''To persuade them into speech and action': Political Tamil and the Tamil Political, Madras 1905-1919'
A talk by Bernard Bate (Yale)

All the elements of 20th century politics in Tamilnadu cohere in 1918-1919: human and natural rights, women's rights, the labor movement, linguistic nationalism, and even the politics of caste reservation. Much has been written of how this politics was mediated by newspapers, handbills, and chapbooks, as the dominant narrative of such events privileges the circulation of print and print culture of vernacular language. This talk explores the relatively less well known story of the role and impact of vernacular oratory on the development of the mass political in Tamilnadu from the Swadeshi movement (1905-1908) to the formation of labour unions (1917-1919) and the explicit attempt to persuade non-elites into speech, action, and ultimately politics. I will argue that Tamil oratory was an infrastructural element in the production of the political, at least the political as we understand it in 20th century Tamilnadu where oratory became the defining activity of political practice. When elites made the conscious move to begin addressing the common man, when Everyman was called to join into the political, a new agency was formed along with a new definition of what politics would look like. Ultimately, the talk will consider what such new agency and definitions entail for an understanding of what constitutes the political generally and the Tamil political in particular.

Bernard Bate is an Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology at Yale University. He received his MA and PhD in Anthropology at Chicago. His most recent book, Tamil Oratory and the Dravidian Aesthetic: Democratic Practice in South India was published in 2009 by Columbia University Press.

Time: 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Location: Knox Hall, Room 208, 606 West 122nd Street, between Broadway and Claremont Avenue

"Why the media & storytelling matter"

A discussion with BoomGen founders Reza Aslan and Mahyad Tousi

Co-sponsored by the Middle East Institute; Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life; International Media & Communications Concentration at SIPA; Digital Media Program, School of Journalism

75% of the population of the greater Middle East (Central/South Asia to North Africa) is under the age of 35. But they are not just in the region. They are living in all the major metropolitan cities in the world. They are the “BoomGen” generation.

Join BoomGen Studios' founders Reza Aslan and Mahyad Tousi in a discussion about why the media & storytelling matter. BoomGen Studios is a one-of-a-kind media & entertainment company entirely focused on content about the greater Middle East across multiple platforms, including theatrical motion pictures, television, as well as online. Find out more at www.boomgenstudios.com

About the speakers:
Dr. Reza Aslan, founder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen, is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam and How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror. His edited anthology, Words without Borders: Writings from the Middle East, will be published by Norton in 2010. Dr. Aslan is a contributing editor on-line for the Daily Beast and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside.

Mahyad Tousi, is CEO & founder of BoomGen Studios and Executive Director of BGTV. Mahyad is a self-described “chronic entrepreneur, creative nomad, and certified workaholic,” who “eats and drinks media and social change, even during Ramadan.” He has worked in over 24 countries as a producer, director, and cinematographer, in both fiction and documentary; in traditional narrative storytelling, as well as for fine art projects. His handy work has won numerous awards and has been distributed theatrically, on television, as well as in museums internationally.

Time: 7:00-8:30PM
Location: Altschul Auditorium, 4th floor, 420 West 118th Street at Amsterdam Avenue