Mangaluru: Nitte Institute of Communication is organizing a media conference on November 16 and 17 at its campus in Deralakatte. The two-day event will have talks and discussions with eminent academicians and media persons, and a cartoon exhibition by internationally acclaimed political cartoonist Satish Acharya, who will also conduct a one-day cartooning workshop.
The conference, on ‘Media, Content and Consciousness: Exploring the Individual and the Collective’, will be inaugurated at 9.30 AM on November 16, by public intellectual and social scientist Shiv Visvanathan. With the media becoming an increasingly pervasive and inescapable part of our lives, there is an urgent need to examine its implications on our existence. This conference will provide a space for different perspectives on this rapidly growing reliance on media: including its production, consumption, and implications.
Speakers at the conference include Shiv Visvanathan, former Outlook editor-in-chief Krishna Prasad, National Award winning film critic Manu Chakravarthy, Prof Varadesh Hiregange and Prof Phaniraj. There will be a panel discussion on November 17 on Media and Propaganda, including all the speakers and moderated by Prof Varadesh Hiregange. All sessions and the exhibition are free and open to the public.
Satish Acharya’s cartoon exhibition will be inaugurated at 11 AM on November 16, and will be open to the public for free on both days. It will feature the best of his cartoons published over the years.
The cartooning workshop will begin at 10 AM on November 17. Budding cartoonists or those interested in the craft can participate in the workshop for Rs. 500 by registering with the Conference organisers.
About the Speakers
Dr Shiv Visvanathan is the Director, Centre for the Study of Knowledge Systems, O.P. Jindal Global University. One of India’s foremost public intellectuals, his writings have featured in leading newspapers and publications such as the Economic and Political Weekly, The Hindu, Asian Age, Scroll.in, Outlook and Seminar magazine.
Prof Manu Chakravarthy is a national-award winning film critic. He has also won the VM Inamdar award for his book Madhyama Marga on literature and culture. His book on cultural theory was awarded the Karnataka State Sahitya Academy Award.
Mr Krishna Prasad is a reputed senior journalist, and has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the news magazine Outlook between 2012 and 2016. Based in Mysore, he also publishes three different blogs: Churumuri, Sans Serif and Kosambari.
Mr Satish Acharya is a critically-acclaimed Indian political cartoonist from Kundapura, Karnataka. His cartoon after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris was listed among the “12 most powerful political cartoons responding to the Charlie Hebdo attack”, and has been published in newspapers including Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, The Times (Europe).
Professor K. Phaniraj is an Associate Professor in Department of Civil Engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology. He has edited and translated writings of B. R. Ambedkar and poems of Bertolt Brecht. He has published a book on the life and thoughts of renowned socialist thinker Antonio Gramsci. Prof Phaniraj has also co-authored two books, based on his field studies of communal violence. Has also co-edited the Kannada anthologies of writings of Noam Chomsky and Harsh Mander.
Prof Varadesh Hiregange is currently heading the Centre for Gandhian Studies, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. He is also the Chairperson of the Govind Pai Research Centre and Yakshagana Kalakendra. He has published a collection of poems, Yaava Shabdada Maaye.
