Conferences, Seminars and Lectures

“Story of Zari: The Golden Thread and Dynamic Life of a Tamil Sari” – Paper presented at the International Conference “Art, Materiality and Representation” of Royal Anthropological Institute and The British Museum, London, June 2018.

“Sari and Fashion Dynamics in Tamilnadu, India” – Poster presented at the International Conference of Arts in Society, American University of Paris, France, June 2017 (co-presented with Nithya Shreen)

“Dynamic Values in Fashion Promotion: Kanchipuram Silk Sari of Tamilnadu, India” – Paper presented at the Inter-Congress and International Conference of International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences and Canadian Anthropology Society, University of Ottawa, Canada, May 2017 (co-presented with Shreen Raghavan).

“Shared Value, Conscious Business and Spirituality in a Fashion Enterprise in South India” – Paper presented at the International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organizations, University of Oxford, UK, August 2014 (co-presented with Shreen Raghavan).

“Dynamic Lives of Religious Objects and Images” – Paper presented at the Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, USA, October 2013.

“On Ganesh, Business and Philanthropy: Making Money and the Economics of Spiritual and Kinship Values” - Paper presented at the International Conference “The Costs of Culture: Ritual and The Domestic Moral Economy”, Queen’s University Belfast, UK, September 2013 (co-presented with Dr. Maruska Svasek)

“Art and Visual Aesthetics in Tamil Films” – Paper presented at the International Conference on the Arts in Society, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary, June 2013.

“Tie and Dye”: Production, Consumption and Circulation of Sungudi Textiles – Paper presented at the International Conference “Arts and Aesthetics in a Globalising World” in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, April 2012.

“Tracing the Trajectory of Artefacts and Crafts of Tamilnadu” – Paper presented at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Pitt Rivers Museum Research Seminar, University of Oxford, UK, December 2011.

“Tracking the Trajectory of Religious Material Culture in Tamilnadu” – Paper presented at Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, University of Oxford, UK, December 2011.

“Traditions and Innovations in Material Production and Consumption in Tamilnadu” – Paper presented at the Centre for South Asian Studies Seminar Series, University of Cambridge, UK, December 2011.

“Creativity and Innovation among Sari Retailers in Chennai” – Paper presented at the International Conference “Developments in Dress History” in University of Brighton, UK, December 2011.

“Hindu Rituals and Material Culture” – Lecture and screening of docufilm “Return of the Rituals” at Cape Breton University, Canada, May 2011.

“Socio-cultural Dimensions of Ritual Objects: Nagarathar Rites of Passage” – Paper presented at the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, University of Cambridge, U.K., August 2010.

“Religion, Social Control and Community Consciousness: A Nagarathar Funeral Case” – Paper presented at International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A., June 2010.

“Back to the Rituals: Socio-cultural Dynamics of Tamil Rites of Passage” – Lecture and screening of docufilm “Return of the Rituals” at Hindu Studies Colloquium, Harvard University, U.S.A., April 2010.

“An Introduction to Hinduism” & “Kolam Artistry” – Lectures & Workshop at Queen’s University Belfast, U.K., April 2007.

“The Role of Temples among the Nattukottai Chettiars” - Paper presented at The Seminar Series: Being Human – Perspectives from Anthropology, Philosophy and Elsewhere, Queen’s University Belfast, U.K., April 2007.

“Temple as an Arbiter: A Nattukottai Chettiar Case” - Paper presented at The International Conference – Religion V. Spirituality? Assessing the Relationship between Institutional Religious Involvement and Personal Religious Experience, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A., October 2006.

“Sidewalk Hinduism” – Lecture at Department of Sociology, University of Houston, U.S.A., April 2005 and Department of Anthropology, Queen’s University Belfast, U.K., May 2006.

Seminar Organized and Convened

Dr.Kala Shreen successfully convened a one-day international seminar at Chennai in August 2011 titled “Dynamics of Religious Trajectories: Continuities and Changes, Traditions and Improvisations”.

The seminar comprised 4 panels with 13 talks and paper presentations by professors from Harvard University, McGill University, University of Pondicherry, University of Mysore and talks by doctoral students from University of Oslo and University of Pennsylvania. (See Panel Sessions)

Dr. Kala Shreen also presented a paper titled “Globalization, Modernization and Religious Dynamics: Traditions and Improvisations in Hindu Ceremonies”.