Centre for the Study of Local Cultures

[4] There are four phases in the elaboration of the idea to develop a Centre for the Study of Local Cultures (CSLC): (a) In the course of 4 years from 2004–2007, a joint research project on caste and community in the rural areas of Karnataka was set up at Kuvempu University.

The collaboration also revealed some major problems afflicting the social sciences: a virtually non-existent social scientific research culture; the detachment of the dominant ‘theories’ from local society; absence of research training; the limited access to relevant literature; and so on.

This project resulted in the creation of a research group and a small library in the CSLC, which now has separate rooms at the University.

Ghent and Kuvempu University also collaborated on writing a VLIR-IUC proposal, which included the plan of developing the CSLC.

(c) In June 2006, an EC Asia-Link project regarding the stereotypical images and cultural differences between Europe and South-Asia began.

The then Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar of the Kuvempu University visited Ghent to discuss the content of the final proposal and to negotiate an MoU and a Cooperation Agreement.