FW: Invitation to Global Partners' Education Conclave 2015, at IMT Ghaziabad; 1-3 February 2015

Dear all,

 

Greetings from IMT Ghaziabad! Hope this email finds you well.

 

We are extremely pleased to extend a warm invitation to you to attend the Global Partners' Education Conclave at New Delhi, India to be held from February 1st-3rd 2015.

 

The three day conclave focuses on the power of global collaboration in international education. The conclave will help in fostering cooperation and strengthening relationships among the partner institutes. It also serves as a platform for  building new relationships.

 

With a good mix of collaborative opportunities and cultural activities, we hope to provide you with a scintillating experience. We have invited plenary speakers from diverse backgrounds to review exciting developments in global associations in international education. One of the prime highlights of this conclave is the availability of plenty of opportunities for networking among the participants.

 

This conclave will include an award ceremony for the best partner institutes under various categories, industry tours and campus visits. We have also arranged for participants to explore the cultural richness of Incredible India.

 

We are herewith attaching the conclave brochure for your reference.

 

For further details visit: http://www.imt.edu/PartnersWeek2015/

To confirm your attendance please send an email to irc@imt.edu

 

All our strategic partners are attending the Conclave and we would really want someone to represent your prestigious isnitute at this conclave.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Jayanthi Ranjan, Ph.D

Professor - Information System & Technology

Associate Dean - International Relations

Institute of Management Technology

Raj Nagar, Hapur Road,

Ghaziabad - 201001

Uttar Pradesh, India

Ph. No. : +91 120 3002 219 (Direct)

Fax no.: +91 120 2827 895

Mobile: +91 98114 43110

E-mail: jranjan@imt.edu

EPW Article "Academic Performance Indicators: Straitjacketing Higher Education" by Dipendra Nath Das and Saumen Chattopadhyay (of SSS, JNU)

Academic Performance Indicators: Straitjacketing Higher Education
by Dipendra Nath Das and Saumen Chattopadhyay, EPW, December 13, 2014

Abstract: The Academic Performance Indicator, the University Grants Commission's method of assessing teacher performance, curtails academic freedom, reduces all academic engagement to time spent, and has created an academic environment that is driven by competition for points.

Download Full-text: http://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2014_49/50/Academic_Performance_Indicators.pdf

Call for Papers: 'A Manifesto for Cyborgs Thirty-Years on: Gender, Technology and Feminist-Technoscience in the Twenty-First Century'

[Apologies for cross postings]

Call for Papers:'A Manifesto for Cyborgs thirty-years on: Gender, Technology and Feminist-Technoscience in the twenty-first century'

Abstracts due: 27th of February, 2015

Editor: Thao Phan

In her iconic essay A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology and Socialist-Feminism in the 1980s, Donna Haraway introduced the metaphor of the cyborg as an "ironic political myth" to critique the so far troubling narratives of the West. Published in the Socialist Review in 1985, it brings together a broad spectrum of literacies—from socialist-feminism, to cybernetics and biopolitics—to proffer a cutting criticism of Enlightenment humanism, gender essentialism, and military technoscience. Her provocations created a useful framework to destabilise rigid boundaries and make fluid the borderlines between human and animal, organism and machine, natural and artificial, semiotic and material. Today the Manifesto sits comfortably as part of the canon of feminist-technoscience and postmodern theory. Although as an oppositional figure the cyborg is bounded by a historical specificity, it has certainly found new significance and politics in the contemporary age of ubiquitous media.

To mark the 30th anniversary since its publication, Platform invites authors whose work resonates or responds to themes expounded in this seminal essay. With the benefit of thirty years' hindsight, what new observations or critical assessments can be made in regards to the cyborg as a feminist, tropic figure? Did the cyborg fulfill its promise of an "historical transformation"? Is the figure of the cyborg still as useful today, given contemporary technological developments? Or, conversely, do we need myths like Haraway's now more than ever? We encourage the submission of theoretical or empirical work engaging with applications of, or criticisms of, frameworks used by Haraway, and are particularly interested in critical papers that provide novel insights into the relation between gender and technoscience.

Potential topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Cyborg subjectivities in the 21st century
• Gendered tropes in technology
• Novel readings of gender and technoscience
• Trans/queer studies of technology
• Feminist science and/or feminist science and technology studies
• Posthuman subjectivities
• Postgender politics and subjectivities of 'affinity'
• Multiple or fractured readings of the cyborg
• Technologies of sex and gender
• Technologies of race and identity
• Critical studies of the body/embodiment
• Feminist histories/historiographies of media, technology or computation
• The informatics of domination
• Biotechnologies and Artificial Intelligence
• Feminism and accelerationist politics
• Feminism and new materialisms

In addition to this special section, we also welcome submissions that more broadly deal with issues relating to the areas of media, technology, and communication in theoretical or critical terms.

Please send all enquiries and submissions to platformjmc@gmail.com. Abstracts must be accompanied by a brief curriculum vitae and biographical note, and should not exceed 350 words.

We recommend that prospective authors submit abstracts well before the abstract deadline of 27th of February, 2015, in order to allow for feedback and suggestions from the editors. All submissions should be from early career researchers (defined as being within a few years of completing their PhD) or current graduate students undertaking their Masters, PhD, or international equivalent.

All eligible submissions will be sent for double-blind peer-review. Early submission is highly encouraged as the review process will commence on submission.

Note: Please read the submission guidelines before submitting work. Submissions received not in house style will not be accepted and authors will be asked resubmit their work with the correct formatting before it is sent for review.

- See more at: http://journals.culture-communication.unimelb.edu.au/platform/call_papers.html

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With Best Regards
Anup
Assistant Editor, Journal of Scientometric Research, http://www.jscires.org/
Instructions to the Authors: http://www.jscires.org/contributors.asp

Submission of Comment on National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF)

To
The University Grants Commission

New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Please refer to your call for Comments from Academia and public at large on National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF). Enclosed find below my submission on the issue:

While the top western universities located in developed countries have been reinventing their library, information and communications professionals for engaging them in enhancing academic productivity and also for improving global visibility of their affiliated researchers' works, the Indian higher education system has not encouraged any specialization in handling changing paradigms of research communications. UGC also needs to re-look at research communication strategies in Indian universities in order to have better global visibility and possibility of having high impact global collaborations, engaging creative forces of qualified and innovative documentation and research professionals existing in the system. UGC and MHRD should stop demotivating and demoralizing academic professionals working with research departments in central universities including the Documentation Officers, Research Officers and Information Scientists. Rather, UGC should re-designate them as 'Assistant Professor (Information and Media Literacy)' under the UGC's National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF). Similar designation is already emerged in western universities in recent time. Their innovative potentials should be recognized and must be utilized for building equitable and participatory knowledge societies in the country.

Thanking you,

Yours Sincerely

Anup

--

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Anup Kumar Das
Centre for Studies in Science Policy
School of Social Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi - 110067, India
Web: www.anupkumardas.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UGC Invites Comments from Academia and public at large on National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF).

UGC Seeks Comments from Academia and public at large on National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF).
A uniform description of higher education systems at the national level in the various higher educational institutions is of great importance for transparency, comparability and mutual understanding at home and abroad for students, institutions and employers. A National Qualifications Framework is the unequivocal description at the national level of the education system, which is internationally understood, which describes all qualifications and other demonstrable learning achievements (based on certificates) in higher education and relates these to each other in a coherent way, and which defines the relationship between higher education qualifications.
NHEQF would expect the higher educational system to mark a departure from certifying the educational qualification on the basis of duration, entry qualification and other extant markers to a system of quantifying and certifying the pre-defined competencies and learning outcomes germane to the level and discipline concerned which may be term ed as "generic descriptors" of qualification. Qualification framework, in other words, is document that specifies a set of attributes to be expected from a student before granting him certification / degree. NHEQF has become indispensable in the context of globalization. While many countries of the world have their own qualification frameworks in place, which includes even small and developing nations, India has yet to evolve it. It has, therefore, become imperative for India to frame NHEQW and align it with international benchmarks.
To accomplish this task, on the recommendations of CABE, the UGC has constituted a Committee to formulate the National Higher Education Qualifications Framework under the chairmanship of Prof Goverdhan Mehta. The mandate of the Committee is to evolve the descriptors, competencies and testing protocols for various qualifications for easy transition and mobility of students within India and abroad. While doing this, the issues related to the mechanism through which the competencies can be translated into credits and/or hours, the seamless amalgamation of the formal and non-formal modes of earning credits and fixing the minimum credits for certification will be discussed and incorporated in the committee's report.
In this regard, UGC invites feedback and contributions from various stakeholders and civil society at large for the formulation of NHEQF of India to ensure that higher education becomes modular, flexible, competency based and allows seamless transfer for students. Feedback, which should not exceed 150 words, may be sent via snail mail or email at cppiisection@gmail.com by 31-12-2014.
Source: http://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/0030099_nheqf.pdf

Just Published "India: Science and Technology 2014" by CSIR–NISTADS, volume 3,

Just Published
"India: Science and Technology" by CSIR–NISTADS, volume 3, PB, ISBN: 9789384463045, Rs.4000, US$145, Cambridge University Press, New Delhi,

Book Review: http://www.amazon.in/review/R1DO039WSU25V5/
In book titled "India - Science and Technology" (volume 3) edited by National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (CSIR-NISTADS), various scholars and policy analysts discuss different dimensions of the Indian science, technology and innovation (STI). This book is systematically organized into four themes: (a) S&T Human Resources, (b) S&T and Industry, (c) S&T Outputs and (d) Rural India: S&T for Skills and Employment. Some of the remarkable chapters included in this volume are namely: Open Educational Resources: Policy Perspectives and National Initiatives; National Scientific Data Frameworks and Knowledge Portals; Open Access to Scientific Knowledge: Policy Perspectives and National Initiatives, written by Dr. Anup Kumar Das. This is the biennial report, while its earlier versions were published in 2008 (volume 1) and 2012 (volume 2) co-published by CSIR-NISTADS. This book is helpful for scholars in science and public policies, S&T policymakers, policy analysts, educationists, and institution builders.

Further Details: http://www.cambridgeindia.org/showbookdetails1.asp?ISBN=9789384463045

Cover Page Image: https://twitter.com/cambridgeindia/status/518256805181657089/photo/1

[Apologies for Cross Postings]

CfPs: Census Data Dissemination Workshop, 23 January, at CSRD, JNU

Census Data Dissemination Workshop
23 January 2015
Venue: Centre for the Study of Regional Development School of Social Sciences Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Call for Papers
The Centre for the Study of Regional Development (CSRD), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India (ORGI), are jointly organizing a "Census Data Dissemination Workshop" on January 23, 2015 at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The purpose of the workshop is to encourage young research scholars and students to present papers using data released from the 2011 and 2001 censuses of India on the following themes:
1. Population Dynamics
2. Adolescents and Youth
3. Literacy Status
4. Work Status

The themes noted above are broad in nature and the papers can cover analysis of census data from the 2001 and 2011 censuses. The analysis may also cover data for rural-urban, SC/ST, other sub-groups and gender aspects. Each research paper should consist of at least 2500 words, excluding tables, graphs and maps. The research papers received will be evaluated by a panel of experts and the first authors of five shortlisted papers in each theme will be invited for presentation in the workshop. There will be three prizes for the best papers of the workshop.

First Prize : Rs. 50, 000
Second Prize : Rs. 40, 000
Third Prize : Rs. 30, 000

Terms and Conditions

1. The research papers should relate to the subject covered in any of the themes mentioned above.
2. Research scholars and students scoring the top five positions in each theme will be required to present their findings at the respective Technical Session.
3. The decision of the panel of experts will be final.
4. The prizes will be distributed at the end of all the Technical Sessions of the Census Data Dissemination Workshop.
5. The research papers submitted for award of prize and for presentation at the Census Data Dissemination Workshop will be the property of the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, which will have the right to publish all the research papers in the form of a monograph for sale and also load these on the Census of India website without any financial consideration for the authors.

All the selected paper presenters will be given a memento by the ORGI. Travel Allowance and local hospitality will be provided for out-station presenters (the first author in case of joint papers).

The papers should be sent by e-mail to the address given below on or before December 31, 2014. A certificate from the educational/research institution on the status of the author should be attached. The decision on the selected papers will be communicated by January 10, 2015. The census data are downloadable from the website of Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (http://www.censusindia.gov.in/).

Contact: Dr. Dipendra Nath Das/Dr. Nandita Saikia, Census Workshop Coordinators, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences-III, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067. Phones: 011-26704463, 26704486, 26704576; e-mail: jnucensus.seminar@gmail.com.

http://www.jnu.ac.in/Events/Census%20Data%20Dissemination%20Workshop.pdf