Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) has launched the ‘Indian Network for Memory Studies’ (INMS), the first formal national network in the field of Memory Studies in Asia, which has been formed under the aegis of the international Memory Studies Association (MSA), Amsterdam.
Inaugurated virtually
The INMS will coordinate complex engagements with ‘memory’ from different institutes including cultural studies centres as well as neuroscience laboratories and industry research on AI and related fields. The Network was inaugurated virtually on Wednesday in an event witnessed by around 600 participants from India, Iraq, Finland, France, Germany, Mauritius, Sweden, UK and the US, says a press release from IIT Madras.
The Indian Network for Memory Studies is founded by Dr. Avishek Parui and Dr. Merin Simi Raj, Assistant Professors (English), Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras, who will also be its Chairpersons.
Dr. Parui is also a nominated member of the Advisory Board of the International Memory Studies Association. The Indian Network for Memory Studies has emerged from the Centre for Memory Studies, IIT Madras, which has been funded by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. The other funding to the current projects in this research cluster comes from XR Lab, TCS Chennai, and Anglo-Ink, Chennai, the release said.
Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said that this Network has already built a commendable critical mass which reflects its relevance and reach success in this case will be to get the activities going, establish a lot of collaborations, conferences, workshops and form a community of people working in this field. For India, memory studies can be very important, for a lot of historical developments are captured only in memories and not in documentation.
India-centric model
The vision of Indian Network for Memory Studies includes offering an India-centric model of memory studies departing from the established Eurocentric models in theory and practice and producing and promoting an innovative interdisciplinary engagement with the complex cognitive, cultural, and machinic modes of memory
The Chairpersons Dr Avishek Parui and Dr Merin Simi Raj formally inaugurated the official INMS website, membership form, and the newsletter, the release said.