Genres of Belief from Folkloristic Perspective: An International Symposium and Workshop in Assam and Meghalaya (India), February 4-12, 2013

On Feb. 4-5 2013 the Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore, University of Tartu, and the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, organised joint symposium "Genres of Belief from a Folkloristic Perspective". It was held in Guwahati, Assam, and was dedicated to the memory of two Indian folklorists Parag M. Sarma and Kailash Dutta whose lives ended prematurely in a tragic road accident. In addition to the speakers from the University of Tartu and from India scholars from Germany, Ireland, Latvia, USA and Russia took part in the forum. The symposium was followed by folkloristic fieldwork in Meghalaya, Raid Maiong (Feb. 6-7) and Assam, Mayong (Feb. 8-10) with the aim of documenting Khasi and Assamese vernacular religion. The fieldwork was organised in co-operation with folklorists of North-Eastern Hill University and concluded with a joint seminar in Shillong (Feb. 11, 2013).

Symposium and workshop was supported by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence in Cultural Theory, CECT) and the Estonian Research Council project “Tradition, Creativity and Society: Minorities and Alternative Discourses” (IUT2-43).

More information: Ülo Valk, Professor of Estonian and Comparative Folklore, University of Tartu, e-mail: ulo.valk@ut.ee