Conferences for archaeologists: Where digging, debates, and coffee-fueled camaraderie collide!
Ah, conferences, the sacred gathering grounds of archaeologists! You see, archaeologists are a curious breed of adventurers who spend most of their time digging in the dirt, talking to ancient pottery shards, and occasionally arguing with stubborn rocks. But fear not, for conferences provide the much-needed respite from this solitary existence! These gatherings allow archaeologists to emerge from their dusty excavations and mingle with fellow enthusiasts. They exchange tales of epic discoveries, debate the true meaning of that cryptic hieroglyph, and swap jokes about our collective obsession with ancient civilizations. Plus, conferences offer a golden opportunity to score free coffee and pretend to understand complex academic jargon. So, in a nutshell, conferences are like magical oases where archaeologists come to share knowledge, bond over their nerdy passions, and remind themselves that they're not alone in their obsession with ancient artifacts.
Conferences
Rakesh Kumar, “Why is There a Need for an Alternative Onto-Epistemic Understanding of Health for Contemporary Hunter-Gatherers?”, 4th Cambridge Student Annual Conference (CASA-4), UK, 15 January 2021 (online).
Rakesh Kumar, “Being a Hunter-gatherer in the 21st Century”, 7th International Congress of Society of South Asian Archaeology organized by Department of History and Archaeology, University of Sri Jayewardhanapura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka in collaboration with Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre High Commission of India, Colombo and Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO, 19 September 2020 (online).
Kumar, Rakesh. “Intensive Development Programmes, Policies and Health of Selected Tribal Communities of Nilambur Valley, Kerala, India (STCs)”, Indian Anthropological Congress-2022, University of Hyderabad, India, 22 February 2022.
Meera Kumar Menon and Rakesh Kumar, “Inclusive paradigms of Indigenous Health: Retracing the Past to Renew the Future”, 45th Indian Social Science Congress, Chennai, 30 March 2022.
Kumar, Rakesh. 2022 “Negotiating the space: Changing landscape and contemporary hunter‑gatherers”, 7th Edition of Landscape Archae‑ ology Conference Iași‑Suceava, Romania, 10‑15 September, 2022
Course Lecture
Course Lecture, Topic: “Who We Were to Who We Are: Bridging the Gap of Existence ” for the course Quintessence of Being: Examining Existence and Experience, Primary Instructor: Sangeetha Menon, Course Coordinator: Meera Kumar Menon, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc Campus Bangalore. (Online).
Lecture/Talks
Reading Glass Lecture, Topic: “History and Fiction: The Tale of Two Evolutions”, Speaker: Rakesh Kumar, Coordinators: Harikrishnan N. B., Meera Kumar Menon, Rakesh Kumar. Date: 01 March 2019. National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc Campus Bangalore.
Reading Glass Lecture, Topic: “Can We Use History for Healing?”. Speakers: Rakesh Kumar, Amrutha M. K. Coordinators: Harikrishnan N. B., Meera Kumar Menon, Rakesh Kumar. Date: 07 February 2020. National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc Campus Bangalore.
Friday Lecture, Topic: "A Wide-Eyed Man at the Capital of Black Magic (Aabhichara)" Speaker: Rakesh Kumar, Chairperson: Meera Kumar Menon, Coordinators: Niharika Sharma and Meera Kumar Menon, Date: 25 September 2020. National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc Campus Bangalore.
Reading Glass Lecture, Topic: “Indigenous Ways of Knowing: Looking Back and Asking the Knowledge Questions”. Speakers: Rakesh Kumar, Coordinators: Harikrishnan N. B., and Amrutha MK, Date: 29 October 2021. National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc Campus Bangalore.
Invited Talk, Topic: “What If There Are No Doctors: Indigenous Knowledge, Health and Healing”. Speaker: Rakesh Kumar (NIAS), Chairperson: Prof. Ritu Priya (Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India), Date: 8 January 2022. Foundation for Creative Social Research (FCSR), JNU.