Research @ EFLU
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1) About the Cluster |
The inter-institutional research cluster entitled Integrative Humanities and its proposed activities are premised on the conviction that several fundamental questions in the humanities whose answers otherwise appear elusive can be, at least tentatively, answered through heterodox yet integrated reasoning that cuts across disciplines (philosophy, literature, psychology, and intellectual history being the most pertinent here). In the long run, through its engagement with meta-questions in the humanities, the cluster seeks to offer clarifications on the validity criteria of knowledge in the domain of studia humanitatis. Though substantially different from hard sciences in orientation and methodology, can the humanities ever hope to achieve a grasp over the world of human experience comparable to that which the former have over the natural/physical world? The cluster plans to undertake three advanced research projects consecutively. The first, “Was the World Ever ‘Enchanted’?: A Meta-Inquiry into the Ontology of Religious Ideas,” aims to break new ground in understanding the implicit ontology of religious ideas and associated conceptualizations of the world, with primary focus on Judeo-Christianity and its Ancient Near Eastern and Greek precursors but extensible to or contrastable with Indian religions, in a novel framework centered on a non-reductive singularity paradigm of religion. The second, “Sources of Imaginative Enchantment: Towards a Theory of Subliminal Affect in Literary Art,” endeavours to develop an exploratory schema within which it should be possible to delineate the complexity of what, after all, draws humanity to literary creations (a world appetite or penchant for the singular?). With its fairly comprehensive engagements across the spectrum of existence ranging from childhood and parenting to dying (e.g., Elisabeth Kübler-Ross) and transcendence, and possibilities of cross-fertilization between academic knowledge and everyday experience, the humanities have almost become, as it were, a quasi-religion. The third project, “Instauratio de Studibus Humanitatis” [Renewal of the Humanities], seeks to create a blueprint for holistic humanities. |
2) Project Brief |
Using Max Weber’s concept “Disenchantment of the World” (Entzauberung der Welt) as a point of departure, the multidisciplinary project entitled “Was the World Ever ‘Enchanted’?: A Meta-Inquiry into the Ontology of Religious Ideas” endeavours to break new ground in understanding the implicit ontology of religious ideas and associated conceptualizations of the world, with primary focus on Judeo-Christianity and its Ancient Near Eastern and Greek precursors but extensible to or contrastable with Indian religions, in a novel framework centered on a non-reductive singularity paradigm of religion. As a meta-inquiry that takes up foundational questions on religion, this exercise can contribute to rewriting the history of religion and alter our understanding of occidental intellectual trajectory and of conflicts as well as convergences between Eastern and Western worldviews. The project’s conceptual and methodological innovations have the potential to trigger fundamental reassessments and open new lines of research in disciplines across the humanities, including philosophy, hermeneutics, religious studies, and literary studies. |
3) Composition |
i) Prof. Jibu Mathew George, Department of English Literature, School of Literary Studies, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad (Principal Investigator). Email: jibugeorge@efluniversity.ac.in ii) Dr. Sreedharan T., Department of Aesthetics and Philosophy, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad (Co-PI). Email: sree@efluniversity.ac.in iii) Dr. Sangeetha Puthiyedath, Department of Materials Development, Testing and Evaluation, School of English Language Education, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad (Co-PI). Email: sangeetha@efluniversity.ac.in iv) Dr. Rahul Kamble, Department of Indian and World Literatures, School of Literary Studies, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad (Co-PI). Email: rahulk@efluniversity.ac.in Inter-institutional research partners: i) Prof. Salome Benhur, Head, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ecole Centrale School of Engineering, Mahindra University, Hyderabad (Co-PI). Email: salome.benhur@mahindrauniversity.edu.in ii) Dr. Salia Rex, St Paul’s College, Kalamassery, Ernakulam (Co-PI). Email: saliarex@stpauls.ac.in |
4) Cluster Activities/Achievements | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Conducted an international webinar as part of the Studia Humanitatis Lecture Series for the Research Cluster "Integrative Humanities" (28-29 April 2022). Publications, Invited Lectures, Conference Papers, and New Courses
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5) Schedules |
Work Package1 (Months 1-9): Conceptual preliminaries Work Package 2 (Months 10-36): Integrative re-interpretation of naturalistic and supernaturalistic accounts of the world as part of a continuum Work Package 3 (Months 37-48): Offering a historico-philosophical account of the mitigating and augmenting factors that swung conceptualizations of the world in favour of the supernatural Work Package 4 (Months 49-60): Delineating the components of a non-reductive singularity paradigm of religion |
6) Deliverables |
6.1 Conferences/Seminars/Webinars 2021-22: 1) A Roundtable Series entitled Studia Humanitatis: Uncommon Conversations (Edition 1), October 2021 2) International Conference entitled “Disciplines Look at Religious Ideas,” January 2022 2022-23: Studia Humanitatis: Uncommon Conversations (Edition 2), October 2022 2023-24: 1) Studia Humanitatis: Uncommon Conversations (Edition 3), October 2023 2) Lecture Series on “Religious Ideas, Beliefs, and Practices from a Cross-Cultural Perspective,” January 2024 2024-25: Studia Humanitatis: Uncommon Conversations (Edition 4), October 2024 2025-26: Studia Humanitatis: Uncommon Conversations (Edition 5), October 2025 6.2 Workshops 2022-23: Workshop entitled “Literary Studies: Taking Stock,” January 2023 6.3 Publications 6.3.1 Papers: 30 (journal articles and book chapters) 6.3.2 Books: 2 6.3.3 Monographs: 3 6.3.4 Conference Proceedings Proceedings from the International Conference “Disciplines Look at Religious Ideas”: 1 Papers from the Lecture Series on “Religious Ideas, Beliefs, and Practices from a Cross-Cultural Perspective”: 1 Edited transcripts of Studia Humanitatis: Uncommon Conversations: 1 Revised papers from the Workshop “Literary Studies: Taking Stock”: 1 6.3.5 The cluster also intends to bring out a special issue of the English and Foreign Languages Journal with the theme Sacred Spaces |
7. Project Impact Initiatives |
7.1 Curricular initiatives Shift/Propose curriculum/syllabus Materials (Print, Audio-visual, Digital) A proposed book entitled Narratives in the Upanishads: A Philosophical Study by Sreedharan T. and Sangeetha Puthiyedath will be developed into materials for teaching at tertiary Level. 7.2 Pedagogical initiatives New course design and implementation An MA-level course tentatively entitled The Story of the West: An Intellectual History of Europe will be introduced. 7.3 Further research initiatives Research Methodology The project will develop ontological criticism of texts as a new interpretive method. Research Validation --- |