Gail Minault, Professor of History and Asian Studies at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, USA, will hold four public guest lectures  at University of Oslo 10–18 September 2014. The lectures focus on Indian women in modern times. They are all held at Georg Morgenstiernes hus, Blindern, Oslo.
She received her PhD in South Asian History from the University of Pennsylvania, and is the author of: The Khilafat Movement: Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India (NY: Columbia University Press, 1982); Secluded Scholars: Women’s Education and Muslim Social Reform in Colonial India (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998); and Gender, Language and Learning: Essays in Indo-Muslim Cultural History (Delhi: Permanent Black, 1909). 

The first lecture on Wednesday 10 September, is entitled ”Indian Women: Women of Paradox”, which is an overview of women’s roles in modern India from the emergence of social reform movements in the 19th century, through the independence movement, to the post-colonial era that brought greater legal and political rights to women, but also severe social problems. It will point out some themes that will be covered in subsequent lectures.
Second lecture on Thursday 11 September, is entitled ”Indian Social and Religious Reform Movements and the Status of Women”, discussing important reform movements in India, and leading reformers, in the 19th century and their importance for the status of women and emerging political issues.
Third lecture on Wednesday 17 September, is entitled ”Women’s Education and Social Reform among Indian Muslims”, on the fact that while movements for social and religious reform among Hindus are relatively well-known in historical studies, reform among Indian Muslims has received relatively less coverage. 
The fourth and final lecture on Thursday 18 September, is entitled ”Women’s Roles in the Indian Nationalist Movement and the Post-Colonial Women’s Movement”, focusing on how women played an active role in the Indian nationalist movement, especially after Mahatma Gandhi brought non-violent protest into the movement for Indian freedom. In the post-independence period, women’s legal and economic rights have improved, but many problems remain.

More information.

Venue: Georg Morgenstiernes hus, Blindern, Oslo