ITANAGAR, 1 Jul: Kolkata (WB)-based Mrinalini Datta Mahavidyapith’s (MDM) anthropology department and Dera Natung Government College (DNGC) here are organizing a two-day online national seminar on ‘Recent trends in anthropological research’, which began on Thursday.
“The seminar has 52 research papers divided into six technical sessions, spanning over two days, and has 342 participants composed of eminent anthropologists, faculty members, research scholars and students from different parts of the country and abroad,” informed DNGC Anthropology Department Head Dr Ratna Tayeng.
Addressing the inaugural function, Rajiv Gandhi University Anthropology Department Head Prof Sarit Kumar Chaudhuri said there is a need for expanding the scope and objective of anthropological research, “like the inclusion of museum anthropology in the university syllabus.” He also noted the importance of border studies in anthropology, “reflecting on understanding the distinctive characteristics of borders and frontiers, including cross-border cooperation, security and controls, migration and population displacements, hybridity, and transnationalism.”
MDM principal Dr Apurba Banyopadhyay said collaboration in academic and research activities between the two colleges would enhance the outlook of the faculty and students of both the colleges.
DNGC Principal Dr MQ Khan said that “anthropology is the only contemporary discipline that approaches human questions from historical, biological, linguistic and cultural perspectives.” He added that “Arunachal is a true paradise for an anthropologist, as it is the home of more than 110 differently speaking groups.”
“Some of the pertinent anthropological issues to be addressed are preservation of cultural heritage, identity protection through language, religion, dress and other aspects of indigenous culture, particularly of dying cultures and language,” he said.
