Mysore/Mysuru: The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru, in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), Bhopal and Anthropos India Foundation (AIF), is organising a three-day offline workshop on ‘Ethnography and Documentation of Culture’ from Apr. 12 to 14 at CIIL on Hunsur Road in city.

Prof. M.R. Gangadhar, Vice-Chancellor, Chamarajanagar University, will be the chief guest during the inaugural session to be held at 9.30 am tomorrow (Apr. 12).

This workshop is part of an ongoing capacity-building initiative aimed at strengthening research skills among scholars and researchers from the Western and Southern regions of India.

The programme is designed to provide both theoretical grounding and hands-on training in ethnographic research and cultural documentation. The workshop will cover key themes such as introduction to ethnography and research methods, participant observation, field notes and documentation practices, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques, ethical issues in research and the use of Artificial Intelligence (Al) tools in qualitative research, including transcription, coding and analysis.

A major highlight of the workshop is a half-day field visit to Rampura village, where participants will engage in on-site ethnographic observation, interviews and documentation exercises.

Rampura, a small multi-caste village near Mysuru in Karnataka, was famously studied by M.N. Srinivas, a pioneering Indian Sociologist and Social Anthropologist. The village gained prominence through his classic ethnographic work The Remembered Village, based on fieldwork conducted in 1948. In his study, Rampura is portrayed as a representative Indian rural society characterised by a complex caste structure, where different communities live in close interaction and social life is deeply shaped by agriculture, kinship, religion and local leadership.

The programme also includes interactive sessions, practical exercises, group discussions and presentations to enhance field-based research skills. The workshop will be conducted by eminent resource persons, including Prof. Sunita Reddy, Prof. Amitabh Pande, Prof. Shalina Mehta, Dr. Khirod Moharana and Prof. Tanka Bahadur Subba. Around 30 participants are expected to take part in the programme.

The event also marks a significant step towards strengthening institutional collaboration between CIIL and IGRMS, with a focus on promoting interdisciplinary research, documentation of cultural heritage and future academic partnerships.

The workshop will conclude with a valedictory session, including participant presentations, feedback and certificate distribution, according to a press release from Prof. P. R. Dharmesh Fernandez, Professor-cum-Deputy Director, CIIL.