ANNUAL ACADEMIC MEET
The Annual Academic Meet- Polpourri- took place on 22nd-23rd April 2024. The theme for this year was “Politics of the Spectacle”, encompassing the intersection of aesthetics and politics in media, governance, geopolitics, public spaces, art and literature.
To build up the energy and spread awareness about Polpourri, some fun Pre- Events like Photography Competition on “Everyday Politics” and Documentary Screening with the Filmmakers of “City Girls” were organised.
The 2-day event started with a keynote speaker followed by 4 Panel Discussions. The guests for the various sessions were Prof SD Muni as the keynote speaker, the panel on Aesthetics of Political Action: State, Power and Perceptions had Prof Mahuya Bandyopadhyay and Dr. Anushka Singh, Panel 2 on Aesthetics of Body: Gender, Body and Construction of Space was discussed by Dr. Diya Mehra and Dr. Shatarupa Bhattacharya. Day 2 began with Panel 3 on Art, Power and Social Change: Art as a medium of Social Transformation had Prof Ananya Vajpeyi and Prof Partho Datta, followed by Prof. Randhir Singh Award Ceremony and finally the event ended with Panel 4 on Aesthetics of Media and Statistics: Rhetorics and Numbers having Prof. Aasha Kapur Mehta, Prof. Sukumar Muralidharan and Ms. Sunetra Choudhury as the panelists.
This year, Polpourri also offered a range of engaging academic activities including a Quiz, Policy-making competition, and Mock Elections. These events were designed not only to spark the enthusiasm and curiosity of students but also to provide valuable learning opportunities. We aimed to offer fresh insights and a more hands-on approach to understanding Political Science.
DEPARTMENT PUBLICATIONS
Sabab- the Academic Journal of the Department, released their applications for entries for the VIIIth volume. The theme for this year was “Critique and Crisis.” It explores the evolving nature of ideas, truths, and knowledge. It delves into how critique destabilizes norms, leading to crises, and vice versa. The act of critique challenges established moral orders, often driven by power dynamics. Throughout history, shifts in power have influenced moral codes, narratives and counter-narratives have always been in flux. This brings various questions to our minds: What leads to an act of critique? How do we arrive at new thresholds and foundations to ground the practice of critique? Moreover, what is the political end of the critical enterprise that functions in the current time and space? Critique puts things and the order of things in a state of crisis. The two often produce each other and have a symbiotic relationship.
It is a question of our ontology i.e. the nature of being and epistemology i.e. the theory of knowledge, and the relationship between the two.
SABAB also organised its Inter-college Paper Presentation Competition- MANTIQ, as a part of Polpourri’24 on 18th April, 2024 where participants from various colleges presented their papers which they submitted on the theme– Critique and Crisis. Through this paper presentation competition, aspiring researchers got the platform to put forth their findings and cement their interest in the field of academia.
