Joyojeet wants me to clarify that tomorrow meant Friday - this is not happening today.
-Sunil On Wed, 28 Jan 2009, Joyojeet Pal wrote: > On campus tomorrow: Friday, January 30th, Mary Gates Hall, 254, 2:30-4:00PM > > Joyojeet Pal > > Technology as Savior: Computers and Development in Indian Popular Cinema > > > > ABSTRACT: > > Since the late 1990s, there has been an increasing interest in the potential > technology holds in alleviating social and economic challenges in the > developing world. A great deal of academic attention has focused on the > actual application of technologies towards developmental goals. The > enthusiasm over such application of technology is seen not just at the policy > level, but equally much in a pervasive optimism broadly across the public > discourse in many parts of the developing world. India, a country credited > with reshaping its place in the world in the high-tech era, the prevalence of > this discourse is particularly fascinating. Recent research on peoples' > imagination of computers in the Indian rural hinterland showed a strong role > of information through popular media, especially cinema, in shaping ideas > about technology. We look at the portrayal of computers and computer-users in > various cinematic traditions within India since the 1990s and juxtapose these > against western portayals of technology. The distinctions both between the > Indian and western cinematic portrayals as well as those between films > designed for different consumer audiences within India help comment on the > atmosphere of aspiration around technology in present day India. > > >
