Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs
Center for Contemporary South Asia

News

2024 Prize Recipients

May 22, 2024

Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia is pleased to announce the 2024 prize recipients for the Undergraduate Paper Prize and the Thesis Prize in South Asian Studies. Congratulations to all the winners! The full list of recipients can be found here: https://watson.brown.edu/southasia/node/1329 

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Fulbright-Nehru Awarded to Hamsa Shanmugam

April 4, 2024

Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia is thrilled to announce that Hamsa Shanmugam, summer fellow of 2023, has been awarded the Fulbright-Nehru award for the upcoming year. This recognition will enable Hamsa to continue her research in India, focusing on the adaptation of Thēvāram concerts to the Carnatic Kutcheri format. Thēvāram, a form of Tamil devotional music deeply rooted in the Saiva tradition, will be the focal point of Hamsa's ethnomusicological exploration in Chidambaram and Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Building upon her undergraduate honors thesis in music, which investigated the melodic frameworks of Carnatic music and Thēvāram, Hamsa's Fulbright-Nehru project aims to integrate Thēvāram performances into the structure of Carnatic kutcheri while preserving its musical and lyrical essence. Through meticulous research and practical application, Hamsa's project will culminate in the development and presentation of a full-length Thēvāram concert within the Carnatic kutcheri framework. This innovative endeavor not only contributes to the field of Western musicology but also enriches Carnatic music while expanding the reach of Thēvāram to diverse audiences, both in Tamil Nadu and the global Tamil diaspora. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Hamsa Shanmugam on this remarkable achievement and eagerly anticipate the profound impact her work will have on the appreciation and preservation of this ancient Tamil musical tradition.

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Fulbright Fellowship Awarded to Professor Srinivas Reddy

April 3, 2024 Brown Contemplative Studies

Brown Contemplative Studies is proud to announce that Professor Srinivas Reddy has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in India next year. Professor Reddy's project, titled "Transcribing Traditional Indian Music for Modern Educational Spaces: Historicizing Trends in Hindustani Raga Music Notation and Pedagogy," has received support from the Brown University Music Department. The research will be based at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar in Gujarat. This groundbreaking project aims to explore the transformation of traditional oral repertoires of raga music into written manuals for general instruction in late colonial India. Professor Reddy will delve into early texts such as Maula Bakhsh’s Sangitanubhav (1888), Hazrat Inayat Khan’s Minqar-i-Musiqar (1912), and V. N. Bhatkhande’s Hindusthani Sangeet Padhdhati (1910-32), which preserved traditional raga music compositions in fixed and printed notational forms. With the perspective of a practicing musician and modern-day raga music educator, Professor Reddy plans to revisit this rich archive of educational materials. Please join us in congratulating Professor Srinivas Reddy on this remarkable achievement and wishing him continued success in his research endeavors!

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