Sameeksha : Sociology National Conference 2017

The current year’s National Conference was named as Sameeksha 2017 and it was organised on 18, 19, 20 September 2017. The conference theme was “Changing Kerala Society: Issues and Challenges”. The conference was organized in seven academic sessions. There were also an inaugural and concluding sessions. Around 350 delegates from different institutions participated in the conference and of them 150 were residential participants.

The inaugural session was started at 10 am on 18 September, 2017 at Rangasala. Professor Joni C. Joseph, Head of the Department extended a warm welcome to the distinguished gathering. Sri. K. Jayakumar, Vice Chancellor of the University chaired the session. Professor Prabhath Patnaik, former Professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and former Vice Chairman of the Kerala State Planning Board delivered the keynote address. Two other important events which took in the session were the felicitation given to Professor PKB Nayar, former Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology University of Kerala and a Veteran Sociologist who has been giving significant contributions to the development of Sociology in the State and the release of an academic journal of the Department titled “Sameeksha”. Felicitations to the conference were made by the various Heads of Department of the University and the Chairman of the Students’ Union. Sri. K.S. Hakim, Assistant Professor of the Department extended a vote of thanks.

Two academic sessions were conducted on the inaugural day. In the first session which was started at 2 pm the theme, ‘Politics, Power and Democracy’ was discussed. Professor T.P. Kunhikannan chaired the session and presentations were made by Dr. K.N. Ganesh and Dr. P.V.Sajeev.

The second session was started at 3.45 pm and the theme of the deliberations was, “Morality, Technology and Labour Relations”. Professor Desamangalam Ramakrishnan was the chairperson of the session and Dr. N.P. Hafiz Mohammed, Dr. Antony Palakkal and Sri. Shibu Mohammed were the resource persons. In the evening at 7.30 pm lecture-demonstration of Sufi Music was performed by Sri.Sameer Binsi and the programme was very much appreciated by the gathering.

On the second day (19.09.2017) there were four sessions at 9.30 am, 11.30 am, 2.00 pm and 3.45 pm. Religion, Spirituality and Caste, the Weaker Sections, the Excluded &Alienation, Media & the Changing Social Constructs, Economic Relations, Family and Gender Issues were the themes discussed (respectively) in the sessions. The sessions were chaired respectively by Prof. M. Sreenathan, Prof. K.M. Bharathan, Prof. T. Anithakumari and Prof. Madhu Eravankara.

In the evening a Drama was staged by the Drama Club of the University. It was followed by a Film Appreciation Session which was moderated by Prof. Madhu Eravankara.

The sessions of the second day academically enlightened the participants. The presenters were KEN, Dr. Khadeeja Mumthas (session 3), Dr. M.K. George, Prof. A.K. Ramakrishnan (Session 4), Dr. K.P. Mohanan, Adv. A. Jayashankar (Session 5), Dr. K.M. Sheeba and Dr. Susamma Issac (Session 6).

On the third day the academic session started at 9.30 am (session 7). It was earmarked for the presentations of the young scholars. Seven empirical papers were presented by researchers of the various departments of the University. Smt. N. Rakhi, Head of the Department of Sociology, Zamorin’s Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode was the moderator of the session.

The valedictory session was started at 2 pm. The session was chaired by Professor M. Sreenathan. Dr. Swapna Rani, Assistant Professor of the Department welcomed the gathering. Prof. Jacob John Kattakkayam, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Kerala inaugurated the function. The valedictory address was made by Prof. Vineetha Menon, former Professor of the Department of Anthropology, Kannur University. Kumari Saroop extended a vote of thanks.