Dear Friends of the South Asia Center:
I hope this note finds you well. As we come to the end of an eventful year (to say the least), I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to each of you for the myriad ways in which you have engaged with and enriched the South Asia Center. Without you, we would not be the intellectually and culturally vibrant hub of teaching, research, and public outreach that we are. It is your continued enthusiasm for the work we do that allows us to fulfill our commitment to deepening and widening public understanding of the histories, politics, cultures, economies, languages, religions, and societies of South Asia. We remain deeply appreciative for your support.
This support could not be more urgent at a time when the South Asia Center is navigating the fallout from the recent “non-continuation” of federal funding under the Title VI program administered by the Department of Education. The most grievous effects of this suspension of funding are being borne by our students, who have lost access to FLAS funding and other opportunities for professional development. We also lost significant funding for academic and public programming. Despite this setback, we remain committed to fostering as vibrant an intellectual and social community as possible. We look forward to having you join us in this endeavor.
This past year we hosted several events that provided an opportunity for our students, faculty, and wider community to connect with one another. We had an opportunity to host the celebrated artist Siddhesh Gautam who drew an international audience for his talk on the aesthetics of the Ambedkarite movement. We supported speakers on issues as varied as the peasant in colonial Punjab, climate change and inequality, women’s work and friendship in Pakistan, and the political cultures of modern India. We also hosted a workshop featuring original research by our brilliant M.A. and Ph.D. students.
We are excited to share that our community of scholars continues to be enriched by the arrival of new faculty. We are delighted to welcome Sravanthi Kollu, who is an Assistant Professor in the Asian Languages and Literatures Department and holds the Hanuma and Anuradha Kodavalla Endowed Chair in Telugu, as well as Akshaya Tankha, an Assistant Professor in the Art History Department.
With your generous support, we are looking forward to doing more to promote South Asian Studies locally, nationally, and internationally in 2026. A donation to the Friends of South Asia Fund will help us to bring visitors to campus and expand our programming to wider sections of our community. A gift to the South Asia Students Fund or another of our student fellowships will allow us to support our students as they carry out research and prepare themselves to join the next generation of scholars and professionals.
Warm holiday wishes and a profound thank you from all of us at the UW South Asia Center.
Sincerely,
Radhika Govindrajan
Director, South Asia Center, and Chair, M.A. Program in South Asia Studies
Associate Professor of Anthropology and International Studies