Webinar
Dr. Divya Kannan
Department of History and Archaeology, Shiv Nadar University
November 20, 2024 | Wednesday| 3.30 pm
Abstract: The present-day ubiquity and legacy of Protestant-mission schools in the south Indian state of Kerala is no historical accident. Established in the 1800s by British and Swiss missionary societies, these schools were a fascinating microcosm of larger social and cultural conflicts, especially regarding the education of poor, lower-caste children. The interactions of these institutions with the state on one hand (British Malabar and the princely states of Travancore and Cochin) and existing caste and religious communities on the other, have both formed and been informed by normative ideas and contestations of what it means to be a school-going child in colonial Kerala. Located in the political context of empire and religion in South Asia, the speaker’s book Contested Childhoods goes beyond a descriptive history of education to provide a conceptual history of childhood itself.
About the speaker: Dr. Divya Kannan is Assistant Professor, Department of History and Archaeology, Shiv Nadar University, Delhi NCR. Her research interests include histories of Empire, education, childhood studies, labour, public history, and feminist studies. She is also the co-founder and co-convenor of the online Critical Childhoods and Youth Studies Collective (CCYSC). Contested Childhoods (2024, Cambridge University Press) is her latest book-length publication.