UKHURL/ZUNHEBOTO: The Naga Scholars’ Association (NSA), in collaboration with the Research and Development Cell of Zunheboto Government College, organised a one-day seminar on “Materiality, Infrastructure and Local Culture: The Cross-Disciplinary Interaction” on October 26, bringing together scholars to examine the historical, cultural, political and social realities of Zunheboto and the Sumi community.
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The seminar, NSA said, aimed to create a platform for interdisciplinary scholarship within the Sumi community and Zunheboto town, exploring how local cultures interact with global forces through materiality, infrastructure and everyday social practices.
Nine scholars, comprising faculty members, PhD scholars and postgraduate students, presented their research at the seminar. They represented institutions including Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi; St. John College, Dimapur; Serampore University; Aizawl Theological College; St. Joseph University; and Nito Theological College.
The research papers examined a range of themes, including mass marriage, gender justice, patriarchy, Sutsah, materiality, culture, indigeneity, and human and non-human histories.
Dr Avitoli G. Zhimo, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Delhi, delivered the keynote address. Drawing on her experiences, she discussed how materiality and infrastructure shape the world, both historically and in contemporary society, offering an anthropological perspective on the seminar’s central theme.
The seminar was chaired by Viboli Kiba, a postgraduate student at Nagaland University. Its three panels were moderated by Newtoli Yeptho and Kileto I. Chishi, faculty members at Zunheboto Government College, and Vilibo K. Yeptho, dean and faculty member at Nito Theological College.
Conceived specifically for scholars from Zunheboto, the seminar approached the town as a space for anthropological inquiry and knowledge production. Discussions explored how history, traditions, material culture, institutions and infrastructure shape the changing social landscape of the town and the wider Sumi community. The initiative sought to encourage critical engagement with the region’s social, cultural, historical and political realities, while bringing questions of locality, identity, modernity, development and globalisation into academic discussion, NSA said.
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