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The European Studies Programme is framed keeping in mind certain aspects of the disciplines of sociology and social anthropology in particular and the social sciences in general in India.

(1) The theoretical perspectives which permeate sociology/social anthropology are almost unexceptionably Eurocentric, with the added mix of North American perspectives.

(2) These are also comparative disciplines and in this department we have consciously nurtured a comparative perspective in our teaching and research.

(3) Ethnography and fieldwork are central to our work, but the costs of doing intensive, long-term fieldwork outside India and South Asia have constrained us from going beyond and have restricted the comparative element in our own field-based research;

(4) The recognition that language has been a limitation and in the last century only that which Anglo-American academia has picked up has been translated into a language which we can read. There are other distinctive linguistic and academic traditions in various parts of Europe that would be valuable.

(5) Despite decolonisation and related developments, despite the rhetoric of globalisation, South Asian and Indian social scientists, especially those who remain here, are by and large heard only as commentators on their own locations, rather than in terms of larger intellectual projects.

(6) Both language and costs have limited the interaction between scholars and students in Europe and students and scholars in India.

Hence, over the two years of the European Studies Programme, an ethnographic gaze, from our vantage point in India and South Asia, will be brought to bear on aspects of society, culture, history and politics of contemporary Europe - in our research and teaching. The pursuit of a programme for European studies by researchers from India, it is hoped, will encourage a nuanced understanding of the many countries, societies, cultures which make up Europe, and their particular place in contemporary society and global dynamics. Rather than a reverse Orientalism, this is undertaken in exchange and collaboration with scholars in Europe, initially those in our partner and associate institutions and universities. The reflexivity and collaboration that is attempted will strengthen the comparative dimension and enable a sharing and mutual learning of our respective research and pedagogical practices.

Subsequent to further discussions in the department and university as well as the extended and detailed sharing with our partners and associates in Europe, the programme has been further concretized in terms of the activities listed below.

• Short visits by students and faculty to our partner and associate institutions in Europe (France, Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Denmark) or other locations within Europe (through MOUs already existing between DU and other European universities or individual contacts) for micro research projects and classroom interaction

• Visits by faculty from European universities and institutes. The visits will be of 2-4 weeks each. During their visit they will give a few lectures in courses in the department if the teacher responsible for the course wishes, as well as a few lectures, seminars and/or short non-credit modules in undergraduate colleges and other departments and universities in Delhi, depending on their competencies, our requirements and calendar, and student interest. They will also be available for interaction outside the class-room.

• Inter-disciplinarity will be inbuilt as both faculty and students may be from a range of disciplines.

• An annual public lecture by an eminent scholar from Europe. Interaction of students with the scholar outside the lecture.

• Interaction between teachers and students in Delhi and in specific locations in Europe through innovative techniques such as video-conferencing.

• Workshops at locations in Europe. Workshops for student presentations of their work at the Department of Sociology, University of Delhi. A final workshop in Delhi presenting the research and pedagogical experiences of participants in the programme.

• A working paper series on contemporary Europe. An advisory/editorial committee will be formed consisting of members from DU and our partners/associates

• Translation of social science texts from European languages and articles that have not been translated into English so far as they may not have met the interests and perspectives within Anglo-American academia. These articles may relate to local debates or to issues of ethnographic interest. If copyright and costings allow, it is hoped that 2-3 anthologies may emerge. An advisory/editorial committee will be formed consisting of members from DU and our partners/associates.

• One or two elective area-studies courses on Europe in the M.A. programme (Eg, east and west Europe in line with Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, China.) Our research will also feed into elective courses in the M. Phil. that members offer. All these courses will have to go through the various committees specified by University ordinances.

• Publications based on the research conducted through this programme.