P.Subramaniam, Assistant Professor at the Amrita School of Communication presented a paper titled The Usage of Visual Ethnography in Tribal Identity – A Case Study of Indigenous Tribes of Nilgiris, South India at the Conference on Anthropology and Sustainability in Asia during December 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The conference was organized by the Pacific Rim Education for Sustainable Development Alliance Foundation, Japan.
“Visuals can represent culture effectively. Every culture has to be visually documented for future reference. Visual ethnographic documentation is helpful to describe community attributes,” he specified.
The research study explored the importance of visual ethnography as a method for delineating tribal identities. “Various cultural aspects of primitive tribal groups in Nilgiris, India were captured visually and the visual data was analyzed through ethnographic coding sheets. The visual markers were helpful in establishing tribal identities,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Dr. A. Balasubramanian, Assistant Professor at the Amrita School of Communication also presented a paper around the same time at the Annual Conference on Globalization, Local Media and Social Issues organized in Tirunelveli, India.
The paper titled A Study on Media Coverage of Globalization in Indian Retail Industry analyzed the role of media in the growth of global entrants in the Indian Retail Sector.
“Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail markets in India is of concern to investors. The Indian retail sector is highly fragmented and the unorganized sector has around 13 million retail outlets that account for over 95% of the total industry. However, during the past few years, considerable growth has been seen in the organized segment,” he reported.
“As per Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) 2011, high saving and investment rates, fast growth in labor force and increased consumer spending make India’s retail environment highly favorable; India has the fourth spot in the GRDI,” he added.
Dr. A. Balasubramanian presented another paper titled Institutional Preparedness for E-Governance in Indian Universities at the International Conference on Information Technology, E-Government and Applications in Abu Dhabi, UAE during September 2012.
The research paper aimed to understand the institutional preparedness for e-governance in Indian universities from the perspective of teaching faculty. Since Amrita uses AUMS, a completely automated
management system, Dr. Balasubramanian had the advantage of seeing first-hand the benefits provided by such a system.
“The application of technology the world over, has brought about radical changes. With rapid technological change, the Indian education system is being challenged to adapt,” he highlighted.
January 29, 2013
School of Communication, Coimbatore
