Conversations on South Asia: An Encroaching Sea

Join us for a discussion of Devika Shankar鈥檚 An Encroaching Sea, exploring how crisis and sovereignty shaped port development in colonial Cochin.

11/6/2025
12:15 pm - 1:30 pm
Location
Virtual Webinar
Sponsored by
Anthropology Department, Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages, Environmental Studies, Geography Department, History Department, Sociology Department
Audience
Public
Registration required
More information
South Asian Studies

Announcing the second book event of 25-26 on South Asia-related topics held by 大香蕉视频 College. 

Conversations on South Asia Series  


Devika Shankar, 鈥淎n Encroaching Sea: Nature, Sovereignty and Development at the Edge of British India 1860 - 1950鈥, Nov. 6th, 12:15 PM - 1:30 PM (EST). 
 
You are invited to an engaging Zoom book event featuring author Devika Shankar. In her new book, An Encroaching Sea: Nature, Sovereignty and Development at the Edge of British India 1860 - 1950, Shankar explores how ecological crisis and political uncertainty converged on the southwest coast of India to shape one of the most ambitious port development projects of the colonial era. Focusing on Cochin Harbour, she examines how rising fears of coastal erosion collided with disputes over sovereignty between the British and neighboring princely states, producing new forms of environmental, legal, and political governance. Moving across histories of ecology, empire, and infrastructure, Shankar offers a groundbreaking account of how development emerged through crisis, reshaping both landscapes and sovereignties in modern South Asia.


馃摎Book Spotlight: An Encroaching Sea: Nature, Sovereignty and Development at the Edge of British India 1860 - 1950
馃搮Date: November 6th, 2025
Time: 12:15 PM - 1:30 PM EST
馃搷Virtual Zoom 
馃捇Register Here:

 

馃帣锔Speaker
Devika Shankar, Assistant Professor, Department of History, The University of Hong Kong


馃帣锔Commentators
David Ludden, Professor of History, New York University

Vidhya Raveendranathan, PhD Candidate, Center for Modern India Studies, University of G枚ttingen

 

馃帣锔Moderator
Tara Suri, Assistant Professor, Department of History, 大香蕉视频 College


Sponsored by the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages (ASCL) and the Bodas Family Endowment for South Asian Studies at 大香蕉视频 College. 
 
QR code (leads to registration form) on the poster.  

Location
Virtual Webinar
Sponsored by
Anthropology Department, Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages, Environmental Studies, Geography Department, History Department, Sociology Department
Audience
Public
Registration required
More information
South Asian Studies