We are excited to announce that Dr. Michael Collins, Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary British History at University College London, will be the Tagore Visiting Scholar for 2025. Dr. Collins’s work focuses on the historical development of political ideas in Britain since c. 1940, and the social and cultural history of migration and settlement in post-war Britain since c. 1940. As part of this latter research, he attends to the experiences of migrants and settlers themselves and how postwar social and cultural change has reconfigured the meanings of Britishness and Englishness.
Dr. Collins has a particular interest in migrations from the Anglophone Caribbean and from South Asia. He is currently finishing a book on the social and cultural history of cricket and Caribbean “Windrush” migration to Britain; Windrush Cricket: Caribbean Migration and the Remaking of Postwar England will be published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in 2024. His next book project is “After the Raj”, which looks at a wide spectrum of Indo-British relations – economic, political, military, cultural, and sporting – since 1947. His prior publications include Empire, Nationalism and the Postcolonial World Rabindranath Tagore's Writings on History, Politics and Society (Routledge, 2012).
Dr. Collins will lead the Tagore Program’s fourth Spring Institute in 2025.
Disagreeing Well?: Conversations with Tagore
SEMINARS
Noon - 1:30 pm | 10 Stephens Hall
These three seminars offer participants an opportunity to learn more about the writings and practical work of the Indian philosopher, poet, educationalist, and public intellectual Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). We will begin by exploring Tagore’s ideas about the function of diverse ‘cultures’, dialogic thinking and debate, and situate Tagore within some of the existing theoretical literature on democratic debate and disagreement (seminar 1). This would lead to a contextual examination of Tagore’s vigorous disagreements with Gandhi about the theory and practice of nationalism (seminar 2). Lastly, we will examine Tagore’s philosophy of education and the principles underpinning his ‘Visva Bharati’, the university he created in Santiniketan, near Kolkata (seminar 3). No prior knowledge of India, Indian history, or Tagore is required.
- Mon, Mar 17: Tagore, dialogue, and disagreement
- Wed, Mar 19: Tagore, Gandhi, and the pursuit of Indian freedom
- Fri, Mar 21: What is a university for? Tagore’s ‘Visva-Bharati’
On Campus Conflicts and Culture Wars: Tagore and ‘Disagreeing Well’
TAGORE PROGRAM VISITING SCHOLAR LECTURE
Fri, Mar 21, 2025 | 5 - 6:30 pm | 10 Stephens Hall
We live in an age of so-called ‘culture wars’. It is alleged by many observers that we have grown increasingly intolerant of divergent opinions, ideas, and political antagonists. These problems are said to have afflicted university campuses, and some have gone so far as to suggest that we have lost touch with the intended purpose of the university. If there is any truth in this, without romanticising the past, what can we learn from history - specifically the Indian philosopher, poet, educationalist, and public intellectual Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) - that might help us rethink our present predicament? Tagore’s philosophy, extensive literary and artistic output, and his educational practice placed dialogue and critical engagement with ‘otherness’ at their core. Tagore publicly criticised Gandhi’s approach to nationalism and privately referred to Gandhi as a ‘moral tyrant’ on account of what he saw as the Mahatma’s absolutist and binary approach to European culture. Yet the two men remained deeply devoted, lifelong friends. Does Tagore’s reading of Indian history - including the imperial phase - as well as his ideas about education and the function of a university, offer any lessons as how we might ‘disagree well’ in the twenty-first century?
The three sessions (on Mar 17, 19, & 21) are closed to the public however the Tagore Program Visiting Scholar Lecture on Fri, Mar 21, 2025, from 5-6:30 pm PST is open to all.
READINGS
- TBD
BASICS
- Dates: Mar 17-21, 2025
- Location: 10 Stephens Hall
- Application Deadline: March 7, 2025
- Participants: Graduate and advanced undergraduate students
- Priority will be given to UC Berkeley students. Limited seats available.
- The course is free for participants.
- The final lecture is free and open to the public.
- CFP
EXPECTATIONS & PROGRAM DETAILS
- This program will be an intensive dive into Rabindranath Tagore Studies. In order to foster a rich, engaging, accessible program, participants will be expected to attend all sessions, complete all program readings in a timely manner, and actively participate in the discussions
- A Certificate of Completion will be issued by the Institute for South Asia Studies upon successful completion of the Spring Institute.
Click HERE to apply
The Spring Institute has been made possible in part by a major gift by Drs. Maya and Sakti Das.