2015 events
Towards an Indo-Pacific Partnership: Reconnecting India and New Zealand, 2015
5-6 November 2015
The Observer Research Foundation in association with the New Zealand India Research Institute (NZIRI) held a two day conference on November 5 and 6, 2015 at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
The conference was a track two initiative which aimed to build stronger ties between the nations by enhancing dialogue. It was attended by a number of experts from academia, diplomatic community, and civil society of India and New Zealand.
India as a global power in the twenty-first century, 2015
25-26 August 2015
India is the third-largest global economy when measured by purchasing-power parity, and she boasts of a large and growing annual defence budget that is expected to become the world’s fourth largest within the next five years. India is also expected to become the fastest growing large economy over the next few years, taking over that coveted spot from China that held this position for the past three decades.
It is not surprising that the world is looking curiously at India. But the question is, what does India’s arrival on the global stage mean for India, for her Asian neighbours, and for the world at large? Will India be able to fulfill the expectations it has generated? And for that matter, how should New Zealand respond to this new phenomenon in global politics?
To discuss all these questions the New Zealand India Research Institute held its Third International Conference in Wellington on 25-26 August. Over two days, twelve academic experts from across the world critically addressed those issues, facilitating our understanding of ‘India as a global power in the twenty-first century’.
Indian Migration to the Pacific and the Indian Ocean States
15-16 April 2015
From the late nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries Indian labour powered the expansion of sugar production in the Australian Tropical North and the West coast of Viti Levu, Fiji. More recently the attraction of professional and white collar work has revived Indian migration to the Pacific and Indian Ocean states. Migration for education, marriage and health reasons is building further personal and familial histories into the broader patterns of economically driven Indian mobility. The range of migration and settlement patterns reflect changes in legal and cultural relationships between India and other Pacific and Indian Ocean states and raises questions about identity, citizenship and changing markers of marginalization and inclusion.
The New Zealand India Research Institute and the New Zealand South Asia Centre organised a workshop at the University of Canterbury to discuss various aspects of Indian migration to the Pacific and Indian Ocean states. Twelve papers were presented to cover the history of this migration to Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Southeast Asia, from the colonial period to the present day. The workshop programme and PDF versions of the PowerPoint files of some of the presentations can be accessed below.
- PDF 433.68 KB Indian Migration to the Pacific and the Indian Ocean States workshop programme
- PDF 500.95 KB Margaret Allen, University of Adelaide—Indian migration to Australia, push, pull and resistance
- PDF 1.27 MB Kama Mclean, University of New South Wales—Naming Charlie: Streamlining British Indian Indentities in White Australia, 1901–1940
- PDF 6.69 MB Todd Nachowitz, University of Waikato—Earliest Indian Presence in Aotearoa (1769–1809) and Settlement according to the New Zealand Census (1861-2013)
- PDF 781.4 KB Michael Roche and Sita Venkateswar, Massey University—Indian migration to New Zealand in the early 1920s: deciphering the Immigration Restriction Amendment Act 1920
- PDF 620.3 KB Alison Booth, Auckland University of Technology—The Impact of Immigration Policy on Indian Arts in New Zealand
- PDF 2.06 MB Heather Goodall, University of Technology, Sydney—Choosing sides: T.D. Kundan, Indian civilians and Indonesian Independence
Quantifying the benefits of a cultural festival: social cohesion and personal well-being from the Wellington Diwali Festival
8 April 2015
Cultural festivals are cherished, yet they appear manifestly impractical. It has long been held that, contrary to appearances, rituals offer tacit functional benefits. However, few researchers have quantified the magnitude of such utilities, and debates about the practical value of festivals persist.
We assessed social bonding and subjective well-being at the 2014 Wellington Diwali Festival celebration and in five successive time-points following the event (N=324 Diwali responses).
Participants reported greater physical health and energy levels immediately following Diwali. Likewise, participants felt more connected to their true selves, to family and friends, and to humanity in general. They also felt more connected to Indian communities in Wellington and across New Zealand. People who identified as ethnic Indians exhibited the strongest social bonding, but enhanced social connections extended to New Zealand Europeans and other ethnicities.
Somewhat unexpectedly, we observed greater social bonding to workplace colleagues, suggesting cultural festivals might harbour tacit economic utilities. Whether such benefits generalise to other cultural events—such as national commemorations or sport—raises practically important questions for future investigations.
About the lecturer
Dr Joseph Bulbulia is a reader in Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. He is a core team member of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, a longitudinal project tracking stability and change in values across a large and diverse sample of New Zealanders each year (N>18,000).
Bulbulia also teaches and researches about the evolution of religion and the experimental study of religion. He is President of the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion and is a co-editor of Religion, Brain & Behavior.
Fifth International Hotel, Travel and Tourism Research Conference, 2015
11-13 February 2015
The 5th India International Hotel, Travel Tourism Research Conference was held at Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Guru Govind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India, from February 11 to 13, 2015 in association with New Zealand India Research Institute, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
The sixth sequel to these conferences initiated in the year 2010, was attended by around 200 delegates. This conference brought industry managers, tourism and hospitality researchers along with representatives from media, together to deliberate on the issues related to the travel and hospitality business, ensuring that the industry adapts the innovations discussed at this forum.
The Indian Media Economy: Media, Culture and Consumption, 2015
9-11 February 2015
The New Zealand India Research Institute, in partnership with the Centre for Culture, Media and Governance at Jamia Millia Islamia University held an international conference and research workshop in New Delhi from 9-11 February 2015.
This conference, a follow up to an inaugural event held in New Zealand in 2014, was co-ordinated by Associate Professor Adrian Athique (University of Waikato), Associate Professor Vibodh Parthasarathi (Jamia Millia Islamia) and Professor SV Srinivas (Azim Premji University).
The focus of the conference was India’s booming media economy, which was considered from a broad range of academic perspectives (ranging from economics and mass communications to sociology, anthropology, history, development and management studies).