International Talkies

The International Affairs Quiz 2021  was organized by Lyceum, the Postgraduate Students’ Association of the Department of International Studies, Political Science, and History, at Christ Deemed to be University, on 12 November 2021. Being the first event to be conducted in the hybrid mode, the majority of the students attended the event at Room No. 911 of the Central Block, in the Central Campus, between 3pm and 4pm, while the others attended online. There was a commendable audience turnout and a good degree of participation from the students of Master of Arts in International Studies. The event was declared open by Dr. Madhumati Deshpande, the academic coordinator and the Head of the Department. The Master of Ceremonies for the event was Miss. Hanspreet Kaur of 3MAIS, who explained in detail that the competition would have two rounds. The first round entailed a written assessment, with the participants being shown ten questions through a PowerPoint presentation and asked to write th

  Lyceum, the post-graduate Students’ Association of M.A (international studies) under the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), organised a panel discussion on the topic, ‘Action on Climate Change: Postponement or Anticipation’ on 13 th November 2021. The panel discussion was held in hybrid mode. The event started with a welcome note by Judith Blessy of 3MAIS, followed by an introduction to the event’s judges by Sneha M of 3MAIS. The event was judged by Ms Rashmi BR and Ms Akriti Sharma, both doctoral scholars at the School of Security Studies, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru. The event proceeded to the panel discussion, which Deeksha Pandey of 3MAIS eloquently moderated. Two panellists spoke on the anticipation of action on Climate Change, while two other panellists discussed the postponement of action on climate change. The first speaker was Priya Shakthi of 1MAIS, who spoke extensively about the ch

WORKSHOP AND RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTATION COMPETITION ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS IN INDIA   There have been several perspectives on Indian federalism. For instance, it has been called quasi-federal, federalism with unitary features and so on.  However, whether one can bracket the functioning of Indian federalism under a static concept is questionable. Rather, it has proven to be a dynamic concept with tilts in favour of states and centre respectively, according to the nature of power relations that exists between them. For example, while coalition era governments increased the federal tendencies of Indian polity, one can argue that acts like GST have weakened them. Similarly, there have been variations in inter-state relationships. Depending on various political and economic contexts, these relationships have manifested as both acrimonious and friendly, resulting in certain instances xenophobic outbursts, and otherwise fraternal relations. In this context, the Department of In

The Department of International Studies, History and Political Science, as a part of its Continental Catch monthly webinar series and collaboration with the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), invited Dr. Omer Ali Saifudeen, Senior Lecturer in School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), to address the topic, ‘Ethnic Identities and Terrorism.’, on Monday 8th November 2021, from 3 pm to 4:30 pm. The event began with Dr. Madhumati Deshpande, HOD of the Department of International Studies, History and Political Science, presenting the Welcome speech. The webinar was conducted in hybrid mode, where few students were online and the rest attending the webinar along with the faculty offline. The webinar was very engaging where the speaker used online poll to access our understanding before and after the webinar. It was a thought-provoking seminar, where Dr. Saifudeen broke the stereotypes surrounding identity and its theories. The

The Model United Nations Society of Department of International Studies, Political Science and History organized an event on the occasion of United Nations Day on 23rd October 2021. It was celebrated with competitions throughout the week like Movie review, Book review, Photography, meme making, and creative writing. The occasion began with the virtual welcome address by Dr Madhumati Deshpande, Co-ordinator, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History followed by the offline address by Dr Jose CC, Pro Vice Chancellor, Christ (Deemed to be university) who spoke about the importance of coming together for prosperity and peacekeeping. The emcees for the day were Komal Salecha and Shrestha Medhi from 2MAIS. The event was then graced by a talk by the chief guest, Mr James George Chacko who is the country programme advisor, East Asia and the Pacific Cluster, Country Office Support and Quality Assurance, UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. He holds a postg

The Model United Nations Society of Department of International Studies, Political Science and History organized an event called Dance of Democracy on 17th September 2021 on the occasion of International Day of Democracy. The event was divided into two parts: the prelims in which the participants were supposed to submit their ideas in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, and the final round in which six teams were shortlisted to present their ideas. Teams of two were allotted with countries situated in an era with no democracy in the country and the teams were then required to build a path to establish a democratic system in their respective countries. The six finalist teams represented Lebanon, Thailand, Haiti, and Afghanistan. The emcees for the final round were Neenu Stanly and Aditya, both from 1MAIS, who also briefed the gathering with the concept of the event and the rules to be followed. The event was graced by the presence of two judges, Ms Arushi Ganguly who is currently

Lyceum, the post-graduate Students’ Association of M.A (international studies) under the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, organized a debate competition, Talk De Bait, on Saturday, 25th September 2021, from 11 am to 12 pm. Kasvi Batra, through her excellent moderating and hosting skills, smoothly carry forwarded the whole event. The debate was judged by Ningthem Oinam and Archi Kulkarni. The event was then proceeded by introducing the topics and rules for the first round wherein students of MAIS from the first and third semester, namely Deepanshu (1MAIS), Priya Shakti M (1MAIS), Pranjal Prakash Pandey (1MAIS), Kalpana Pandey (1MAIS), Sakshi (1MAIS), Simran Tondi (3MAIS), Sandeep Ghoshal (3MAIS), Vineeth Daniel Vinoy (3MAIS) took part. The topic of debate for the first round was – ‘U.S. doctrine of humanitarian intervention: an exercise in collective security or a form of Neo-colonialism’. The participants showed extreme enthusiasm and zeal to prove th

The Department of International Studies and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) conducted a talent hunt event on 3rd September, 2021. The event was named “What’s in a Name? Let Talent Speak!” and was organised by LYCEUM, the postgraduate students’ association. The talent hunt included competitions in the categories of music, dance, art, and public speaking. A week before the event, the students of Master of Arts in International Studies, belonging to the first and second years, were divided into four houses - Inclusive Ingenuity, Coffee Club, Axis Powers 2.0, and House of Strange. The students were informed that their respective houses would obtain points on the basis of participation and victory of its members. The event began with the live art competition – ‘Utopiart.’ The participants were instructed to create art pieces on the theme of ‘A Utopian World’ within the time frame of an hour. The event was judged by Ms. Sanjana Krishnan and Ms. Nivedita Dhawan. The next event was

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), organised the Teachers’ Day celebration on 6th September 2021. The event started with a welcome note by Ms. Hanspreet Kaur and Ms. Catherine Sylvia, the emcees for the event. It was followed by a fun activity of Teacher's Day Titles Speaking, where students of 1MAIS and 3MAIS talked about the departmental professors and honoured them with titles. The presentations started with giving the title of The Visionary to Fr. Dr. Jose CC, followed by The Philomath to Dr. Madhumati Deshpande. Similarly, Dr. Vagishwari S.P. was presented with the title of Human Library and Dr. Manoharan N. with Man with a Plan. Ms. Shilpi Roy Choudhary was honored with the title of Ms. Meticulous, and Dr. Gerard Rassendran, with Mr. Assiduous. Akshay Gupta of 1MAIS gave the title of Academic Influencer to Dr. Anu Singh. After honouring Dr. M.J Vinod with the title of Captain Cool, the students of 1MAIS p

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) organised a skill development session on professional communication for students of 3 MAIS on 28th August. The session was planned and conducted by the skill development committee as part of the skill development module. The session was intended to introduce the students to major aspects of professional communication before the process of placements begins. the session was conducted by Mr. Chitresh Shrivastva. Mr. Shrivastva is a former Christite and is working as a communication mentor with CAPS. Mr. Shrivastva is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in public policy from Jain (Deemed to be University). during the session, he put special focus on the use of formal language in the professional setup. he emphasized that there are different levels of formality that must be respected during professional interaction. He also talked about the student presence on social media sites highlighting t

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) organised a session on UGC net exam preparation for the students of 3 MAIS on 1st September 2021. The session was conducted by the skill development committee as part of the skill development module. The session was targeted at helping students prepare for the UGC NET exam. the session was conducted by the skill development committee as a part of the skill development program developed by the Department. the session was spearheaded by Dr. Anurag Tripathi. He began the session by talking about the basic structure of the exam and then began to discuss the specifics. he highlighted the need for conceptual understanding of the subject which would make the process of memorization easier. he repeated the point that the UGC net exams require significant memorization and learning of factual knowledge as compared to analytical understanding. He followed this up with some recommendations for

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST(Deemed To Be University), organised the inaugural ceremony of Lyceum 2021(the postgraduate students’ association) on 19th August 2021. The inaugural ceremony started with a welcome note by Ms. Hanspreet Kaur and Ms. Judith Blessy, the emcees for the event. It was followed by an auspicious prayer song by Ms. Vibha Venugopal, a 2nd-year student of MAIS. Dr. Madhumati Deshpande, the HOD of the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, was then requested to welcome the gathering formally. She spoke about the proper handing over of responsibilities to the new MAIS batch by the senior batch. She also stressed the need to utilise all available resources in the best way possible without compromise. The warm welcome address was followed by a stunning group dance performance by 1st-year students of MAIS. After the dance performance, Dr. Fr. Jose CC, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University and D

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History organized a skill development session on "Academic Writing" for the students of 3MAIS on 31st July 2021. The session conducted by the speaker Samiksha Bajpai, Senior Mentor, CAPS, aimed towards emphasizing the importance of Academic writing was indeed fruitful, especially for the students of International Studies, who at one or the other point of time in their studies and career will need to undertake Academic writing as an inherent part of their academia. The session began with a welcome address by the class representative, Jeshil Samuel. The speaker began with highlighting the learning objectives of the session, which chiefly entailed the do's and don'ts of journal writing, techniques of journal writing, and ethics of writing an article. The session started with context setting as the speaker talked about the need for planning before writing, she underlined the importance of determining the sco

A lecture was organised by the Department of International Studies,Political Science and History in collaboration with NIAS.The lecture series opened with Dr Suba Chandran, Professor and Dean at School of Conflict and Security Studies welcoming all the guest luminaries as well as the participants. Dr Suba Chandran appreciated the recent significant growth in networking in the world of academia leading to ample interaction among many reputed Indian universities. He introduced Ambassador P S Raghavan who is the Convener of India's National Security Advisory Board. He is also the former Indian Ambassador to Russia, Ireland, and the Czech Republic. Ambassador Raghavan started the lecture by explaining the post-cold war mix where he mentioned of USA as a reluctant superpower. While discussing the expanding economic cloud of China, he categorized it as the nouveau riche emerging power. He explained how the aspirations of the small and medium countries are not accommodated in the cacophon

The skill development committee of 3 MAIS conducted a session on skill development session on careers in the area of NGOs & INGOs on 14 August,2021. The session was attended by the students of 3 MAIS along with students of final students of undergraduate courses as well. The session was addressed by Mr Joe Christopher. Mr Christopher works in the US consulate in Hyderabad as an assistant for cultural affairs. Before his current tenure in the US consulate, he worked in various fields. He finished a PhD from English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. Mr Christopher was introduced by Soorya Srinivasan of 3 MAIS. Mr Christopher presented various stories and personal experiences from his life to highlight the skills needed for careers. He highlighted the need for communication skills and research skills for development of projects. He talked extensively on the trend of anti-corruption bills and farm laws. He highlighted his work and his experience working with NGOs highligh

The academic year for 2021-22 began with an inauguration session organised by the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, to welcome the students of 3MAIS into the new academic year on 19 July 2021. The session began with Dr. Manoharan N, the class teacher, wholeheartedly welcoming the students, distinguished guests, and faculty members to the session that was held on Webex. The inaugural address was given by Reverend Dr. Father Jose CC, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and the Director, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History. He formally welcomed the students and conveyed his blessings and wishes. He spoke of new beginnings and the importance that this year held in shaping the students' career prospects. He touched upon the employability assets of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students should seek to inculcate in themselves this year. He also mentioned the three core values of reliability, integrity, and sincerity that students mu

CHRIST (Deemed to be University) and The University of Toledo together with other collaborating institutions are organizing an International virtual conference on the theme: New Populism and Responses of the 21st century. The current conference seeks to define, debate and update the recurring forms of populism in the 21st century. The aim of the conference is to bring the experts from the different disciplines to discuss around the theme, which will enhance the understanding of the changing facets of Populism. The outcome of these discussions will be converted into publications. The organizers are planning to publish a reference work and conference proceedings of the selected works. This will give an opportunity for the participating institutions to network and collaborate on research and publication.New Populism and Responses of the 21st Century.The conference will be held on September 24-25,2021. For details,please check https://npc.christuniversity.in/about

On 29th April, the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, Christ (Deemed to be University) conducted a Virtual International Conference on ‘Shared Worldviews and US-India Relations in the Indo-Pacific and Beyond.’ This event was conducted in collaboration with the Rising Power Initiative, Elliot School of International Affairs, The George Washington University, Washington D.C. Dr Deepa Ollapally, Director, Rising Power Initiative, Elliot School of International Affairs, was the moderator for the event. The event began with the Keynote address given by Dr Fr. Jose CC, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Christ (Deemed to be University). The panellists for the event were Alyssa Ayres, Dean, Elliot School of International Affairs, The George Washington University; Daniel Twining, President, International Republican Institute; Joshua White, Associate Professor of Practice of South Asian Studies; and Richard M Rossow, Senior Adviser and Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studie

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History organised a webinar on Populism titled ‘The Multifaceted Nature of Populism’ by Ajay Gudavarthy. Ajay Gudavarthy is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Political Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has been a visiting fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London, and a Charles Wallace Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His most recent book is India After Modi: Populism and the Right (2018). Dr Madhumati Deshpande—Coordinator, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, Christ (Deemed to be University)—delivered the introductory remarks and formally welcomed the guest speaker. Dr Gudavarthy begins his talk by pointing out that populism is not a new phenomenon and in the present times, the need for a multifaceted approach has arisen where it is necessary to draw approaches from other disciplines such as psychology, sociology, economi

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) conducted an online interactive exchange session with the students of Kanagawa University, Japan. The joy of meeting new people and learning something new about different culture, tradition and ideas is rather an underrated experience; with the need to broaden our connection in a cosmopolitan world and also induce cultural sensitivity, an initiative was undertaken by CHRIST and Kanagawa University of Japan to connect the students of the two Universities. The program dating April 9, 2021, began with the elaboration on the need of keeping interactions between the students of two Universities addressed by Kochi Asaka from Kanagawa University and Dr Madhumati Deshpande, Coordinator, Department of international Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University). It was followed by the introduction about Kanagawa University and its culture along with Kanagawa as a pr

As a part of the series "Continental Catch," the department of International Studies, Political Science, and History organised its sixth webinar on "Indian Maoists and China: Initial Perceptions and a Rethink." The speaker for the lecture was Prof Sreemati Chakrabarti, Editor, China Report; former professor of Chinese Studies. The speaker is the editor of the China Report. She was a Professor of Chinese Studies and Head (Chair), Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi. Currently, she also holds the position of Dean (Social Sciences) in the same University. She has been an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi since 2003. The session started with the welcome address and a brief introduction of the speaker by Dr Manoharan N, Associate Professor, Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, followed by the speaker's lecture. The speaker began by expounding on the history of India's Maoist movement, also

As the Young Diplomat concluded successfully on 20th March 2021, three students: Irfan Nazir, Parvathy Sailesh and Wonchibeni Patton emerged as the winners of the premier edition of this academic event. With their papers being judges as the best, the winners share their experiences below. “The Young Diplomat 2021 was a real learning experience for me. As an IR student, the conference provided me with a platform to look at post-pandemic global politics more inquisitively. It also helped me to sharpen my academic writing and presentation skills. I congratulate Team Lyceum for organizing such an enriching academic exercise, and I hope to attend more of your events in future.” - Irfan Nazir, Winner “I learnt a lot from this experience. The event organization was impeccable, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavours to provide valuable academic experiences to the student community. The Lyceum blog has been an interesting read. It is wonderful to see the range, scope and creat

The Young Diplomat ‘Paper Presentation' held on 20th March 2021 was organized by Lyceum under the theme 'UN amidst the pandemic.' The welcome note was addressed by the HOD of the Department, Dr. Madhumati Deshpande, followed by a mesmerising dance performance by Anushua Banerjee of 4 MAIS. The Event was formally declared open by Dean of Social Science of CHRIST (Deemed to be University) Tony Sam George, who elaborated on the juxtaposition of academic freedom with academic resilience. The Event's judges were introduced as Dr. Prakash Pannerselvam of NIAs and Dr. Anurag Tripathi of Christ (Deemed to be University). The first paper was presented by Anurag Roy from Amity University, who wittily introduced John Rawl's Veil of ignorance and dependency theory in the mishandling of the pandemic by WHO. The next paper was presented by Aparajita Pauranik from CHRIST, who focused on two main dichotomies of indecisiveness of WHO and its disastrous effect on Indian Expatriates

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History has introduced “Continental Catch"-a series of monthly webinars to enable our students to catch up with the current events in every continent. The sixth webinar as a part of the "Continental Catch" webinar series will be held on Friday, March 26, 2021, at 4 pm IST. The topic of the webinar is "Indian Maoists and China: Initial Perceptions and a Rethink." The speaker for the session will be Sreemati Chakrabarti, a former Professor of Chinese Studies at the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi. As the rift between India and China widens with the recent clashes in the Galwan Valley, Sreemati Chakrabarti aims to provide an interesting perspective on the issue by bringing the Maoists factor in the Indo-Sino relations.

Battle of Brains for the year 2021 was a breath of fresh air for the students in these trying times. Organized by the Post Graduate Students’ Association, Lyceum, the Department of International Studies, Political Science, and History had an exciting, fun, and rather enlightening day full of activities planned for its students. The Battle of Brains this time had four different sets of events: Conspiracy, Just a Minute (JAM), Event X and Enigma. Conspiracy: Time: 9:00 am to 10:30 am Conspiracy was moderated by Judith Blessy from 2 MAIS and was conceptualized and executed by Niharika Singh Rana (2MAIS) and Siddharth Tiwari (2MAIS). As the name suggests, the event prima facie dealt with various conspiracy theories; thus, leading to a rich intermixing of the point where historical fact and fiction merge. For the first-round participants (in teams of two) were expected to justify the conspiracy theory allotted to them at random, the theories were immensely diverse ranging from Lady Diana

IR MUN is one of the most famous and successful MUN in the Bangalore circuit. The objective of the Model United Nations is to seek, through discussion and debate, solutions to the various problems of the world. The International Relations Model United Nations (IRMUN 2021) is a two-day national-level event that will be held virtually through an online platform. IRMUN is a debating platform that will follow the guidelines of the United Nations. IRMUN offers students an excellent opportunity to expand, develop and put into practice their lobbying, negotiating and debating skills. As our theme suggests, UN @75: Pursuing Diplomacy for a Peaceful Posterity we aim to instill the ability among the students to come to a consensus and formulate solutions for the world peace and co-operation, for the advancement of the global future. At this conference, young leaders are encouraged to come up with solutions for varied problems affecting countries across the globe. This is a platform where student

In collaboration with the International Relations Office, the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST ( Deemed to be University) organized an international webinar on "Everyday nationalism in the 21st century." The speaker for the session was Dr. Jon E Fox, Professor of Sociology from the University of Bristol, UK. The session started with the welcome address and a brief introduction of the keynote speaker by Dr. Madhumati Deshpande, followed by the lecture of the speaker himself. He initiated the lecture with the question of how nationalism affects the day-to-day lives of ordinary people. In his lecture, he tried to elaborate the framework for understanding the roles of ordinary lives in producing and reproducing nationalism in these contemporary times. To substantiate his perspective, he discussed three pillars of everyday nationalism, namely, 1) tweeting the nation, 2)marching the nation, and 3)branding the nation. Each of these phenome

On 23rd February 2021, NIAS conducted a seminar on ‘Contemporary Middle-East’ in collaboration with the Department of International Studies, Political Science and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Kristu Jayanti (Department of History), Pondicherry University (Centre for Maritime Studies), Goa University (Department of Political Science), and Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Department of Geopolitics and International Relations). The speaker for this seminar was Retired Ambassador Sanjay Singh. Amb Sanjay Singh held charge in the Ministry as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary (Gulf) from March 2005 to March 2009. He was India’s Ambassador to Iran from March 2009 to March 2011. He took over as Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs in March 2011 and retired at the end of April 2013. Dr Rahul Tripathi, HOD, Department of Political Science, Goa University gave the welcome address and introduced the speaker. The Ambassador, in his lecture, spoke on the fol