University of Wisconsin–Madison

CSA Awarded Two-Year UISFL Grant for Language Pathways Program

The Center for South Asia was awarded a two-year Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) grant from the Department of Education to fund a project titled “Language Pathways Program: International Business and Sustainable Development in India.” This program will support language instruction and provide undergraduate scholarships for language and area studies training and study abroad.

Prof. Mou Banerjee’s Upcoming Book Release

We are excited to announce that Mou Banerjee’s new book, available in January 2025, is titled ‘The Disinherited: The Exiles Who Created Indian Democracy.’ You can learn more about the book and pre-order here: Harvard University Press.

Prof. Darshana Mini’s New Book

We are excited to share that our faculty member, Prof. Darshana Mini’s book titled ‘Rated A: Soft-Porn and Mediations of Desire in India,’ has been published with the University of California Press. Congratulations to Prof. Mini on this significant achievement!

Arun Luthra Joins UW-Madison School of Music

Arun Luthra, UW-Madison’s Fall 2021 Interdisciplinary Artist in Residence, has officially joined the UW-Madison School of Music as a Lecturer in Jazz Saxophone. In the spring, he will also teach a class on Konnakol, the art of performing percussion syllables vocally. You can view Arun’s faculty profile here.

Adil Mawani Joins UW-Whitewater

We are pleased to share that Adil Mawani has joined UW-Whitewater as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies. Specializing in Islam in South Asia, Adil’s research focuses on 19th-century Urdu biographies of the Prophet Muhammad.

CSA Graduate Student Spotlight: Siddharth Menon

We are proud to feature the work of Siddharth Menon in L&S News. His innovative research on “A Concrete Solution” is gaining recognition. Read the full article here.

UW-Madison Faculty Awarded Funding for Fulbright Specialist Program

Dr. Rajiv Rao (UW-Madison Language Sciences Director and Professor of Spanish Linguistics), was selected for a Fulbright Specialist Program project ‘Developing a Holistic Linguistics Program in India’ at the Central University of Rajasthan.  Congratulations, Rajiv!

UW-Madison Center for South Asia Fall 2024 Visiting Fulbright Scholar

We’re pleased to welcome Dr. Indranil Acharya, a Professor of English at Vidyasagar University, West Bengal, as Fall 2024 Visiting Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Acharya specializes in documenting and translating Bengali Dalit narratives and has significantly contributed to preserving endangered languages and cultures of Eastern India. During his tenure, he will expand his research on endangered …

In memoriam | Virendra Singh

Virendra Singh (October, 1949 – June, 2024), or better known as Virendra Ji was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan and spent most of his adult life in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where he taught Hindi with the University of Wisconsin, College Year in India Program. He is without doubt one of the most influential teachers of Hindi …

Former FLAS recipient Samantha Helle publishes a children’s book

We are delighted to share that Samantha Helle, a former Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) recipient and Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has recently published a children’s book inspired by her research experience in Nepal. The book , titled “Tiger: A First Field Guide to the Big Cat with the …