujarati, Kutchhi, and Hindi.
58 minutes
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
South Asia Program