Idea Transcript
Associations Reports AICUF Maharashtra State Report The year began with the elections of the trinity: Gretta Castelino, Cassandra Rodrigues and Marilyn Rebello as President, Secretary and Treasurer respectively. AICUF organised a summer camp for REAP, (Reach Education Action Programme) on 11th and 12th April at Kalyan. Delfi Chinnappan, Gretta Castelino and Shilpi Dey conducted the AICUF Orientation for St. Vincent’s College of Commerce, Pune from 15th-17th April at Kune Mission, Khandala. A Cadre Training Programme was conducted by Delfi Chinnappan from 19th20th April. Various sessions like the history of AICUF, polishing leadership skills, screening of documentaries and movies and team building activities were conducted. Selections were made of the National Team Member and Social Outreach and Action Coordinator- Delfi Chinnappan, Human Rights Coordinator and Women’s Commission CoordinatorShilpi Dey, Publicity CoordinatorRachel Pereira, Prayer CoordinatorCarel Pereira, Editor of ‘The AICUFer’Rochelle Fernandes and of ‘The Phoenix’, ‘Jivan’- Stefan Fernandes. Delfi Chinnappan participated in a Work cum Exposure Camp along with few AICUFers from Gujarat and Hyderabad from 30th April-7th May with MKSS (Majdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan), at Devdungri, Rajasthan. Delfi Chinnappan and Gretta Castelino participated in the Work Camp held at Kandhamal, Orissa from 15th to 24th May. And Arpan Jagtap, Sonya Almeida, Jessie De’britto participated in the National Dalit Commission camp held at Turkur, Karnataka from 26th to 30th May. Cassandra Rodrigues participated in the AYCM, Adivasi Yuva Chetna Manch Camp held at Dumka from 6th-10th June. AICUF conducted the Choir and prepared the Liturgy for the Junior and Senior College Inaugural Masses. AICUF conducted the Choir and Liturgy for the St. Ignatius Feast Mass on 30th July and for the Feast of St. Francis Xavier on the 3rd of December.
The Theme for the Year, ‘Being a Catalyst for Change by Moving from ME to WE’ was decided upon, to orient our activities. Gretta Castelino was selected from AICUF Maharashtra to attend World Youth Day held from 10th -23rd August in Madrid, Spain. Delfi Chinnappan attended MAGIS and World Youth Day through the Jesuit Youth Ministry of South Asia (JYMSA) from 1st-22nd August in Madrid, Spain. AICUFers volunteered for the Disaster Management Workshop conducted on the 3rd & 4th of July by the XISR. A visit to Ashadaan, a home for the Orphan children was organized on 6th August to celebrate Friendship Day. It was an eye opening experience for AICUFers to think about the underprivileged rather than one’s own self. The 1st Issue of the newsletter ‘Jivan’ released on 5th August was on the theme ‘Voice of the Unheard’. It emphasized the rights of the juveniles, eunuchs, prostitutes and senior citizens. The 1st Issue of the newsletter ‘The Phoenix’ released on 22nd September was on ‘Life in Mumbai’. It dealt with the daily experiences and the struggles of the common man. Girl Child Week was celebrated with a jewellery-making workshop conducted by Judith Mascarenhas. Poster competition and the screening of the film - ‘Water’ was organized. Lorraine Ramos and Renisha Mall were declared as Stars of the Term for being the most active AICUFers in the Unit. The YES (Youth Encounter Sessions) State Camp was held on 24th-26th October at St. Xavier’s Villa, Khandala with 65 participants. Delfi Chinnappan regularly attended all the National Team Meetings. A Work-cumExposure Camp was held at Prabodhan Vidyalaya- a Jesuit Mission Station situated at Ambatha in the District of Nashik from 30th October- 7th November. 9 participants were selected from AICUF to offer their services
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in teaching students belonging to the tribal community. Delfi Chinnappan attended the AGSDM 25th Year Silver Jubilee celebration held in Gujarat on 6th November. Shilpi Dey, Pramila Irudayaraj, Leonara Mendes, Pravin Tribhuvan participated in the National Women’s Commission Leadership Training Camp held at AICUF House, Chennai from 18th-20th November. Dheeraj Lonare, Nishant Besra, Linus Koli, Royston Ries and Atul Jayant participated in the Karnataka State Congress held in Bangalore from 25th27th November. The AICUF National Advisor, Fr.Selvin Raj SJ visited Maharashtra from 26th29th November. He interacted with AICUFers during the general meeting in Mumbai and Pune. An Exposure Trip was organized to Amchi Koli on 27th November. AICUFers saw how most people at that place earn their daily living through working on railway platforms. Delfi Chinnappan and Sonya Almeida participated in the JHEASA National Students Conference from 14th to 16th January at Loyola College, Chennai. Pooja Alukkal and Harsha Anthony from St. Xavier’s College, participated in the National Journalism Workshop held at AICUF House, Chennai from 18th-20th January. The13th AICUF Day was celebrated on 22nd January. The mass was celebrated by Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas, our State Advisor and Fr. Anthony Dias in the college chapel. The AICUF annual magazine ‘The AICUFer’, edited by Rochelle Fernandes on the theme ‘Moving from ME to WE’ was released by the celebrants and Dr. Agnelo Menezes, our Animator. Lorraine Ramos and Renisha Mall were awarded as The Most Active AICUFers of the Year. Cassandra Rodrigues and Rochelle Fernandes were given the title of the Most Hardworking Steering Committee Members of the Year. Rochelle Amelia Fernandes Editor- The AICUFer
Blatter Herbarium 160 new specimens were added to the herbarium.The routine work of disinfecting the herbarium specimens, remounting of a few hundred specimens on new herbarium sheets and attending to the visitors of Blatter
herbarium continued this year too. The fern specimens were given accession numbers and incorporated into the list of the herbarium specimens. Several plant specimens submitted to Blatter for authentication were authenticated.
The herbarium was fumigated in December to get rid of the insects and other pests. Dr. Ujwala Bapat Director, Blatter Herbarium
Biotechnology and Enterprise This academic year began with students of the 2010-2011 batch presenting posters of their placement in both Piramal Life Sciences and Sanofi Aventis. These posters were evaluated by both faculty from the University of Bath as well as St. Xavier’s College. Of the 6 students enrolled, 3 have graduated with merit:
University of Bath faculty along with the college faculty inaugurated the 2011-2012 batch. 10 students enrolled for the course.
involvement of faculty from the industry as well as other colleges. The external faculty involved in the delivery of the program were: Dr. Ryan Pereira (Cornell University, USIEF – Mumbai), Dr. Deepak Modi (Scientist, NIRRH), Dr. ShashikantAcharya (Associate Professor, M.S. Baroda University), Dr. Urmila Joshi (Faculty, Kundnani College of Pharmacy), Dr. B.V. Vakil (Professor, Khalsa College), Dr. Sivakami (Ex-Faculty, Dept. of Life Sciences, University of Mumbai) and Ms. Bhakti Joshi (Freelance Faculty). These faculties were involved in both the science aspects and the entrepreneurship part of the course.
This year the course was developed to an even larger extent with the
Several in-house faculties form the biosciences departments as well as
• Mr. Stefan Fernandes • Mr. Rishit Shah • Ms. SagorikaSinha
from the BMS department were involved in the delivery of the program. Students were evaluated based on assignments and presentations. The 2011-2012 batch left for the University of Bath in September 2011 and completed research projects under the guidance of various faculty from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University. Students returned in January 2012 and have since then started internships in Piramal Life Sciences, USV, Glenmark, Bharat Serum and Bhat Biotech. Dr. (Mrs) MadhuriHambarde Co-ordinator M.Sc IBE Associate Professor, Department of Zoology,
Caius Laboratory faculty and students of the various science departments. Research work:
The newly renovated Caius Laboratory was inaugurated by Dr. Manjusha Molwane, the Joint director of Higher Education, Mumbai Region on January, 13th 2012. The main aim of the lab is to initiate and encourage multidisciplinary research work by the
Currently there are six members of the faculty from the various Biology departments doing research leading towards their Ph D degree. The faculty members are Professors Norine D'souza, Dept. of Biotechnology, Sangeeta Chavan and Karuna Gokarn, Dept. of Microbiology, Prashant Ratnaparkhi and Sangeeta Shetty, Dept. of Life Sciences and Biochemistry, and Conrad Cabral, Dept. of Zoology. Dr. Vishwas Sarangdhar is the research consultant for the lab. Mr. Sachin Telang, SRF and PhD student of
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Dr. Sheela Donde (former Director) submitted his PhD thesis, to Mumbai University in October 2011. Projects Submitted: The project entitled “Isolation and examination of Mycobacterium smegmatis siderophores as novel therapeutic agents” has been submitted by Dr. Vivien Amonkar and Karuna Gokarn of the Department of Microbiology, to DBT, GOI. Industry consultancy: A Project on “Genetic Fingerprinting of Mahseer Fish” funded by TATA Power is being carried out in the laboratory. A full time Project Assistant Ms. Archana Rasure has been appointed to carry out the project work.
Conferences : The following posters were presented in International Conferences1. Dr. Sheela Donde gave a poster presentation entitled “Cloning of endoglucanase gene from Bacillus pumilis and its expression in Deinococcos radiodurans” at the XXXI Annual Conference of the Society of Toxicology, India, and the International Symposium on “Current Trends in Environmental Toxicology” held from the 2nd to 24th December, 2011 at Jaipur. 2. Dr. Sheela Donde gave a poster presentation on “ Development of a recombinant Deinococcos radiodurans strain expressing Bacillus pumilis endoglucanase enzyme” at the UGC sponsored International Symposium on “Current Trends in Life Sciences,” on 9th March, 2012 at the University of Mumbai. Workshops conducted: A Lecture cum hands-on workshop in Animal tissue culture and Gas chromatography was conducted for the faculty during June 2011. This was the effort of interdepartmental collaboration between the departments
of Biotechnology, Life Sciences and Biochemistry and the Caius lab. The resource persons for the hands-on sessions were Dr. Shiney Peter from Biotechnology for Animal tissue culture, Ms. Sheetal Fernandes from Life Sciences for Lyophilization and Mr.Aslam Chougle from Thermofisher for GC. Twenty-five faculty members from chemistry and all the biology departments participated in the workshop.
Air Flow, and Refrigerated Centrifuge. An ELISA reader obtained through the Lady Tata workshop grant is also placed in the CIF.
A demonstration on GC was also conducted for the faculty and TYBSc Chemistry students on the request of their teachers on 16th January 2012.
The above instruments and facilities have been used by the faculty, doctoral, post graduate and undergraduate students of all the Biological Sciences departments of St. Xavier’s College for teaching, research and Honours Program work.
Instrumentation Facility The fully air – conditioned state of the art Instrumentation Facility of the laboratory currently houses twelve pieces of equipment that the college had obtained through the DST – FIST grant of the Govt. Of India, and two instruments obtained from the UGC grant. The Equipment includes the Gel Documentation system, two UVVisible Spetrophotometers, Thermal Cycler, CO2 incubator, Ultrasonicator, Lyophilizer, BOD incubator, Electroporator, Gas Chromatogram, HPTLC applicator, two – dimensional gel electrophoresis system, Laminar
A fully functional Animal Tissue Culture facility is available, where research using animal cell lines is being carried out. The lab also has an internet connection that can be used to acquire information for research.
The Caius laboratory has workspace available for Six Ph D / research students registered from among the faculty of the college. The use of the instruments and facilities of the Caius Laboratory can also be made available to other academic / scientific institutions on request. Proposals for collaborative projects are welcome. Dr. Priya Sundarrajan Director, Caius Research Laboratory
Extra Curricular Committee In order to acknowledge, celebrate and encourage the students to enhance their innate talents in Literary arts, Fine arts and Performance arts, the Extra-Curricular Credit was a unique addition that the Autonomous system ushered in from this Academic year. To be eligible for the ExtraCurricular Credit, a student has to participate in Extra Curricular activities in the forums coordinated by the Extra Curricular Committee or by any another unit on campus with the approval of the Prof-inCharge. Co-curricular activity outside the academic space offered by various departments was also included for the Extra-Curricular credit. Participation or Organization in the events for sixty hours over three years
made the student eligible for the Extra Curricular Credit.
brought the Student Council under the ECC umbrella.
It was imperative to document, collate and record the events in which a student had participated. To streamline this endeavor, it was agreed that a form be given to each student, having very clear columns of the EVENTS the student participated in, DATES of the event, No. of hours that have been granted and most importantly SIGNATURE OF THE FACULTY INCHARGE who will approve the said hours
• Forums - a new venture…….. with the coordinated inputs from students who have always excelled and participated in ECC activities present and past we decided to start Forums for Literary arts, Informals, Western Performing Arts, Indian Performing Arts and Fine Arts.
BACK STAGE
• Coordinate cultural activities on the campus
• To usher a synergy between the Student Council and Cultural committee on campus, the Principal Fr Frazer Mascarenhas
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The Area of Work, of these forums would be to -
• Disseminate information to fellow students about various competitions
• Conduct workshops • Invite artistes and guest speakers to provide inputs to students about improving and enhancing their soft skills and • Coordinate/help and work with the SUC members and the CL and ACLs of various festivals. The forum coordinators who conducted various programmes kept the campus buzzing with various activities, enhancing the creative skills of our students. Kudos to Conrad who was the coordinator for Literary events, Meenakshi for FA, Delfi for WPA, Apoorva for IPA and Nikita for Informals. • To stream line applications for CLs, ACLs. The application form included details like Attendance and Academic performance records with references two faculty members. • This year we began the Interviews for filling up posts of CULTURAL SECRETARY, MALHAR –CL ACLs, UMANG- CL ACLs and the student coordinators for the newly constituted forums in the month of APRIL,2011 • Ms. Shivali from the XDP office helped in collating the data. Two Professors from the ECC staff committee coordinate with the student body for the intercollegiate festival. The area of work for the PROF IN CHARGE OF THAT FESTIVAL/EVENT was largely to • streamline expenses, • Sign vouchers and bills, • Oversee attendance records, • Ensure in a very judicious way that the hours allotted for each activity to the students in which they have represented college are fair. • Schedule auditions • Ensure fair play while choosing students for the contingent • Interact with the Choreographers
A portal was created for ECC activities which could be used as a pedestal for sharing and giving information regarding all ECC activities. ON STAGE We participated in the following festivals with the following contingent leaders and Assistant Contingent leaders: • Malhar – Akshay Kohli with Devansh Mahta, Radhika Agarwal and Aditi Kujur • Umang- Shruti Suresh with Nandini Narayanan, Tanya Khare and Vailaneena Govindan. • University Youth Fest- Kshiti Gala with Yash Thakoor and Prachi Saxena. • Kaleidoscope- Avantika Goswami with Yesha Kotak, Aradhana Sanyal and Alridge Alvares • Mood Indigo- Hailley Turakhia with Yesha Kotak and Keerti Bhandary. • Waves (Bits Pilani, Goa)- Herman Gomes with Nikita Sonavane and Saugat Chaterjee • O2- Tejaswini Kate with Avee and Juily. • Rizvi College - Yesha Kotak with Radhika Nair. • Kiran- Veda Muppavarapu with Malvika Lobo, Herman Gomes. • Kshitij- Surbhi Borar with Manas Paradkar and Nikita Sonavane with Arshiya Khanna. • Visions- Neha Laxman with Avee Purohit. Our college’s talent got a new platform with the ECC, the teams went full contingent in most of the festivals we participated in. Additionally, we brought the cups home; these achievements include the Overall, FA, PA and Conclave winners at Malhar’11, Overall 2nd at Mood Indigo’11, LA winners at Kaleidoscope’11, Overall 2nd at Kiran, Overall 2nd with LA trophy at Umang’11 and so on. For the first time we participated in Waves,
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which is the college festival of Bits Pilani, Goa and opened doors to festivals happening outside the city. OFF STAGE • Students’ council and the Cultural Committee conducted a joint debate on Corruption. Eminent speakers were invited to address the same. • All units on campus came together under the leadership of the Principal Fr. Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas to formulate a joint action plan to launch a cleanliness drive on campus. The ECC also chose the Editors for ‘the XPRESS’. • The ECC also coordinated cultural programmes for College Day, JAAI MILAN, Traditional day, Teacher’s day and Third Year Farewell. And the show goes on… It was indeed a challenge to compile the Extra Curricular credit, and to make it work in such a way that it has a tangible presence. The work involved a very engaging coordination with students and Faculty-in-charge of all units on campus. While working in this committee we did share some great moments, testing moments, challenging moments, exhilarating moments, introspective moments, and frustrating moments. All in all, while working with the students we travelled through the entire diverse spectrum of the nava-rasa! Also three cheers to our very dynamic Cultural Secretary, Kshiti Gala and General Secretary, Shivani Aggrawal with the members of the Student Council who worked diligently to ensure that all ECC activities were coordinated without any glitches. Finally without the synchronized efforts of the entire ECC staff committee - Prof. Gulshan Shaikh, Prof Ruby Pavri, Dr (Prof) Ashima, Prof. Rajesh Singh and Prof. Ayesha Dias, the ECC work could have not been possible. Dr. Radha Kumar Convenor, The Extra Curricular Committee
Film Countdown “It was the caveman, who first thought of creating false representations of real life, and assumed behaviors and ‘acted’ accordingly,” said Naseeruddin Shah, in his address to the members on the inaugural screening of the year describing the origins of cinematic productions, which was followed by a screening of the neo-classic, The Bicycle Thief. That would be the beginning of the second active year for the Film Countdown, a film society organized under the aegis of the BMM department. This year the society had set out with certain specific ambitions for its members: of increased interactions and discussions on the diversity of cinema, and of enhancing
the most fundamental instinct in any movie-goer, that of unabashed curiosity, of hearty acceptance and the willingness to be surprised by cinema. In principle, the Countdown was successful in introducing and screening a variety of films across the world and others from the popular palette as well, each highlighting a specific, unusual and significant aesthetic of the medium. The members of the executive committee, Raoul Thomas George, Yash Thakoor, Vydehi M, Leona D’souza, Uttara Purandare, Sneha Ganesh and Laya Maheshwari worked under the timely guidance of professors Meera Shirodkar and Akshara Jadhav, of the BMM department.
This year, the committee began with a mission bestowed upon us by Mr. Naseeruddin Shah, of exploring that which all cinema ought to be: an honest chronicler of its time. And since, the Countdown has striven towards offering its members a comprehensive cinematic experience. In the year that will follow, the Film Countdown will continue to explore the dimensions of the cinematic experience, with many and frequent interactions with its members and other film enthusiasts. Ms Meera Shirodkar & Ms. Akshara Jadhav Faculty –in-charge.
Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture
The year 2011-2012 was a very fruitful for the Heras Institute. The following report encapsulates the activities conducted during this academic year. WORKSHOP ON INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE A Workshop on Indian Art and Architecture was held in July 2011, to enable students from the city colleges to avail of the benefits of the Course. 51 students from St. Xavier’s College, Jai Hind College, Sophia College, S. I. E. S. College and K. G. Somaiya College participated. The themes selected for the workshop covered various aspects of Indian Art. Dr. Joan Dias, Director, Heras Institute, gave a presentation on ‘Indo-Christian Art’, highlighting the amalgamation of Christian themes and Indian forms and styles. Dr.
Yojana Bhagat, Assistant Professor, Department of Pali, University of Mumbai, focused on the Indian Rock-cut Architecture, explaining the features of the Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jaina cave temples. Dr. Meenal Kapadia presented a session on Indian Paintings, tracing the development of Paintings from Pre-historic times to the Modern times. The last two presentations given by Ms. Shilpa Chheda, Curator, Heras Institute, on Indian Structural Architecture and Indian Iconography focused on different facets of Temple Architecture and sculptures. Imbibed with a sense of awareness, the need to preserve and conserve, and moreover, visit sites that exhibit our rich cultural heritage became evidently vibrant among the students. CERTIFICATE COURSE ON INDIAN PAINTINGS This course was conducted in August 2011, by Dr. Meenal Kapadia, an artist and a Research Scholar in Ancient Indian Culture and Pali. She gave an over-view of the development of Indian Paintings from ancient period to present time. Dr. Kapadia’s slides enlightened students on various phases
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of Indian paintings - Mural Tradition, Miniature paintings, Folk paintings, Company paintings and the Bengal School, and the Progressive and PostIndependence Painting. RESTORATION OF THE HERAS INSTITUTE Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas S. J., Principal, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, had undertaken a gigantic task of the Conservation and Restoration of the Heras Institute, with a view to make it a world class Post- Graduate Research Centre. Hence, this term the Director’s room was remodelled to include a small museum. The painting of the walls, varnishing of the ceiling and old cupboards took three months. Thanks to the architect Mr. A. Lewis, who helped us to preserve and conserve
FOR PROFESSORS AND RESEARCH SCHOLARS
the valuable Collections of that one man - Fr. H. Heras S. J. WORKSHOP ON INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE (in collaboration with Gonsalo Garcia College) The Department of History, St. Gonsalo Garcia College, Vasai, for the first time organized a workshop on ‘Indian Art and Architecture’ in collaboration with the Heras Institute of India History and Culture, St. Xavier College, Mumbai. The Head, Department of History and Vice Principal Prof. Alexander D’mello, Prof. Afegin Tuscano and Prof. Treaza Lopes put in special efforts to plan and execute the whole programme. It was held in the month of July on every Friday from 10 a. m. to 12 noon in Gonsalo Garcia College, Vasai. Principal Dr. Solomon Rodrigues inaugurated the programme and Vice Principal Dr. Dominic Lopes, Vice Principal and Head, Department of History, Prof. Alexander D’mello and Dr. Joan Dias, Director of the Heras Institute joined him in lighting the lamp. There were 275 participants, 240 from St. Gonsalo Garcia College and remaining 35 came from the neighboring colleges - St. Joseph College (Nandakhal), Abhinav College (Bhayandar) and P.L. Shroff College (Vangav). The topics presented were as follows: ‘Indo-Christian Art’, Indian Rock-cut Architecture, Indian Structural Architecture and Indian Iconography. FOUR DAY WORKSHOP ON RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The Heras Institute held a four day workshop on Research Methodology on 25th – 26th July and 10th – 11th August 2011 that was conducted by scholars of international repute, Dr. Mariam Dossal, Former Head, Department of History, University of Mumbai, Dr. Kanchana Mahadevan, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai and Ms. Biraj Mehta, Visiting Faculty, Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY WORKSHOP In November 2011, the Heras Institute conducted a Methodology Course for a batch of enthusiastic under-graduates from St. Xavier’s and other affiliated colleges of the University of Mumbai. Their data collection, corroboration of facts and methodological presentations is indeed commendable. It implies a promising future for Historiography. Yet, only the first three were awarded prizes. HERAS MEMORIAL LECTURES The annual Heras Memorial Lectures were held on the 14th December, 2011. Due to transport and travel constraints in Mumbai, the Advisory Committee of the Heras Institute resolved to hold both lectures on the 14th December, the death anniversary of Fr. H. Heras s. j. The 48th series of lectures were delivered by Prof. Jim Masselos (Hon. Reader, Department of History, University of Sydney). The theme was “The City and Modernity, Bombay/ Mumbai, Changes in the 19th Century”. The first lecture was “Modern Days” and the second was “Portraying the Public Man” both have been published in this issue of “Indica”. To further motivate and cultivate in our budding historians a profound yearning for research a book was launched. The veteran scholar, historian, author and fellow of the Heras Institute, Dr. Teresa Albuquerque’s book, “Goan Pioneers in Bombay”, was released by Prof. Jim Masselos and the Principal
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of St. Xavier’s College, Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas s. j. before an august audience. Dr. Jeanette Pinto introduced the author and Mr. Naresh Fernandes, editor of Time Out, who briefly spoke on the book and the achievements of Dr. Albuquerque as a writer of History and as an inspiration to him and other young scholars and researchers. Thereafter, certificates and prizes were distributed to the participants of the Heras Research Methodology Programme. HISTORIAN’S WORKSHOP The Annual Historians’ Workshop was held on Sunday, 18th December 2011, from 9.30a.m. - 4.30 p.m. at St. Xavier’ College, Mumbai. Dr. Ruchira Banerjee, a renowned historian and a Ph.D. student of the Heras Institute conducted the workshop. Her expertise, skill and proficiency in providing the techniques and craftsmanship for writing history were inspirational. The methods and styles of data collection with substantive documentary evidence authenticating the matter and presenting facts accurately had a great impact on our future historians. BOOK LAUNCH Another book launch was organised by the Department of History, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and the Heras Institute on Tuesday, 17th January 2012. It was graced by His Grace, Bishop Agnelo Gracias, an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College. The authors are Dr. Anand Amaladass s. j. and Dr. Gudrun Loner. The Principal Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas s.j. welcomed the audience and Dr. Fleur D’souza, Head, Department of History introduced the Bishop and the authors. The authors provided valuable insights and interpretations of the book “Christian Themes in Indian Paintings”. This was followed by an open discussion with the authors. The amazing, impressive and remarkable collections on the theme stunned the audience. MUSEUM VISIT CUM ACTIVITY A group of 90 students from Utpal Sanghvi High School, Vile Parle, spent
the 29th and 30th November 2011 at the Heras Institute. They were instructed on the artifacts of the Heras Institute Museum and later each one wrote about the artifact that appealed to them. They were then shown documentaries pertaining to Ancient India, Medieval India and Modern India. What fascinated them the most was Moulding artifacts and Pottery Making at the Potter’s Wheel, courtesy, students of the J.J School of Art.
Cartography truly enlightened them.
On the 19th December 2012, in collaboration with the St. Xavier’s Institute of Education, Mumbai, the Heras Institute held a day’s Workshop to enhance and better equip 60 B. Ed. teacher trainees in the Learning and Teaching Process of History. The Museum experience, Historical Documentaries and the study of
At the Tri-annual Conference of the Church History Association of India, Dr. Joan Dias was invited to present a paper on the Heras Institute and the paper presented was “The Indian Historical Research Institute: The Fountainhead of Indigenization”. She was also elected Vice-President of the Church History Association of India.
STAFF ACTIVITIES Dr. Joan Dias, Director, represented the Heras Institute at a Seminar organized by Vasco Da Gama Institute of Research, Cochin held in September 2011. The theme was “Missionary Foundations of the Indian Renaissance”. The paper presented was “Fr. Henry Heras: Humanistic Attitude inculcated through Higher Education and Art”.
The Director of the Heras Institute has been nominated as a member of the reconstituted Indian Historical Records Commission. Ms. Shilpa Chheda, Curator, Heras Institute, was invited by the Department of History, Elphinstone College, Mumbai, to conduct a twoday Workshop (6th -7th February 2012) on “Sources of History” for 60 participants. She also conducted sessions on Jaina History and Jaina Art for the International Summer School for Jaina Studies, at K. J. Somaiya Centre for Studies in Jainism, K. J. Somaiya Campus, Mumbai and Jaina Academy, Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai. Dr. Joan Dias, Director, Heras Institute of Indian History
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