American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS)

American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) The American Institute of Indian Studies is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about India an candidates and artists in pursuit of knowledge about India.

For over 50 years, the American Institute of Indian Studies has shaped American knowledge of India. AIIS provides funding to pre- and post-doctoral scholars, Ph.D. AIIS extends knowledge of Indian culture through its two research centers: the Center for Art & Archaeology, which is devoted to documenting India’s rich visual traditions and the Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology, which

houses extensive collections of recordings of Indian music and oral traditions. In addition, AIIS offers intensive, immersion-based training in nearly 20 modern and classical South Asian languages at multiple sites in India. AIIS also supports book publications and articles about India.

Introducing AIIS Junior Research Fellowship 2026 recipient, Uddipta Roy 🌟 We’re excited to spotlight their research jour...
08/20/2026

Introducing AIIS Junior Research Fellowship 2026 recipient, Uddipta Roy 🌟 We’re excited to spotlight their research journey ✨📚

Uddipta Roy is a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Their research lies at the intersections of waste and discard studies, q***r and trans studies, and the politics of social difference in South Asia. Their ongoing doctoral work is an examination of how transgender life-worlds are crafted in the wake of waste, environmental destruction, and embodied inequalities in Eastern India. They have presented their research at various international conferences, including the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) and the Annual Conference on South Asia at Madison, and have organized collaborative academic panels across anthropological and interdisciplinary contexts. Their writing has appeared in the Journal of Gender Studies, with additional work forthcoming and under review in anthropology and ethnic studies journals. Their work draws on long-term community collaboration and activist engagement with q***r and trans-led collectives and organizations in eastern India.

📚 AIIS Spotlight Spanning more than sixty years and three generations, The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan is a swe...
08/18/2026

📚 AIIS Spotlight

Spanning more than sixty years and three generations, The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan is a sweeping family saga that traces one family’s journey through colonial India, independence, and profound social change.

Originally published in 2008 and newly reissued in paperback in 2026, this acclaimed novel explores the enduring ties of family, the complexities of caste and tradition, and the quiet acts of resilience that shape generations.

Have you read The Toss of a Lemon? Get your copy here: https://godine.com/products/the-toss-of-a-lemon-available-june-2026

Share your thoughts in the comments!
Book Spotlight, Padma Viswanathan, The Toss Of A Lemon

📚 Have you read Colonial Caregivers yet?Join for an engaging discussion of Satya Shikha Chakraborty's award-winning bo...
08/14/2026

📚 Have you read Colonial Caregivers yet?

Join for an engaging discussion of Satya Shikha Chakraborty's award-winning book, led by Dr. Sonal Khullar of the AIIS Publications Committee.

To make the most of the conversation, we encourage participants to read the book beforehand. AIIS has 10 complimentary e-book copies available on a first-come, first-served basis for registered participants.

Register for the discussion, then email AIIS director Emily Rook-Koepsel at [email protected] to request a copy. We look forward to seeing you there!
Register for the Book Club: https://shorturl.at/PTF3K

📚 Upcoming Book TalkJoin the American Institute of Indian Studies for a conversation with Satya Shikha Chakraborty on he...
08/13/2026

📚 Upcoming Book Talk

Join the American Institute of Indian Studies for a conversation with Satya Shikha Chakraborty on her award-winning book, Colonial Caregivers: Ayahs and the Gendered History of Race and Caste in British India (Oxford University Press, 2026).

📅 September 23, 2026
🕚 11:00 AM ET / 8:30 PM IST
Register now: https://shorturl.at/1gZIM

Introducing AIIS Early Career Scholar Travel Fellowship 2026 recipient, Dr Abhilash Medhi 🌟 We’re excited to spotlight h...
08/10/2026

Introducing AIIS Early Career Scholar Travel Fellowship 2026 recipient, Dr Abhilash Medhi 🌟 We’re excited to spotlight his research journey ✨📚

Abhilash Medhi is a historian of modern South Asia, with an interest in capitalism, development, and borderlands. His current work considers why colonial improvement in South Asia’s indigenous borderlands abounded with self-doubt. Drawing on histories of revenue surveys, agriculture, and transport infrastructures in the Indo-Afghan borderlands and upland northeast India, it demonstrates how indigenous populations participated in this project as economic actors despite their reputations as recalcitrant subjects ill-suited to fulfilling such roles.

Medhi’s work has appeared in Modern Asian Studies and the International Journal of Middle East Studies. In a previous avatar, he undertook policy research on local governance in Afghanistan.

Thank you, Philip Lutgendorf, for your extraordinary service as you step down from your role as AIIS Board Chair. For mo...
08/03/2026

Thank you, Philip Lutgendorf, for your extraordinary service as you step down from your role as AIIS Board Chair. For more than 35 years, Philip has dedicated his career to AIIS, serving the organization with unwavering commitment and taking on many of its most demanding and complex leadership roles. His vision, generosity, and steadfast dedication have left a lasting impact on AIIS and the countless people it has supported. We are deeply grateful for his remarkable legacy of service.

📚 Upcoming Event!Join us for a special conversation with acclaimed writer Banu Mushtaq as we celebrate her remarkable li...
07/30/2026

📚 Upcoming Event!

Join us for a special conversation with acclaimed writer Banu Mushtaq as we celebrate her remarkable literary journey and explore the stories, ideas, and perspectives that have shaped her work.

Whether you’re a longtime reader or discovering her writing for the first time, this is a wonderful opportunity to hear from one of today’s most compelling literary voices.

✨ Registration link: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/AzeU4FBwQym87BekPRBnOw
We look forward to welcoming you online!

Introducing AIIS Early Career Scholar Travel Fellowship 2026 recipient, Dr Pavathy Binoy 🌟 We’re excited to spotlight th...
07/30/2026

Introducing AIIS Early Career Scholar Travel Fellowship 2026 recipient, Dr Pavathy Binoy 🌟 We’re excited to spotlight their research journey ✨📚
Dr. Binoy is a human geographer whose research examines Black geographies, environmental justice, racialised space, and the politics of climate precarity. They hold a PhD in Human Geography from Florida State University, completed in 2022. As a Visiting Assistant Professor at Boston College, Dr. Binoy teaches Environmental Justice, Global Environmental Justice, and Asian Studies, and supervises undergraduate research. Their broader research and teaching agenda advances socially engaged, theoretically ambitious, and community-accountable approaches to climate justice, Black life, and environmental futures.

The fellowship will support the travel aspect of this research.

After eight years of dedicated service, we extend our deepest thanks to Siddharth Chandra as he steps down from his role...
07/27/2026

After eight years of dedicated service, we extend our deepest thanks to Siddharth Chandra as he steps down from his role as AIIS Treasurer.
Thank you, Siddharth, for your exceptional service, leadership, and dedication to . We are deeply grateful for all you've done and wish you the very best in the years ahead. 💙

We're pleased to share 8 newly published, FREE Open Educational Resources (OER) language textbooks developed by language...
07/27/2026

We're pleased to share 8 newly published, FREE Open Educational Resources (OER) language textbooks developed by language instructors from leading universities, including Michigan State, Columbia, Duke, NYU, UCLA, UH Mānoa, U-Michigan, U Penn, UW–Madison, and Vanderbilt.

The collection features interactive textbooks in Arabic, Bangla, Chinese, Indonesian, Persian, Punjabi, Telugu, and Tibetan, making high-quality language learning more accessible to students, educators, and independent learners worldwide.

These OER textbooks were developed through collaborations among universities and organizations, with financial support from the U.S. Department of Education (Title VI NRC and IRS grants) and partners including AIIS, AIFIS, U-Michigan CSEAS, UH-Manoa CSEAS, MSU Libraries, and MSU LiLaC.

📚 View the complete OER language textbook collection: https://openbooks.lib.msu.edu/

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