There is one week left before spring break! We hope you will get some much needed rest and relaxation. We are pleased to announce our 2024 CSAS Spring Symposium preliminary program! We received an unprecedented amount of submissions for our symposium on South Asian Futures and are excited to share topics and talks, for more information visit: https://southasiasymposium2024.wordpress.com/.
Every wonder what our Alumni are doing? Check out or alumni spotlight, follow our social media for updates. If you are a UH CSAS alumni and would like to be included in our spotlight, please contact us at csas@hawaii.edu. We look forward to hearing from you and learning what you are doing now.
From CSAS,
Anna Stirr, Director
Mari Martinez, Coordinator
CSAS News
Congratulations! CSAS Faculty Win Major GrantSai Bhatawadekar (PI), Anna Stirr, & Azeema Faizunissa will be working together on the US Department of Education UISFL-funded project, “Hindi, Urdu Language Learning and South Asian Studies: Innovating an Interdisciplinary Curriculum with Digital Storytelling.”
The project entails creating video materials in multiple South Asian languages, to be used in teaching Hindi/Urdu and South Asian Studies. Find out more at the CSAS website! https://manoa.hawaii.edu/csas/2024/02/28/csas-faculty-win-major-grant-sai-bhatawadekar-project-director-anna-stirr-azeema-faizunissa-lead-digital-storytelling-initiative/
Congratulations to Dr. Anna Stirr!
We are delighted to announce that CSAS Director Anna Stirr PhD has been selected to receive this year’s Kalibhakta Pant International Folklore Prize. The prize ceremony will take place in Boston this coming June.
PRESS RELEASE: Phalewas, Parbat, February 20, 2024. American singer Anna Stirr is to be awarded the Kalibhakta Pant International Folklore Prize 2024, established by the Kalibhakta-Krishna Pant Memorial Foundation.
The intent to award the prize to Anna was announced at a program held on the occasion of Kalibhakta Pant’s twenty-third remembrance day. With a Ph.D. on Nepali folk song / folk dohori, she has made up-to-date contributions to this folklore and culture’s international dissemination and promotion through her study, research, and publications on Nepali folklore and culture, and is currently Associate Professor and Director of the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii Manoa in the United States of America. For the past six years, the Kalibhakta-Krishna Pant Memorial Foundation Nepal has been awarding the Kalibhakta Pant International Folklore Prize for Nepali folklore. This prize provides a sum of Rs. 101,000 in Nepal or $1001 American Dollars abroad, plus an award certificate. Previous awardees include Satya Mohan Joshi (2019), Krishna Kandel (2020), Tulasi Diwas (2021), Professor Dr. Chuda Mani Bandhu (2022), and Kumar Basnet (2023); the singer Anna Stirr is the first foreigner to be awarded this prize. On the occasion of the remembrance day 2024, artists were honored and scholarships were distributed to students in various fields, according to the organization’s president Professor Dr. Parthiweshwor Prasad Timilsina.
The program was held in Parbat Phalewas, in the Foundation’s hall. At the program, Kalibhakta’s third son Govinda Prasad Pant and fifth son Shobha Bhakta presented the established scholarships to students of Kurgha, Limithana, and Khalle schools.
Announcing our CSAS Archive Flashbacks!
Did you know the Center for South Asian Studies is approaching its 40th anniversary? We hope you will join us on our social media as we begin looking back to on the many things the Center for South Asian Studies has done over the last 40 years. From old newsletters to events to alumni profiles, come take a look at what we’ve found in our archives. Flashbacks begin this week! To join in the fun, and maybe even shares some of your memories of the Center for South Asian Studies, follow us on our social media!
Follow us:
J Watumull Scholarship Awardee Performance March 6-10
Announcing J. Watumull Scholarship Awardee Kavya Bhagawatula
in her MFA Thesis Bharatanatyam Performance
Kavya will be performing her Bharatanatyam dance performance Surya (the Sun): The Source of Light. Part of her MFA thesis and her training in Tamilnadu, India as part of her J Watumull Scholarship, Kavya will be gracing the stage of the UHM Department of Theatre and Dance Earle Ernst Lab Theater. You can learn more about Kavya and her performance at:
WHEN: March 6-10
WHERE: Earle Ernst Lab Theater, UH Manoa Campus
Tickets and more information: http://tinyurl.com/3xyr4w3s
For more information on Kavya and the UHM Dance Concert:
https://manoa.hawaii.edu/csas/2024/02/13/j-watumull-scholarship-awardee-performance-may-6-10/
You can still watch the talk that Kavya gave on her experience in India and her rich history with Bharatanatyam dance on our YouTube Channel.
Kala Ramnath in Concert
Co-presented with the University of Hawai’i Outreach College. Supported in part by WESTAF and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Maestro Kala Ramnath with her ‘Singing Violin’ stands among the world’s finest, most inspirational instrumentalists. Her playing has been featured on the Grammy-nominated Miles from India project, compositions of hers have appeared on the Grammy-winning album In 27 Pieces and the Kronos Quartet’s 50 for The Future. In May 2017 she was awarded the illustrious Sangeet Natak Academy Puraskar for her contributions to the violin in Hindustani Classical Music.
When: Sunday, March 10
2pm – 3:30pm
Where: Orvis Auditorium,
Music Dept., 2411 Dole St.
For Tickets and More Information:https://www.eastwestcenter.org/events/kala-ramnath-concert
UH Manoa Rare & Historic Maps of Asia
UH News: “The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library has been actively acquiring rare and historic maps of Asia, creating a valuable resource for students, faculty and researchers. The recent additions to the collection was inspired with the purchase of a 1926 map of Manchuria in 2018, which is now on permanent display in the Asia reading room of Hamilton Library.”
Want to know more about this amazing collection? Please visit:
UH Mānoa’s Rare and Historic Maps of Asia
UH News: Rare maps showcase rich history of Asia at Mānoa library
UH Mānoa Library: Rare and Historic Maps at UHM Library
(Map of Calcutta, 1840. UH Manoa Collection)
Alumni Spotlight
Sadie Green – MA, Asian Studies (2015)
“Since graduating in 2015, I have been employed as a nonprofit consultant, primarily collaborating with the US-based nonprofit organization Himalayan Children’s Charities. Additionally, I serve on the board of another 501c3 organization, Friends For Nepal, which conducts work in Nepal. I also volunteer with various Nepal-based organizations and initiatives. Furthermore, I am currently involved in launching the next generation of our family business, Nepal Outdoor Center, dedicated to female-led, regenerative travel and tourism in the region.”
To read more about Sadie Green you can visit our website and read her entire interview.
FUNDING & OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
In order by upcoming deadlines.
Future of Work in the Global South and Global North Symposium – Melbourne, Australia
This two-day symposium aims to bring together researchers from across the social sciences–sociology, geography, work and organisational studies, industrial relations, cultural studies and beyond to discuss the variegated nature of digital labour platforms (Uber, Gojek, Didi, Deliveroo, Menulog, Hungry Panda, Mable, Hire Up etc.) and their operations in the Global South and Global North countries.
For more information visit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZWA8weC9z3aqpw3V8OdBYEOOnNphL_S9/view
Deadline: March 10, 2024
South Asian Literature in Translation
South Asian Literature in Translation is delighted to announce an exciting first-of-its-kind opportunity for emerging translators: SummerSALT translation school will be held August 5-9, 2024, in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
SummerSALT is a residential course for 40 translators working from South Asian languages. The program will include concurrent workshops and plenary sessions with distinguished authors and publishers.
For more information: http://tinyurl.com/tjccarcf
DEADLINE: March 15.
Call For Papers – Online seminar: Emotions in the Global South
The seminar aims to delve into the multifaceted theme of emotions within the specific context of the Global South. At its core, the primary objective of this event is to foster an in-depth examination of how emotions are manifested, operated, lived, perceived, and practised. Emotions, within the scope of this seminar, are conceived both as individual bodily reactions but also as intricate socio-cultural constructs, thereby embracing a comprehensive understanding that spans the interplay between personal experiences and broader cultural contexts. This event will take place online from June 12-14, 2024.
For more information: http://tinyurl.com/745rfrp4
Deadline: March 15, 2024
Call for Submission – IAAC Erasing Borders Dance Festival
The Indo-American Arts Council is seeking submissions for their 2024 Erasing Borders Dance Festival. Solos, Duets, and large groups welcome to apply.
For more information visit: https://iaac.us/dance/?fbclid=IwAR
For submission guidelines visit: https://iaac.us/erasing-borders-dance-festival-2024/#guidelines
Deadline: March 15, 2024
South Asia Summer Language Institute
SASLI 2024 Applications are NOW OPEN! SASLI is an eight-week intensive Summer Language Program hosted at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Our students come from a variety of disciplines at institutions around the world to study one of 13 South Asian languages at the Elementary, Intermediate, and, for a select few, Advanced level. We are happy you made it here and look forward to joining you on your journey into South Asian Studies. Keep reading for more information about our program and application process. Questions? Contact us directly at sasli@lpo.wisc.edu.
For more information: https://sasli.wisc.edu/ To apply: https://tinyurl.com/47433bvh
Deadline: March 15, 2024
Association for Asian Studies – Paper Prize, South Asia Council
The South Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies announces the 2024 competition for the best paper on a South Asia topic scheduled to be presented by a graduate student at the AAS Annual Conference. The prize will recognize emerging scholarship in the field and foster intellectual exchange among junior and senior scholars. The award of $500 and a certificate will be presented at the 2025 AAS Conference in Columbus, Ohio. The South Asia Council of the AAS will also provide a sum of up to $300 to the winner of the prize to partially cover the cost of his or her travel to the 2025 Columbus Conference, where the winner will be recognized at the AAS Awards Ceremony.
For more information visit: https://tinyurl.com/yhuydr4r
Deadline: March 18, 2024
Meridian-Cox Foreign Service Fellowship for Emerging Leaders
The Meridian-Cox Foreign Service Fellowship for Emerging Leaders is a fully-paid enrichment and training program seeking to expand awareness and access to Foreign Service careers to students from underrepresented communities across the United States. A partnership among Meridian International Center, the Una Chapman Cox Foundation, and Community Colleges for International Development, the Foreign Service Fellowship provides undergraduate students with insight into American diplomacy while underscoring educational, internship, and career paths within the U.S. Foreign Service. The program will spotlight the vital work of Foreign Service Officers, while also teaching the critical soft skills necessary to succeed in a diplomatic career. Fellows will enhance their understanding of diplomacy and international affairs through site visits while developing their career development skills through workshops and networking opportunities.
For more information visit: https://tinyurl.com/yddf39yj
Deadline: March 20, 2024
One World Media Fellowship Programme
Stories shape our world. It matters how they’re told. We support journalists and filmmakers globally to tell stories that inform and connect us all. The One World Media Awards celebrate and recognise the best media coverage across a wide range of genres that focus on low- and middle-income countries across the global south; stories that break through stereotypes, change the narrative and connect people across cultures. Our Fellowship programme is a springboard for new talent covering stories globally with creativity and integrity. Selected fellows receive a £1,000 production grant, one-to-one mentoring and a year-round programme of industry workshops and webinars, while they produce a non-fiction piece of media.
Deadline: March, 21 2024
For more information please visit their website here.
If you have any questions, contact contact@oneworldmedia.org.uk.
Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA)
The Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) fellowship program provides opportunities for doctoral candidates to engage in full-time dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. The program is designed to deepen research knowledge and increase the study of modern foreign languages, cultural engagement, and area studies not generally included in U.S. curricular.
For more information visit: http://tinyurl.com/56rzcret
DEADLINE: March 29, 2024
The Surya P. Subedi Prize
The Royal Asiatic Society is inviting submissions for the second award of the Surya P. Subedi Prize for the publication of a book or article on Nepal in English in any one calendar year. Nominations are invited for publications on Nepal during 2023 and should include a short paragraph of not more than 500 words detailing why the book or article should be considered for the prize accompanied by a short biography of the author and one letter of support. The value of the annual Prize is £500 (five hundred pounds).
For more information: https://royalasiaticsociety.org/awards-prizes-visiting-fellowships/
or contact: mb@royalasiaticsociety.org
Deadline for nominations: March 30, 2024
The Quad Fellowship
The Quad Fellowship is an initiative of the governments of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States. Announced by the Quad partners on September 24, 2021, this first-of-its-kind scholarship program is designed to build ties among the next generation of scientists and technologists. The Quad Fellowship is operated in consultation with a non-governmental task force composed of academic, foreign policy, and private sector leaders from each Quad country. Beginning in 2024, the fellowship will be administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), a global not-for-profit organization that manages many of the world’s most prestigious scholarship and fellowship programs.
Info Session: March 11, 2024
Deadline: April 1, 2024
For more information visit: https://www.quadfellowship.org/
Global Ambassadors Scholarship
The Global Ambassadors Program is an initiative created for current students who are planning to study, intern, volunteer or teach abroad. The Global Ambassadors will serve as global correspondents, sharing their experiences to motivate other members of the BeGlobalii and Diversity Abroad community to go abroad. By writing insightful articles, sharing inspiring videos and pictures about your new surroundings, cross-cultural observations and personal growth, your words will inspire other diverse students to go abroad and challenge them to rethink how study abroad experiences can be for everyone.
For more information visit: https://www.diversityabroad.com/overseas-ambassador
Deadline: April 15, 2024
Call for Papers – BDI International Conference 2024
Bangladesh Development Initiative (BDI) is organizing an interdisciplinary international conference on Bangladesh, scheduled to take place in the USA. The conference is set for November 8–10, 2024 (Friday–Sunday) at the University of California, Berkeley. They are inviting academics, scholars, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners engaged in diverse facets of Bangladesh’s development to submit extended abstracts or completed research papers addressing the conference theme: “Bangladesh Reimagined: The Next Half-Century.”
November 8-10, 2024
University of California at Berkeley, USA
For more information visit: https://bdiusa.org/conference-2024/
DEADLINE: April 15, 2024
EVENTS
[Hybrid]
Elemental Cartographies for a Changing Earth
“As we bear witness to the wastelanding of the earth by late liberal capital, Kānaka Maoli are recovering ancestral knowledges encoded in oli (chants) and moʻolelo (storied history) to activate the elements and transform the effects of global climate change into possibilities for renewed abundance. In this talk, Candace Fujikane begins with arguments from her recent book, Mapping Abundance for a Planetary Future: Kanaka Maoli and Critical Settler Cartographies in Hawaiʻi, contending that global climate change events are not apocalyptic but rather are bringing about the demise of capitalist economies of scarcity, making way for Indigenous economies of abundance. She will present a preview of her new book manuscript, Elemental Cartographies, focusing on a chapter that explores the work being done to restore abundance to Lahaina. Moku’ula was once the jewel of Lahaina: a great spring-fed pond, home to the reptilian water deity Kīhāwahine. The corporated diversion of water, first for sugar cane then more recently for new subdivisions of million dollar homes with infinity pools, is now being targeted as the problem, and the people of Lahaina are calling for the return of Kīhāwahine, signaling the restoration of streams and an overturning of the settler tax map key system for greater abundance.”
Hybrid presentations weekly on Wednesday’s from 12:00-1:15pm
WHEN: Every Wednesday from February 7 – April 24
12pm – 1:15pm
WHERE: In person – 201 Kuykendall Hall
OR Zoom – https://hawaii.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0tcOurpjItGdIwHVUyS95l04rupyUiMyse
[Online]
Wilson Center – Completing the US Strategic Rebalance
The Wilson Center invites you to a public forum marking the launch of its new Indo-Pacific Program. The event will address the way forward for the United States to secure its strategic interests and mitigate risks in the Indo-Pacific, as well as prospects for US partnering with like-minded partners in the region. The discussions will feature voices from Capitol Hill, the Biden administration, and the diplomatic and analytical communities. For more information and complete guide visit: https://tinyurl.com/3m564wak
When: Wednesday, March 20, 2024
8:30am – 12:00pm ET
To RSVP for Webcast visit: https://tinyurl.com/bdf7228b
[In Person] CSAS 2024 Spring Symposium
We are pleased to announce our upcoming Spring Symposium 2024, on South Asian Futures. The symposium aims to provide a platform for scholars and visionaries to engage in discussion, share insight and explore the diverse dimensions of futures as imagined, and as people have striven to realize them, from South Asian perspectives, including diaspora and transnational perspectives.
Keynote Speakers:
Vijay Prashad, Historian, Author, Journalist
Subash Thebe Limbu, Filmmaker, Sound Artist
Sadaf Padder, Curator
Ritodhi Chakraborty, Geographer
WHEN: April 10-12, 2024
WHERE: Room 301, Hamilton Library
For more information, preliminary schedule and talks, visit: https://southasiasymposium2024.wordpress.com/
JOBS & POST DOCS
Positions open until filled unless otherwise noted.
University of Toronto Full-time Tenure Position – Jain Studies
The Department of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) invites applications for a full-time tenure stream position in Jain Studies. For more information visit: http://tinyurl.com/3nb9wkyw
Deadline: March 11, 2024
Brown University, International Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship in Indian Ocean Studies
The Department of Comparative Literature at Brown University invites applications for an International Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship in Indian Ocean Studies. For more information visit: https://apply.interfolio.com/137329
DEADLINE: March 11, 2024
Davidson College, Department of Religious studies
The Department of Religious Studies at Davidson College seeks to hire a one-year Visiting Assistant Professor with expertise in Religions in South Asia for the academic year 2024-2025. For more information visit: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=66813
Deadline: March 19, 2024
Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad (FRA) Fellowship Program
The Fulbright-Hays Program awards grants to individual U.S. K-14 pre-teachers, teachers and administrators, pre-doctoral students and postdoctoral faculty, as well as to U.S. institutions and organizations. This program supports research and training efforts overseas, which focus on non-Western foreign languages and area studies. It is funded by a Congressional appropriation to the U.S. Department of Education and is one of the few Fulbright Programs that supports group projects abroad.
For more information: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/iegpsfra/applicant.html
Application Deadline: April 23, 2024
Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad (FRA) Fellowship Program
The Fulbright-Hays Program awards grants to individual U.S. K-14 pre-teachers, teachers and administrators, pre-doctoral students and postdoctoral faculty, as well as to U.S. institutions and organizations. This program supports research and training efforts overseas, which focus on non-Western foreign languages and area studies. It is funded by a Congressional appropriation to the U.S. Department of Education and is one of the few Fulbright Programs that supports group projects abroad.
For more information: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/iegpsfra/applicant.html
Application Deadline: April 23, 2024
Southern Methodist University – History
The William P. Clements Department of History at SMU invites nominations and applications for a two-year appointment to begin Fall semester 2024. They are seeking a teacher-scholar in the field of South Asian history, in any area or period, to fill this position.
For more information visit: https://apply.interfolio.com/129501
Deadline: May 1, 2024
Brown University: DOF: Comparative Literature
The Department of Comparative Literature at Brown University invites applications for an International Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship in Indian Ocean Studies. We seek a scholar with expertise in Indian Ocean literatures, including but not limited to the textual traditions of South Asia, Southeast Asia, or East Africa. The historical period and field of specialization are open, and we encourage applications from candidates whose work is comparative in nature. The position is a two-year term, beginning July 1, 2024.
For more information visit: https://apply.interfolio.com/137329
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