The Division of Arts and Humanities is proud to announce that South and Southeast Asian Studies Assistant Professor Vasugi Kailasam is the 2024 recipient of the Pyrtanean Faculty Enrichment Award in recognition of her exceptional scholarship and service to the campus community. Kailasam plans to use the award to host a conference on Tamil Studies at UC Berkeley and for archival research for her second book.
A literary scholar specializing in modern Tamil literature, Kailasam’s research explores how Tamil identity, migration, and transnational spatial politics inform modern Tamil literature and visual culture and how Tamil cultural production challenges dominant paradigms and offers alternative perspectives rooted in non-Anglophonic traditions. Her current research focuses on Tamil Southeast Asian writing and gender and sexuality in contemporary Tamil literature. Earlier work examined postcolonial Tamil Sri Lankan literature, particularly narratives of violence, reconciliation, and identity.
A Dravidian language with a rich global presence, Tamil is spoken predominantly in Tamil Nadu, India, as well as in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, and through the Tamil diaspora in countries including Canada, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Kailasam is a native Tamil speaker raised in Chennai, India and her research and teaching engages with Tamil diasporic communities across South and Southeast Asia. In addition to academic research, Kailasam prioritizes public engagement to connect Tamil literary tradition with broader cultural dialogues.
Founded at UC Berkeley in 1901, the Prytanean Women’s Society(link is external) is the first women’s honor society in the United States. The three original founders focused primarily on student health care and housing, making significant improvement to student life via establishments such as the Tang Health Center. Now an honor society for undergraduate women and an alumni group with over 2,500 members(link is external), the Prytanean Society offers a number of awards to students and faculty, including the annual unrestricted $35,000 Prytanean Alumnae Faculty Enrichment Award. Past awardees include 2022 Nobel Prize winner Professor Carolyn Bertozzi (1998 awardee).