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Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament
Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament
Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament
Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament

CIPOD

CIPOD

About the Centre

 

The Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD) is one of the oldest as well as largest Centres of the School of International Studies (SIS). It is unique in so far as it studies how international relations work by focusing on politics, theory, organizations, diplomacy, security, and geopolitics. There are four distinct but interlinked programmes of study within CIPOD:

  1. International Politics (INP)
  2. International Organization (ORG)
  3. Diplomacy and Disarmament (DAD)
  4. Political Geography (POG)

These programmes of study are unique in their nature and achievements. CIPOD has perhaps the largest pool of expertise in international relations, with 22 sanctioned faculty positions. The current faculty members are trained in different disciplines (political science, history, geography, economics, law and physical sciences). CIPOD faculty members have earned wide recognition in their respective areas of expertise through publications and teaching both within and outside of the University, memberships of editorial boards of reputed journals and other academic bodies, and participation in international conferences and seminars.

History  

The Centre came into existence when the Indian School of International Studies (ISIS) merged with JNU in 1970. Its core was a result of an amalgamation of the departments of International Relations and of the Commonwealth existing at the ISIS. The Centre, when established, had three programmes, viz. international politics, international organization and disarmament. This specialized focus of the Centre’s programmes represented the emerging priorities in the academic world as well as a certain vision about the world that needed to be nurtured for the benefit of future generations of scholars.

Among the original academic units, the International Politics Division has earned recognition for its intensive theoretical focus. International Organization and Disarmament were extremely innovative in their designated focus and remain rare in the university systems of today. Subsequently, the Political Geography Division was initiated at the Centre to include geopolitics as a focus of study. As a result of the School-wide restructuring undertaken in 2005, the Diplomatic Studies programme (belonging to a sister functional centre) became a valuable addition to CIPOD. In a further promising move, in 2007, Diplomatic Studies and Disarmament studies became a single programme of study. The Centre has thus evolved dynamically over the years to reflect the changing focus in international relations.

Legacy  

The Centre owes a debt of gratitude to our former colleagues who laid the foundations of a vibrant academic culture and contributed significantly to the development of the discipline of International Relations in India. Several distinguished diplomats have held Visiting Professorships in the Centre. Distinguished scholars who have served at the Centre as faculty include Professors A. Appadorai, M.S. Rajan, K.P. Misra, Bhabani Sengupta, Sisir Gupta, K.P. Saksena, M.L. Sondhi, M. Zuberi, T.T. Poulose, A.K. Damodaran, S.C. Gangal, R.C. Sharma, Sumitra Chishti, Arjun K. Sengupta, V.S. Mani, Sushil Kumar, Satish Kumar, Surjit Mansingh, Kanti P. Bajpai, K.S. Jawatkar, K.D. Kapoor, V.K.H. Jambholkar, Pushpesh K. Pant, S.S. Deora and Siddharth Mallavarapu.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.