
Local partner: Kuvempu University, Shimoga, Karnataka
The project aimed to reinvigorate social scientific research and education at a rural university located in a remote region of South India. Problems: Social science students and staff at Kuvempu University are prevented from developing research skills. The University fails to produce social scientific research on local cultural and social problems. Therefore, it is unable to address problems of caste and pluralism in local society.
Academic: Develop a local research centre at Kuvempu University — the Centre for the Study of Local Cultures (CSLC) — en-gaged in innovative research on local problems of caste/inequality and pluralism/conflict.
Developmental: Establish a feedback loop between the research centre and local society in Karnataka, its self-government bodies, its policy makers and its NGOs.