New Delhi, March 27: School of Gender and Development Studies of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) recently announced various new courses. These include, Certificate/ Diploma in Gender and Nutritional Security, Certificate/ Diploma in Gender and Labour and Certificate/ Diploma in Gender in Cinema.
“If we look at the relation between education and women empowerment, there are lots of negative things happening in the society like female foeticide, dowry and other sorts of repression against her. We should look critically at the sort of education provided to women today,” said Prof VN Rajasekharan Pillai, VC, IGNOU while inaugurating the celebration of International Women’s Day in the university at the Convention Centre.
The celebrations, hosted by SOGDS in association with the IGNOU Committee Against Sexual Harassment (ICASH), School of Humanities (SOH), School of Translation Studies and Training (SOTST) and School of Performing and Visual Arts (SOPVA), had a painting exhibition, a musical prelude, a street play and a seminar on ‘Feminist Writings In Indian Literature’ eulogising the importance of women in the society.
“Marking the date in the calendar as International Women’s Day started in the year 1911 and today its 2011, there has now been a 100 year of great aspirations which are undiminished and the whole IGNOU community celebrates it today,” said Prof Savita Singh, Director, SOGDS, IGNOU.
Prof Ananthamurthy, contemporary and eminent writer and critic in Kannada delivered a lecture during the seminar on ‘Women’s writing in Kannada’ where he distinctly differentiated between the way women are treated in classical and folk literature, they becoming respectable, different from men and yet best companions for them.
Prof Sachidanandan, Director, SOTST at IGNOU elucidated his thoughts on ‘Women’s writing in Malyalam’ by remembering renowned English author Virginia Woolf’s ‘A Room of One’s Own’ and quoting her he said, “If Shakespeare would have been a women he would never have been Shakespeare. It is because he would have never travelled London as travelling was very difficult for women during those times, he would have never got acquainted with people and thus would have never acted.” He brought into notice four major movements in women’s fiction in Kerala by four major women authors namely K Saraswati Amma, Lalithambika Antherjanam, Kamala Das and Sarah Joseph. “There is a vibrant women literature in Kerala talking about everything significant to women’s lives today,” he added.
Prof Rita Rani Paliwal, Director, SOH also brought forward her discourse on feminism in hindi literature by remembering Mirabai as the first women to be a literati. Further, it was followed by paper presentations by the Research Training Associates (RTAs) of the university.
—Agencies–