Global South Asian Studies Faculty Accomplishments

Professor Indira Karamcheti spoke at the Alliance Française in Hartford, CT, November 2024, on Indian Indenture in the French Sugar Plantations in the Caribbean.  Additionally, whe was internviwed on her "Diasporic Experience, Archival Research, and Literature as a Riddle" by the Argus student newspaper. Read full interview here.

Professor Hari Krishnan has been recognized by fellowships, publications, and performances:

  • Guggenheim 2024, Choreography
  • Jacob's Pillow Lab Residency 2024, please see here.
  • Wesleyan's Provost Research Award 2023.

His co-authored essay, “Caste, Nationalism, and Aesthetics in the Making of Modern Bharatanāțyam Dance," was published in Music and Dance as Everyday South Asia, eds. Zoe Sherinnian and Sarah Morelli. New York: Oxford University Press, 2024.

His choreography has been widely hailed:
  • Professor Krishnan’s company inDANCE were awarded the prestigious 2024-25 Michael Randel Ensemble-in-Residence, University of Chicago.
  • Washington D.C.’s renowned INseries Opera Company commission to choreograph Montiverdi’s Poppea, 2025
  • Production of seven (7) performances in the U.S. and the U.K.—Khamas Tillana, Rowdies in Love, Poppea, Tillana, and Love Songs.

Professor William Pinch has been awarded a highly competitive senior research fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) for 2024-25.  He will conduct research in India on the peasant leader and Hindu ascetic, Swami Sahajanand Saraswati (d. 1950).   In the U.K., he will conduct research at the British Library in London and the South Asia Archives at Cambridge University.

Professor FazaleHaq presented a research paper titled, "Mapping Formulaic Sequences in Urdu: Patterns, Functions, and Linguistic Features" at the 2025 annual conference of American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL).  This study aimed to identify the linguistic features, patterns, and goals of formulaic sequences by exploring the formulaicity in the Urdu language and their efficacy in second language acquisition.

Professor Andrew Quintman participated on a panel, “Songs of Milarepa,” at the Jaipur Literature Festival in February 2024 and delivered a talk:  “Buddhism on the Border: The Formation of Religious Tradition on the Himalayan Frontier,” at Indiana University on March 22, 2024

Professor David Nelson performed on April 16, 2024 at the Cleveland Tyagaraja Festival, accompanying the Carnatica Brothers. 

Professor Anuja Jain was invited to write a short exposition on documentary filmmaker Vinay Shukla's film, While We Watched (2022):   "Precarity and Possibility of Dissent,” March 2024.  It can be found here:  Docaloguehttps://docalogue.com/while-we-watched/.  In addition, Professor Jain constituted, chaired and presented on a panel, "Beyond the Screen: Objects, Histories, and Methods of South Asian Cinema Studies" at the Annual Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, in Boston, March 14-17, 2024. Her paper was titled "Between Stillness and Movement: Afterlife of Images and Indian Cinema of 1960s – 1970s."