The Punjab Research Group has been hosting conferences at least twice a year since 1984, and was established as an inclusive and all- embracing forum for discussion and debate on issues pertaining to the East and West Punjab as well as the Punjabi diaspora. During the past 32 years, the PRG has provided space for academics to interact with each other regardless of territorial or disciplinary boundaries. This is especially important given the strained relationship between India and Pakistan, which has prevented discussion and dialogue between scholars of East and West Punjab.

Our second conference for 2016 will be held as a one-day event on 29 October in Oxford. We are pleased to welcome academics, young researchers, journalists, artists and activists from across the globe for an inter-disciplinary discussion focusing on the theme of ‘Punjab: Past, Present and Future’.

PROGRAMME OUTLINE

09.00- 09.30: Registration

09.30- 09.45: Welcome Address: Prof. Pritam Singh, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.

09.45 -11.15: Session I Colonial Punjab: Multiple Facets

Chair: Prof. Iftikhar Malik, Bath Spa University

09.45 – 10.05: The Martial Race Theory & The Self-Identification of Sikh Soldiers in World War One

Amrit Kaur Lohia, Musician and MA History,

SOAS, University of London

10.05-10.25: Mule-breeding in the colonial Punjab: A Frustrated Enterprise

Prof. William G. Clarence-Smith, SOAS, University of London

10.25-10.45: Charhdee Kala: Akali Morchas, Indian Nationalism, and the Politics of Selfhood

Avinash Singh, Independent Researcher, USA

10.45-11.15: Discussion

11.15-11.30: Coffee Break

11.30-12.40: Session II Cultures: Material and Literary

Chair: Prof. Eleanor Nesbitt, Professor Emerita,

University of Warwick

11.30-11.50: Sikh Interpretations of the Mughal Shalamar Garden in Lahore

Dr. Nadhra Shahbaz Naeem Khan, Assistant Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences

11.50 -12.10: Political Consciousness of Punjabi Poetry of the post-1990s

Amandeep Kaur, PhD Candidate, Panjab University, Chandigarh

12.10 -12.40: Discussion

12.40 -13.30: Lunch Break

13.30-14.00: Conference Announcements regarding Publications, Scholarships and Research Projects

14.00-15.10: Session III Postcolonial Punjab: Economic Trajectories

Chair: Dr. Navtej Purewal, Deputy Director, SOAS South Asia Institute

14:00-14:20: Punjab: The Long Road to Social Protection

Nadia Singh, PhD Candidate, Oxford Brookes University

14:20-14:40 Merchant's Capital in Punjab’s Agriculture: Reflections on Farmer-Arhtia Relations

Shreya Sinha, PhD Candidate, SOAS, University of London

14.40-15.10: Discussion

15.10-15.30: Coffee Break

15.30-16.40: Session IV Postcolonial Punjab: Political Trajectories

Chair: Dr. Meena Dhanda, Reader, University of Wolverhampton

15.30-15.50: The Migrant, Migrant-in-Waiting and the Non-Migrant: Diverse Trajectories of Social Mobility

Sugandha Nagpal, PhD Candidate, University of East Anglia

15.50-16.10: Pakistan and the Christians: Creating a Sense of Belonging

Dr. Yaqoob Bangash, IT University of the Punjab, Lahore

16:10-16:40 Discussion

16.40-17.00: Deliberation on/Announcement of Best Presenter Award

17.00-17.45: Open Session including Poetry and Music

17.45-18.00 Note of Thanks