To The SIKH YOUTH

Prof. Puran Singh

Young Men! If the present generation of men

has gone wrong; pray you go right,

and rise with deadly Resolve to grasp

and LIVE the Guru's Ideal.

Your Hair is a Dear Remembrance,

It is your Faith, Inspiration, and Love.

By seeing the Son (The Sikh),

Let the World recognize the Father - The Guru!

Via S. Paramjit Singh

Derrida's Garden

Eleanor Morgan




In 1985, Jacques Derrida was writing an essay on Plato’s theory of the cosmos when he received a phone call from Bernard Tschumi. He invited Derrida to collaborate with the architect Peter Eisenman on a garden design for his Parc de la Villette project in Paris. This collaboration would attempt to combine the two creative spaces of writing and architecture—creating a unity of theory and practice. The problem was to find a common ground. As a possible source of inspiration, Derrida offered Eisenman his interrupted essay on Plato.

Plato outlines the first written argument for the binary structure of the universe.1 He divides it into two parts: the intelligible and the sensible. The former signifies the world of ideas, those that are governed by reason, while the “sensible” represents the material and changeable world that is created. Plato believes that the world of ideas contains the original moulds of all “matter.” The “sensible” or material state is therefore an inferior copy of the “intelligible.” But Plato finds that he needed a third term, a word to symbolize the space in which the ideal becomes visualized. He names this in-between area chora, Greek for “space” or “site.” He defines it as a “receptacle of becoming”: a site for creation, which everything passes through, but in which nothing is retained. Yet, with its very introduction, Plato poses a huge problem. If chora lies outside the two states of the universe, then how is it to be defined It is outside description and language, outside the binary, and as such it must remain unrepresentable. Derrida writes that chora is “irreducible to all the values to which we are accustomed—values of origin, anthropomorphism, and so on…”2 So, chora comes from nowhere; it has no beginning, no essence, no nature. Chora is essential to Plato’s theory of creation, while at the same time refuting that model. It undermines what have been the two fundamental concepts of western philosophy: the sensible and the intelligible. Plato’s binary order contains and relies on its own disruption.

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Sikh Students Conference - UC Berkeley

This year's Sikh Students Conference attempts to shed light on the contemporary Sikh experience along with the event of 1984 through a Sikh vision of nation, religion and history. Amongst wider issues of Sikh spirituality, professors will engage the academic ground functional in converting the Sikhs’ spirit since the premier moment of colonialization. The 2009 conference marks an engagement with these issues as Sikhs continue to maintain the sacredness of Amritsar in their daily remembrance.

Lectures
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Professor Balbinder Singh Bhogal (Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies, Hofstra University) will lead, over the span of four days, the primary lecture series. Professor Bhogal will lecture on topics including the Sikh code of conduct, the Sikh vision of history and time, and related issues building up to the issue of 1984.

Harjeet Grewal (PhD candidate in Sikh Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor),
will a series of lectures on topics as various as Bhai Gurdas, the colonial legacy, and hermeneutics in the context of the Sikh vision of time and conflict.

A complete list of speakers can be found at www.sikhstudents.org

Discussion
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Lectures will be accompanied with free-ranging discussions allowing participants more intimate environment to engage scholars, or to just listen. Discussions are organized not only to allow students a more personal connection with professors, but also to further allow professors to grasp the lives and concerns of young students.


Room & Board
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Students will stay at Westminster House, a campus affiliated hotel designed specifically for students. The Westminster House is located adjacent to campus.

Dining will be provided. UC Berkeley is also home to an eclectic and renowned tradition of cuisine both close to campus and throughout the city. Participants will enjoy ample time afforded to explore Berkeley's rich history, and will enjoy smooth transportation throughout the city. Students unfamiliar with Berkeley's offering will by provided a thorough list of Berkeley's historic offerings.

Board

Activities
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Berkeley is warm throughout the summer without being too hot, which lends itself to a variety of sports and outdoor activities. Berkeley is also in close proximity to San Francisco, and several beaches. More on this will be posted shortly.

www.sikhstudents.org