download final conference program

The Future of Secularism
March 26-27, 2004

Roland Betts House, 393 Prospect Street

A Conference featuring:

Fakir Syed Aijazuddin, historian, Pakistan
Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University, USA
Rajeev Bhargava, University of Delhi, India
Amila Buturovic, York University, Canada
Dilip M. Menon, University of Delhi, India
Goenawan Mohamad, activist and former editor of Tempo, Indonesia
Dani Rodrik, Harvard University, USA
Romila Thapar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Nur Yalman, Harvard University, USA

Friday, March 26

8:30 – 9:00 Welcome

9:00 – 10:30 "Is Secularism Alien to Indian Civilization?"
     Romila Thapar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

Discussant: Shyam Sunder, Yale University

10:30 - 10:45 Break

10:45 - 12:15 "The Shifting Qiblah: Islamisation Under General Zia Ul Haq and Secularism Under General Musharraf: The Pakistani Experience"
     Fakir Syed Aijazuddin, historian, Pakistan
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Discussant: Mahmood Monshipouri, Quinnipiac University

12:15 - 1:15 Lunch

1:15 - 2:45 "When Secularism Opposes Nationalism: The Case of the Former Yugoslavia"
     Amila Buturovic, York University, Canada

Discussant: Michael Holquist, Yale University

2:45 - 3:00 Break

3:00 - 4:30 "The Blindness of Insight: Why Communalism is about Caste"
     Dilip Menon, Yale University and University of Delhi, India

Discussant: S.N. Sridhar, SUNY-Stony Brook

4:30 - 6:00 The Future of Secularism Panel Discussion

Discussants:
Jagdish Bhagwati, Columbia University
Armeane Choski, US-India Institute
Francine Frankel, University of Pennsylvania
Gustav Ranis, Yale University
Dani Rodrik, Harvard University
Lamin Sanneh, Yale University

6:00 - 7:00 Reception

7:15 Dinner

Saturday, March 27

8:30 – 9:00 Coffee

9:00 – 10:30 "The Distinctiveness of Indian Secularism" 
     Rajeev Bhargava, University of Delhi, India
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Discussant: Faisal Devji, Yale University

10:30 - 11:00 Break

11:00 - 12:30 "Islam and Secularism—Plato and Khomeini: Questions Concerning the Open Society and Its Enemies"
     Nur Yalman, Harvard University
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Discussant: Abbas Amanat, Yale University

12:30 - 1:30 Lunch

1:30 - 3:00 "Secularism, Revivalism, and Mimicry"
     Goenawan Mohamad, former editor of Tempo, Indonesia
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Discussant: Ben Kiernan, Yale University

For additional information, contact Barbara Papacoda.

Sponsored by the Rustgi Family Fund, the Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Fund and the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization, with support from the South Asian Studies Council and the Council on Middle East Studies at the Yale Center for International and Area Studies.