American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS)

01/08/2026

AIBS Fellowships for Bangladesh Citizens are Open Now!

https://aibs.net/fellowships/fellowships-for-bangladesh-citizens/

10/30/2024

Dear AIBS Community,

We are pleased to inform you that the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS) will host an in-person roundtable discussion on the recent student-led revolution in Bangladesh. This event will take place on November 1, 2024, from 12:15 PM to 1:30 PM (US Central Time) during the Annual Conference on South Asia in Madison, Wisconsin.

If you plan to attend the conference and are available, we would be delighted to have you join the discussion. Please find the event flyer below with additional details.

09/06/2024

Professor Ali Riaz and Professor Rebecca Manring Re-Elected as President and Vice President of AIBS

We are pleased to inform you that the Board of Trustees of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS) recently re-elected Professor Ali Riaz as President and Professor Rebecca Manring as Vice President of the organization’s Executive Committee for the 2024-2028 term. Both leaders have successfully completed their first terms in these roles and were re-elected in participatory elections, with the Presidential election held in May and the Vice-Presidential election taking place in August of this year. The elections were conducted by AIBS Secretary Professor Dina Siddiqi, who chaired the Nomination Committee.

Professor Ali Riaz, a distinguished political scientist specializing in South Asian politics, democratization, violent extremism, and Bangladeshi politics, expressed his commitment to enhancing the profile of AIBS and contributing to the vibrant Bangladesh studies community in both the United States and Bangladesh during his second term. He is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Illinois State University, a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council, and has held notable positions such as Visiting Researcher at the Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem) in Sweden (2023) and Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2013). Professor Riaz's recent publications include Pathways for Autocratization: The Tumultuous Journey of Bangladeshi Politics (2024) and The Charade: Bangladesh’s 2024 Election (2024).

Professor Rebecca Manring, a Professor of India Studies and Religious Studies at Indiana University-Bloomington and Director of Language Instruction at the Dhar India Studies Program, will continue as Vice President of AIBS. She also chairs the Language Committee of the American Institute of Indian Studies and the South Asian Summer Language Institute. With extensive experience in Bangla language programs and research in Bangladesh, Professor Manring's work has included preserving the Sukumar Sen manuscript collection and producing scholarly publications such as Reconstructing Tradition: Advaita Acarya and Gaudiya Vaisnavism at the Cusp of the Twentieth Century (2005) and The Fading Light of Advaita Acarya (2011). Her recent translation of Rūprām Cakravartī’s Dharma-maṅgala will be published in the Texts and Translation series of Oxford University Press.

10/18/2023

AIBS released its first quarterly newsletter. It covers activities and achievements of current and former AIBS fellows and its member institutions as well as news on fellowships and grants. Click the link to read the current issue and stay tuned for the next!

Newsletter The AIBS quarterly newsletter covers academic and professional activities and achievements of AIBS member institutions and the current and former fellows of AIBS. The newsletter also includes announcements of fellowships and grants that AIBS awards to graduate students, young researchers,...

08/14/2023

Call for Papers for AIBS Bangladesh Conference 2024

The American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS) and the South Asia Institute at the University of Texas at Austin will hold a conference on Bangladesh, focusing on scholarly examinations of different socio-politico-economic and cultural perspectives on Bangladesh. The in-person conference is scheduled for Thursday 11 April and Friday 12 April 2024.

We are currently accepting paper and panel proposals from interested participants on broadly defined topics such as politics, international relations, economy, gender, environment, culture, and society. Submissions are open to all disciplines, from art history and feminist studies to political theory and international relations. Papers that attend to critical perspectives on and new directions in the burgeoning field of Bangladesh Studies in the US are particularly welcome. Advanced graduate students, as well as junior and senior scholars, are encouraged to apply. The proposal abstract should indicate a research question and clearly articulate the methodology and results of the conducted research. The proposal abstract must be no more than 250 words. The submission can either be for an individual presentation or a panel. A panel can be proposed with a chair and four presenters, or a chair, three presenters and a discussant.

The deadline for submitting a proposal is September 15th, 2023. All proposals must be submitted via the conference website: aibs.net/submit-abstract. There is a limit of one submission per registered author, except for co-authored submissions. For further information, please visit the conference website: aibs.net/submit-abstract. The AIBS and South Asia Institute strongly encourage graduate students to submit paper proposals. A limited number of travel fellowships may be available for graduate students.

https://aibs.net/critical-perspectives-on-bangladesh/

Bangladesh: A Critical Retrospection of the Past and Forethought of the Future An In Person Conference, November 4-5, 2022 University of Texas at Austin

05/16/2023

AIBS Announces Recipients of Bangladesh Citizen Fellowships
American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS) has announced the results for the 2023-24 professional developments and graduate students’ fellowships for Bangladesh studies.
Professional Development Fellowship is offered to: Dr. Mohammad Tareq Hasan, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Dhaka.
As a visiting fellow Professor Hasan will work with Professor Lamia Karim at the University of Oregon to develop research agenda, utilize library facilities, and receive hands-on training on academic writing and publication.

AIBS also offered graduate student research fellowships to seven Bangladeshi Ph.D. students studying in U.S. universities:

List of recipients:
Saadia Ashrafi, University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne
Samira Bashar, University of Texas at Austin
Robayt Khondoker, University of Texas at Austin
Pervez Rahman, Middle Tennessee State University
Mania Taher, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Salwa Hoque, New York University
Sharif Wahab, Indiana University Bloomington

Through its program of fellowships, AIBS seeks to advance Bangladesh studies by increasing professional development opportunities for Bangladeshi academics and supporting cutting edge research on Bangladesh.

Ali Riaz, President of the AIBS, said that ‘we are pleased to see that we received far more applications for AIBS Graduate Student Fellowships than we have seen in quite a while, a reflection of the recent robust growth of the field of Bangladesh Studies in the US.’ He hoped that in the coming years the AIBS will be able to expand the fellowship programs.

The American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS) is consortium of institutions of higher learning in the United States aimed at promoting scholarly understanding between Bangladesh and the United States. This is the only umbrella organization in the United States that brings together universities working on and about Bangladesh. Currently, 28 universities are members of the AIBS. AIBS has also signed memorandums of understanding for cooperation with 25 Bangladeshi universities. AIBS is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federation of 22 independent overseas research centers that promote advanced research, particularly in the humanities and social sciences.

02/02/2023

The American Institute of Bangladesh Studies is pleased to inform you that the AIBS fellowships for Bangladesh citizens are now open. AIBS is offering a limited number of research fellowships for Bangladeshi graduate students studying in the U.S. We are also soliciting applications from faculty members working at any of the AIBS partner universities in Bangladesh for one AIBS Professional Development Fellowship for this year. To learn more about the fellowship program and eligibility criteria, please visit the AIBS website (link below). Application deadline is on March 3, 2023.

Fellowships for Bangladesh Citizens 1. AIBS Bangladeshi Graduate Student Fellowship The American Institute of Bangladesh Studies is pleased to announce research fellowships for Bangladeshi graduate students studying in the U.S. The fellowships are intended to help PhD and Masters students meet expen...

07/22/2022

https://www.ittefaq.com.bd/606847/%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%B8-%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%99%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%97%E0%A7%87-%E0%A7%A8%E0%A7%AB-%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%B6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%9F%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B0-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%AF%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%97%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE

আমেরিকান ইনস্টিটিউট অব বাংলাদেশ স্টাডিজ (এআইবিএস)-এর সঙ্গে বাংলাদেশি পার্টনার ২৫ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের সহযোগিতা সম্প...

06/24/2022

The American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS) and the South Asia Institute at the University of Texas at Austin will hold a conference on Bangladesh, focusing on the past fifty years and the ways forward.

We are currently accepting paper and panel proposals from interested participants on broadly-defined themes such as governance, economy, environment, culture, and the road ahead. The proposal abstract should indicate a research question and clearly articulate the methodology and results of the conducted research. The proposal abstract must be no more than 250 words.

Important information:
Call for proposal closes: August 12, 2022
Conference Dates: November 4-5 November 2022
Location: University of Texas at Austin

For more details, please visit:
https://aibs.net/call-for-proposals/

03/30/2022

03/30/2022

AIBS webinar on U.S.-Bangladesh relationship is tomorrow, March 31, 2022! Please register to join.

The American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS) is pleased to announce a Webinar on March 31, 2022 to mark the 50th year of US-Bangladesh relations. With ongoing cooperation between two countries and recent stress due to sanctions imposed on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and its officers, the...