Dr. Bhabani Nayak delivers Monday Morning Talk at KIIT School of Mass Communication
Upholding the tradition of Monday Morning Talk in KIIT School of Mass Communication (KSMC), Dr. Bhabani Nayak from Coventry University, United Kingdom delivered a talk on ‘Religion and Economy’ on January 27 at Campus-18.
Taking a wide range of examples from Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, atheism and metaphysics, he put forward the idea that, “Religion domesticates individual lifestyles, it domesticates us by telling us what to do and what not to do, it tells us what to eat, what not to eat, it also tells us what is good what is bad,” said Dr. Nayak, an Assistant Professor in the School of Strategy and Leadership at Coventry University.
Dr. Nayak further spoke on how our individual orientations are shaped by our surroundings, “We are the products of our environment, and that environment is shaped by our peer group, political system, and all this is shaped fundamentally by our religious orientation”.
Elaborating at length about economic structures in the world and its relationship with religion, he said, “Religion is different from spiritualism, religion asks us to believe in something beyond their material presence. In economy free goods are transformed into economic goods through human labour. All religious places are products of the human mind and religious scholars have domesticated individual labour, thoughts, and ideas by which the ruling class can control the economic system.”
Lastly, he asked the students to question everything because that leads to new knowledge.”You as young minds should question everything you see and do. It’s not just you question your parents, leaders, teachers; you also question your own practices.“ Dr. Nayak told the students.
Dr. Nayak has nearly 18 years of research, consultancy and teaching experience in different areas of the political economy of business, globalisation, development, religion and public policy in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. He has taught is various universities namely the University of Sussex, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Salford and York St John University.
Ms. Nitali Johori welcomed the speaker and Ms. Nidhi Nyari, proposed vote of thanks. In fact, they are IMCJ 6th and 4th semester students respectively. Course Coordinator of KSMC Dr. Bidu Bhusan Dash felicitated Dr. Nayak. Faculty members of KSMC – Ms. Ruby Nanda, Dr. Anurag Sahu, Mr. Souptik Garai, and Mr. Sushanta Bahinipati from KIIT School of Film and Media Sciences were present.
Notably, Monday Morning Talk is the flagship programme of KSMC, where eminent personalities from different walks of life connect with the budding journalists every Monday.