Spotlights

Explore this month’s lineup of public lectures, conferences, talks, readings, workshops, student presentations, and one-on-one conversations by clicking the link below. We look forward to welcoming you to the Institute soon! Click the image below to learn more, and we look forward to welcoming...Read more about The October 2025 issue of Aajkal is here!

The latest edition of Khabar, our annual newsletter, is out. Please read it by clicking the link below.

Read more about Khabar | The Institute's Annual Newsletter

Dr. Zachary Lamb (University of California, Berkeley) and Dr. Lawrence Vale (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have been selected to receive the 2025 Best Book in the Field of Urban...Read more about Zachary Lamb to Receive the 2025 Best Book in the Field of Urban Affairs Award

The Fall 2025 issue of Aajkal is here! Explore this month’s exciting lineup of public lectures, conferences, talks, readings, workshops, student presentations, and one-on-one conversations. Click the image...Read more about Aajkal for Fall 2025

Center for Race and Gender (CRG) anthropologist and interdisciplinary South Asia scholar...Read more about Angana P. Chatterji awarded 5-year

Center for Race and Gender (CRG) anthropologist and interdisciplinary South Asia scholar.1 M grant

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Mohammad Nabeel Jafri is the recipient of the 20​24 S.S. Pirzada Prize in Pakistan Studies. Many congratulations to ​him for his dissertation, Orating Knowledge: Urdu Shiʿi Khiṭābat in Contemporary Karachi (University of Toronto, 2024)....Read more about Dr. Mohammad Nabeel Jafri awarded the 2024 Pirzada Prize in Pakistan Studies!

The Division of Arts and Humanities is proud to announce that South and Southeast Asian Studies Assistant Professor Vasugi Kailasam is the...Read more about Vasugi Kailasam is the 2024 recipient of the Pyrtanean Faculty Enrichment Award

The Institute for South Asia Studies (ISAS) at the University of California, Berkeley,...Read more about Remembering Sakti Da

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Professor Jane Singh, a cherished lecturer in the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. A dedicated scholar, she earned her PhD in South and Southeast Asian Studies in 1990, with a dissertation titled Echoes...Read more about Remembering Prof. Jane Singh

Dr. Anirban Gupta-Nigam, the newly appointed Associate Director at the Institute, discusses his career as an international scholar and his journey to UC Berkeley. In a recent interview with UC Irvine's Newsroom, he reflects on the challenges he faced in securing non-faculty roles. Read...Read more about Anirban Gupta-Nigam: An international perspective on administering research

Our students have been the recipients of many awards, grants, fellowships, commendations and honors for their contributions to the South Asia-related ecosystem. Other non-Berkeley students have also benefited from our support. This issue of Aajkal is dedicated to...Read more about Celebrating Student Awards

Aajkal for Spring 2024 is out! Click on the link below to read about all the public lectures, conferences, talks, readings, workshops, student presentations and one-on-one conversations scheduled for this month....Read more about Aajkal for Spring 2024

Gadgil has developed low­-cost solutions to some of the developing world’s most intractable problems, including safe drinking water technologies, energy efficient stoves, and ways to make efficient electric lighting affordable.Read more about Ashok Gadgil Receives National Medal of Technology and Innovation

Our students have been the recipients of many awards, grants, fellowships, commendations and honors for their contributions to the South Asia-related ecosystem. This issue of Aajkal is dedicated to highlighting some of their extraordinary accomplishments in 2022-23....Read more about Celebrating Student Awards & Achievements!

Another foundational South Asia scholar has alas left us, around two months ago now. Eugene F. “Gene” Irschick was the smartest, kindest, and most inspiring dissertation supervisor that this clueless UC Berkeley graduate student could have ever hoped for. He...Read more about Remembering Professor Gene Irschick: A Tribute by Richard Barnett

Aajkal for Spring 2023 is out! Read about all the public lectures, conferences, talks, readings, workshops, student presentations and one-on-one conversations scheduled for this semester....Read more about Aajkal for Spring 2023

In Fall 2022, the Institute for South Asia Studies at the University of California, Berkeley launches a multi-year Climate Change Initiative that brings together academic programs and think...Read more about Climate Resilience in the Global South: Perspectives from South Asia

The Institute for South Asia Studies will receive $1,015,380 for NRC and $990,400 for FLAS. The ISAS is the only South Asia Institute that is a National Resource Center and also houses a Center for Bangladesh Studies, a Center for Contemporary India, as well as interdisciplinary and...Read more about ISAS Awarded Prestigious US Dept. of Education Title VI Award for International Studies!