December 8, 2002 at 7.00 pm "Samavesham - Gender transformation in South Indian Performing Arts" Session
III
Devesh Soneji is a scholar of Hinduism and a dance historian. Having lectured widely in Canada, the USA, India, Singapore and Malaysia, Devesh has researched various aspects of Indic languages and literature, history, and religious experience, ranging from Sakta-Tantra to Dalit street theatre (Cindu Bhagavatam). Having completed advanced level training in Sanskrit in North America and India, he has worked extensively on the Tamil and Telugu texts of the dance and music compositions of the Tanjavur Quartet, as well as the social history of the konti parampara women of Tiruvarur. His doctoral research (McGill University, Canada) focuses on understandings of womanhood among bhagavatulu (Brahmin males) and kalavantulu (devadasi women) in central and coastal Andhra Pradesh. Devesh has also been associated with the reconstructionist activities of dance-artist Hari Krishnan (Wesleyan University) for over a decade. He currently teaches in the Asian Studies Program at Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts
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