Würzburg Academics and Students in India 2016

In October 2016, five members of IPS India Forum travelled to India in order to conduct various research and teaching activities and to deepen the partnerships especially with Jawaharlal Nehru University New Dehli (JNU) and Panjab Universtiy Chandigarh. Their schedule included workshops of the ICAS:MP Centre of Advanced Studies and guest professorships in both New Dehli and Chandigarh as well as talks, symposia, expert meetings, interviews, and discussions within the framework of the new DAAD-funded project “Foundations of the Indo-European Strategic Partnership”.

Prof. Dr. Gisela Müller-Brandeck-Bocquet, PD Dr. Michael Becker, Dr. Matthias Gsänger, Philipp Gieg and Timo Lowinger from the Professorship of European Studies and International Relations and the Division of Political Theory first participated in the international workshop “Relating Gender: The Invocation of Culture” which took place at the Institute of Economic Growth in New Dehli in the framework of the International Centre of Advanced Studies “Metamorphoses of the Political” (ICAS:MP). Members from the Division of Political Theory organized a panel during the workshop. The Workshop was followed by the ICAS:MP Business Meeting where discussions mainly focused on the future direction of the Centre for Advanced Studies and its respective modules.

After the workshop, Prof. Müller-Brandeck-Boquet visited Panjab University Chandigarh and JNU New Dehli as a guest professor. As part of her visits she gave talks about Brexit and the European Union as an international actor. PD Dr. Michael Becker visited Chandigarh for a couple of days as well in order to fill the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Würzburg and Panjab University with life. Dr. Becker’s talk about Kant’s and Rawls’ conceptions of peace and international law at the Institute of Philosophy was covered by the local press. Moreover, together with Dr. Matthias Gsänger, Dr. Becker has intensified the long-standing relations between the IPS and the Islamic University Jamia Millia Islamia in New Dehli. 

In the framework of the DAAD-funded project “Foundations of the Indo-European Strategic Partnership”, the IPS delegation took part in several meetings with its Indian partners at JNU. The talks are to be continued during the guest professorship of Prof. Dr. Ummu Salma Bava at the IPS in Würzburg in December.

Philipp Gieg and Timo Lowinger did research regarding their dissertations, conducted expert interviews, engaged in discussions, and participated in conferences. Philipp Gieg, for example, participated not only in the ICAS:MP workshop, but also in the symposium “France and India in Africa” at the Centre for African Studies of the JNU. Furthermore, he gave a talk on German foreign policy at the Centre for European Studies.

Student exchange between IPS and India has been continuing as well: As the first scholarship holders in the framework of the new project “Foundations of the Indo-European Strategic Partnership”, Simon Straub and Sophie Glatz spent several weeks at JNU where they did research regarding their Master’s theses, collected literature, and conducted background discussions and interviews. Shortly after their return to Würzburg at the beginning of December, Johannes Greubel travelled to India as the third scholarship holder to work on his Master´s thesis. Detailed reports about the three students´ stay in India will follow soon.