The Indian Institute of Technology Madras has launched the Indian network for memory studies (INMS). The institute claims it to be the nation’s first formal national network in the field of memory studies in India. 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.
Founded by Dr Avishek Parui and Dr Merin Simi Raj, Assistant Professors (English), Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras, the network will focus on research in the domain.
Through the research conducted at the Centre for Memory Studies, IIT Madras, the INMS aims to facilitate a departure from Eurocentric approaches in terms of the theoretical frameworks and worldviews. This will also help open up internship and research opportunities for Indian students and international scholars through an annual membership programme in collaboration with the International Memory Studies Association (IMSA).
“The internship and the research opportunities that INMS offer will bring about a paradigm shift in humanities research in Indian academia in collaboration with the top international bodies in the field. A number of initiatives including new courses, training workshops, and interdisciplinary programmes are already in the pipeline.”, said Dr Merin Simi Raj, Chairperson, Indian Network for Memory Studies.
Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, said, “The network has already built a commendable critical mass which reflects its relevance and will help generate collaboration opportunities in this field. For India, memory studies can be very important, for a lot of historical developments are captured only in memories and not on documentation.”
The INMS has already established partnerships with the Memory Studies Association, Amsterdam, Frankfurt Memory Studies Platform, Germany, Memory Group, University of Warwick, UK, Cultural Identity and Memory Studies Institute (CIMS), University of St. Andrews, UK, XR Lab, TCS and Anglo-Ink, Chennai.
