CSAS Newsletter 

Aloha Friends of CSAS,

My name is Nandini Chandra and I teach in the English Department. I am the new director of the Center for South Asian Studies. I am primarily a scholar of South Asian literary and cultural studies, but my interests span widely across art and politics to anthropology and south asian history from a global standpoint. 

As most people who are familiar with Anna’s incredible organizational skills know, it’s not an easy task to step into her big boots. It’s even worse for me since I am suffering the chronic effects of an ankle injury. I may be stumbling a lot in more ways than one.  Anna has gone out of her way so much, though, to lay the groundwork for the Center’s future that I will have her to thank if things run smoothly.

I am looking forward to working alongside Mari Martinez, Tess Constantino, Rodney Yama (Koa) and all the members of the EC. As for the broader South Asia community both at UH and beyond, I know many of you and I am eager to meet all of you, to discover together how South Asia inhabits as well as is inhabited by Pacific and Hawaiian cultures. I hope you will continue to come to the events and talks we host and find at CSAS an opportunity to talk-story and share a desi joke or two.

The coolest thing about centers like CSAS in academic spaces across the US is that they allow for border-crossing in ways that have become impossible to imagine in the actual geographical space of South Asia. Away from the bigotry and the blood sports, the CSAS opens its doors to critical and enjoyable discussions that can throw light both on the violence and the fun stuff, not to mention the intersection of the two.

Nandini  Chandra, CSAS Director

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UPCOMING SPRING 2025 CSAS EVENTS

• January 24 – Hamilton Library 1 pm: Film Screening, “In Shackles”
• January 31: Book Launch, Monisha Das Gupta’s All Of Us Or None: Migrant Organizing in an Era of Deportation and Dispossession, in collaboration with the Departments of Ethnic Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. 
• February 11-13: Visiting Scholar Atul Pokharel, in collaboration with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, will visit several Planning classes and give a talk on his new book, Beyond Collective Action Problems: Perceived Fairness and Sustained Cooperation in Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems in Nepal. Exact dates and times TBA; dates on the above graphic subject to revision. 
• March 13-14: Rama Watumull Collaborative Lecture Series Visiting Scholar Kalindi Vora, in collaboration with the Department of Geography, will give a talk entitled “Data Work as Care Work” and a seminar on methods entitled “Interdisciplinary and Transnational Research.” Exact dates and times TBA; dates on the above graphic subject to revision. 
• April 2-4: CSAS Annual Spring Symposium, “Prominence and Power: Party Politics and Transnational South Asia” (Online)
• April 11: Visiting Scholar Abdul Haque Chang will give a lecture entitled “Divergence and Alterity: Shrines, sacrality, and performing arts in South and Southeast Asia.” In collaboration with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. 
• May 30-June 1 Asia Pacific Dance Festival & Conference: Stay tuned for more about the Kathak troupe to be featured at this fantastic festival, along with South Asia-related presentations at the Conference.

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In Shackles – Film Screening

In Shackles, a short documentary film by UH student, journalist and filmmaker, Haider Rifaat.
The official screening event will take place on Friday, January 24 at 1PM in Hamilton Library, room 306.

For more information about the film and filmmaker please visit: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/csas/2025/01/15/in-shackles-film-screening-january-24/

All of Us or None – Book Talk 
A Conversation with Dr. Monisha Das Gupta and Dr. Kathy Ferguson

This event is part of the Spring 2025 Colloquium in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies in Collaboration with Ethnic Studies and American Studies.

This event is co-hosted by the UH Center for South Asian Studies and the Department of English.

Dr. Monisha Das Gupta is a professor of ethnic studies and women, gender, and sexuality studies at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. 

For moreinformation about this event visit: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/csas/2025/01/17/all-of-us-or-none-book-talk-january-31/

WHEN: Friday, January 31, 2025
TIME: 12pm – 1:15pm
WHERE: Crawford Hall, Room 115

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Accepting Applications for Spring 2025
Rama Watumull Collaborative Lecture Series (UH Faculty ONLY)

If you are a UH Mānoa faculty member and have someone you would like to invite please see details below on how to apply we are now accepting applications for spring 2025! 
For more information please vitis our website: https://tinyurl.com/4e39v6ve

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2025 CSAS Spring Symposium – Call for Papers

CSAS 2025 Spring Symposium Call for Papers!
Prominence and Power: Party Politics and Transnational South Asia 

We are excited to announce our Keynote speakers for our spring symposium:
Mona Das, Jessica Namakkal, and Inderpal Grewal.

For more information: tinyurl.com/bdehzx53
For 2025 Spring Symposium updates subscribe to our newsletter: http://jobshttp://eepurl.com/hG0EnD
Deadline for submissions: January 31, 2025

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CSAS Student and Faculty News

Global Asias Conference 2025

The UC Irvine Global Asias Research Cluster will host the third Global Asias conference on February 20-21, 2025. This international conference brings together faculty, students, scholars, and artists from around the world. The “Global Asias” rubric foregrounds the dynamics of culture, economics, geopolitics, migration, ecology, and emotion that, especially in recent decades, have deepened Asia’s entanglements with the rest of the world and vice-versa.

CSAS Director Nandini Chandra will be part of a double panel “Global Asias as Uneven Sites of Marxist Theorization” in the third Global Asias Conference at UC Irvine organised by the UC Irvine Global Asias Research Cluster. 

For more information: https://www.humanities.uci.edu/events/global-asias-conference-2025
WHEN: February 20-21, 2025
To register for the event:https://sites.uci.edu/globalasias/ga25/

South Asia Student Association (SASA) – Looking for Members

Are you interested in joining the South Asia Student Association (SASA)? SASA is looking for new members to join in events, put together events and build community! Email csas@hawaiil.edu for more information.

CSAS Faculty and Affiliate Faculty – We want to know what you’re doing!

Do you have South Asian Faculty News? We would love to feature you in our newsletter! 
Email csas@hawaiil.edu with your information.

CSAS Students and Student Alumni – We want to know what you’re doing!

Please email us at csas@hawaiil.edu if you are a student or alumni who would like to be featured in our spotlight! We want to know what you are doing now!

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AIIS Digital Scholarship Grants

The American Institute of Indian Studies is pleased to invite proposals for its Digital India Learning (DIL) initiative that demonstrate a sustained use of digital methodology and resources in the exploration of a research topic focused on India. 
AIIS welcomes projects at all stages of development, including pilots at a preliminary stage of conception that: foster the digital production and dissemination of knowledge about India; promote the creation and use of digital resources and media for the study of India; promote digital collaboration across disciplines including, and especially, between the humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields.
For more information: https://www.indiastudies.org/aiis-digital-scholarship-grants/
Deadline: January 31, 2025

2025 Boren Awards for International Language Study

Boren Scholars and Fellows study a wide range of critical languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, and Swahili. Boren Awards are available to students of all proficiency levels who are committed to enhancing their skills.

Boren Scholars and Fellows from diverse fields of study immerse themselves in the cultures in world regions underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Boren Awards alumni are committed to public service, working in positions critical to U.S. national security throughout the Federal Government, including the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, and USAID.

For more information: https://www.borenawards.org/

DEADLINE: Boren Fellowships for graduate students: January 22, 2025
DEADLINE: Boren Scholarships for undergraduate students: January 29, 2025

UH Manoa Asian Studies Graduate Student Conference –
Call for Proposals : Resilience, Restoration and Reconciliation 

The School of Pacific and Asian Studies (SPAS) and the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (UHM) welcome proposals for papers, performances, and panels for the 36th annual Asian Studies Graduate Student Conference. Themed “Resilience, Restoration, and Reconciliation”, the conference will be held at the Center for Korean Studies on the beautiful Mānoa campus on 16-17 April 2025.
For more information. https://spasconference.wordpress.com/
DEADLINE for Abstracts: January 31, 2025

2025 University at Buffalo, SUNY Undergraduate Conference on South Asia: “Innovation & Heritage” – Call for Papers

The University at Buffalo, SUNY, is proud to hold its seventh annual Undergraduate Conference on South Asia. We invite papers on the theme  “Innovation & Heritage,” which may be interpreted broadly in its social and artistic senses. By focusing on South Asian narratives, the organizers hope that participants can offer new perspectives on both global and local issues. The 2025 UB Conference on South Asia will feature a keynote lecture by Dr. Ashima Krishna, Clinical Associate Professor in the John Martinson Honors College at Purdue University. She is an architect and historic preservation planner whose research spans the management of historic urban landscapes and adaptive reuse of religious historic structures and landscapes, with a particular focus on intersection with community development and equity issues and resulting policy challenges. Dr. Krishna has examined issues related to historic preservation planning and urban conservation in the United States and India and continues to highlight the ways in which the historic built environment can be preserved, managed, and planned for. Her current book project is an interdisciplinary examination of Asian American places of heritage.

We welcome undergraduate participants from all disciplines who are studying South Asia to submit proposals, preferably but not necessarily working on any topic relating to the theme.For more informaiton and submission guidelines:  https://tinyurl.com/2stvux39
Deadline: January 31, 2025

AIIS summer 2025 and Academic year 2025-2026 Language Programs – 
There are three different programs available

The American Institute of Indian Studies welcomes applications for its summer 2025 and academic year 2025-2026 language programs. For summer Hindi we require the equivalent of one year of prior Hindi study. For summer Urdu, we require the equivalent of one year of either Hindi or Urdu. We can offer courses at all levels, including beginning, in other Indian languages for the summer. Summer students should apply for FLAS or other funding if available at their institutions to cover the costs of the program. AIIS will award language fellowships, on a competitive basis, to academic year and fall semester students, which would cover all expenses for the program. Those eligible for these fellowships are U.S. citizens or permanent residents who will have had the equivalent of at least two years of prior language study by September 2025. Application Deadline: January 31, 2025. 
For more information and to apply visit:  https://www.indiastudies.org/language-programs/
For more information: Email: aiis@uchicago.edu.

Jagdish P. Sharma Memorial Scholarship

The purpose of this Fund is to assist graduate students enrolled in the College of Arts, Languages, & Letters or the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who are pursuing studies on the South Asia region and its people. Funds shall be used for costs associated with attendance (tuition, books, fees, etc.).
Three (3) students be awarded a $5,000 scholarship each, annually.
Applications through the UH Star System
Deadline: February 15, 2025

2025 AIPS Fellowships and Short Term Research Grants

We are now accepting applications for AIPS Fellowships and Short-Term Research Grants!
AIPS Fellowships – Apply by February 1 – https://www.pakistanstudies-aips.org/fellowship
AIPS Short-Term Research Grants – Apply by February 15 – https://pakistanstudies-aips.org/content/short-term-research-grants-pakistan

Cornell-Keystone NFLP Summer Program in India

The Cornell-Keystone NFLP Summer Program in India, the South Asia Program, College of Arts & Sciences, and the Office of Global Learning will be holding two zoom information sessions (listed below) for students to learn more about the summer study abroad opportunity.
Virtual Information Sessions: Cornell-Keystone NFLP Summer Program in India
Are you interested in the intersection of mental health and culture, global health, and community engagement? Do you want to gain field research skills and learn about indigenous communities in South India’s beautiful and fragile Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve? If so, the Cornell-Keystone Nilgiris Field Learning Program might be for you!

PROGRAM DEADLINE: Last Friday in February, 2025

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship (OVPRS) coordinates and promotes opportunities for UH Mānoa undergraduate students across ALL disciplines and at ALL levels of experience to engage in mentored research and creative work.

Please see below for the merit-based scholarship funding opportunities, programs, and hybrid information sessions provided by UROP in Spring 2025.

1. Funding Opportunities
   1. Entering Research and Creative Work (ERC) Funding – Deadline: March 3, 2025
      • For students early in their undergraduate career (>60 credits remaining in their degree program) to explore what doing research/creative work is like with a mentor and an hourly stipend – NO prior experience or proposal required!
      • Up to $3,000 per individual for two semesters
   2. Project Funding – Deadline: March 3, 2025
      • For students to propose a mentored research/creative work project
      • Up to $5,000 per individual, up to $10,000 per group 
      • UH Mānoa Tyler Fellowship: New funding opportunity for those planning to conduct their mentored research/creative work abroad in Summer 2025! 
   3. Presentation Funding – Deadline: Prior to event date on a rolling deadline (3 months in advance strongly recommended)
      • For students to share their mentored research/creative work project off-campus
      • Up to $2,000 per individual, up to $5,000 per group

University of Hawaiʻi System Common Scholarship Application – NOW OPEN

The University of Hawaiʻi System Common Scholarship Application is now available online for the 2025-2026 academic year. This is a single application for several hundred different scholarships.  Students attending any University of Hawaiʻi campus are encouraged to apply in order to be considered for system and campus scholarships.

Information and application can be found at www.hawaii.edu/scholarships.  You will need your UH email address in order to log into the scholarship application.
Deadline: 4:00 p.m. (HST) March 3, 2025.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are applying for The J. Watumull Scholarship for the Study of India
Follow the instructions on our website before opening the common application.

2025 Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL) in Action Summer Institute

Project-based language learning (PBLL) engages language learners and teachers in real-world challenges, problems, or questions. In this intensive institute, you will learn how to design and orchestrate rich language learning experiences and how to develop a plan to research their effectiveness or your own practice. Participants who complete their action research report after the institute qualify to receive a stipend.

Prerequisite: Applicants must earn a digital badge from the NFLRC Envisioning Project-Based Language Learning (PBLL) MOOC to submit an application.
For more information, visit our summer institute webpage.
Application deadline: March 16, 2025

The Asia Pacific Dance Festival Intensive

The Asia Pacific Dance Festival Intensive is a unique two-week experience that gives participants an opportunity to expand their awareness and understanding by learning about specific cultures in Hawaiʻi, Asia, and Pacific through an embodied approach directly from renowned artists and cultural practitioners.
Students will experience hula and Hawaiian culture as a way of life through place-based learning, as Na Mokupuni o Hawaiʻi Nei (the Hawaiian Islands) is the home of the Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiians). The 2025 APDF Intensive will also feature teachers from Fiji and India. Since the Hawaiian Islands host Fijian and Indian diasporas, participants will have the opportunity to engage with local Fijian and Indian communities through field trips and community events.

For more information: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/outreach/asiapacificdance/intensive2025/
Where: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
When: May 19 to June 1, 2025
Registration Deadline: April 30, 2025, limited space available

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There is still time to register for Spring 2025 course offerings

in South Asian Studies

POLS 633 – International Conflict Resolution , UH Manoa Spring 2025,
Thursdays 3 to 5:30 p.m. with Professor Carolyn Stephenson
Learn how to talk about complex conflicts.
Seminar will include lecture, discussion, simulations, diagnostic and skills exercises, workshops, films/video, and class presentations, in both basic and international conflict resolution. Basic text: Ramsbotham, Woodhouse, Miall, and Toros, Contemporary Conflict Resolution (2024). Other readings include articles from wide variety of journals and books, and New York Times.
For more information & requirements: Dr. C. Stephenson, 956-8195, cstephen@hawaii.edu

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COMMUNITY EVENTS

Watch here for upcoming community events!

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The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Buddhism Public Scholars Fellowship

The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Buddhism Public Scholars Fellowships in Buddhist Studies places recent recipients of the PhD in professional positions at host institutions (museums, libraries, and publications) that present and interpret knowledge of Buddhist traditions. The selected Buddhism Public Scholars will use their academic knowledge and professional expertise to bolster the capacity of host institutions in the area of Buddhist art and thought in any tradition and location where Buddhism is practiced. We expect the Buddhism Public Scholars initiative to nurture mutually beneficial partnerships between scholars and hosts that will help disseminate knowledge of Buddhist traditions to broad publics.
For more information: https://tinyurl.com/2me8tdet
DEADLINE: January 23, 2025

University of Calgary – Tenure-Track Assistant Professor,
History of South Asia or the Middle East

The Department of History at the University of Calgary invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position (Teaching and Research) in the history of South Asia or the Middle East. Preference will be given to scholars of the early modern and modern periods. Research must demonstrate thoughtful engagement with decoloniality. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2025
For more information: https://tinyurl.com/y2wss6mk
Deadline: January 31, 2025

KU Leuven – Social and Cultural Anthropology

The Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology welcomes submissions for a new professorship (Assistant/Associate/or Full) in Social and Cultural Anthropology focusing on Asia (all regions) in the Faculty of Social Sciences at KU Leuven. Applicants with an expertise in economic anthropology (e.g. development, inequality, precarity, consumption, production), or urban anthropology (e.g. urbanization, planning, rural-urban migration, urban heritage) are encouraged to apply.
For more information: https://tinyurl.com/2s3a5efz
Deadline: February 28, 2025

Columbia University – Open-Rank Faculty Position (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Full Professor)

The Department of Anthropology at Columbia University invites applications for an open-rank faculty position (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Full Professor) in the sociocultural anthropology of Asia, to begin as early as July 1, 2025.
For more information: https://apply.interfolio.com/155575
Deadline: March 3, 2025

University of California Santa Cruz – Asian History Lecturer Pool

The Department of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) invites applications for an ongoing pool of lecturers with expertise in the fields of history of East Asia, history of Southeast Asia, and history of South Asia. 
For more information: https://tinyurl.com/58m9apm2
Deadline: June 14, 2025

Azim Premji University, Bhopal – 3 Full-Time Faculty Positions in History

We invite applications for full-time faculty positions in early India and modern South Asia. We are currently looking for candidates who can teach a broad range of core and elective courses in their period of specialization, including courses such as Ancient World, Early India, Early Medieval South Asia, Colonial India, and more. We encourage applicants with a diverse teaching and research portfolio. 
For more information: https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/jobs/faculty-positions-in-history-4
Deadline: August 9, 2025

MIT – Program Manager, India/South Asia

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is seeking a program manager for the Center for International Studies-MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI), to be responsible for the management and overall development of the India program
For more information: https://tinyurl.com/2s4z5zed

University of Washington – Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in Art History

The Division of Art History in the School of Art Art History Design at the University of Washington in Seattle invites applications for a 100% full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the history of art in South Asia and its diasporas from the 19th century to the present.
For more information: https://tinyurl.com/4t6tazsj

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To submit content for future CSAS newsletters, 

please send information in the following format to csas@hawaii.edu in the body of an email. 

News/Opportunity/Event Title (and subtitle if applicable)
Organizing Entity
Relevant Date + Time + Location
Short Description, links for further information
Image (.jpg or .png, minimum 1200 pixel on the long side)

For all inquiries, please send an email to: csas@hawaii.edu