Rachel Weiss, Lalita du Perron, and an undergraduate student with the finished Title VI funding proposal in March 2010.
The UW-Madison Center for South Asia, under the leadership of Center Director J. Mark Kenoyer, has secured another four years of funding under the U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center program.
The center will be funded through 2014 and is a fantastic result as the Center celebrates its 50th anniversary.
As a result of continued funding, the center will:
- Provide more opportunities for South Asian languages at UW-Madison including: Hindi, Urdu, Tibetan and Pashto.
- Provide an additional language in year three of the grant.
- Hire new faculty, actively supporting the study of South Asia in all disciplines on campus.
- Double resources to support the South Asia Collection at Memorial Library.
- Support teacher-focused workshops for South Asian Legal Studies.
- Support initiatives such as “Inside Islam”, the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, and “Outreachworld”
- Host an Emerging Powers conference in collaboration with four other National Resource Centers at UW-Madison in 2011.
UW-Madison students and staff strike a pose under the Center for South Asia Anniversary banner on Ingraham Hall.
A vibrant outreach program, organized by Outreach Director Rachel Weiss (who is also Assistant Director in the Center), means that knowledge of all aspects of South Asia will continue to be disseminated in schools and colleges in Wisconsin and beyond.
The center will continue supporting the popular South Asia Summer Language Institute (SASLI), a unique resource for learners of a wide variety of South Asian languages, held at UW-Madison every summer. SASLI is run by Laura Hammond, who is also the Administrative Program Manager of the American Institute of Pakistan Studies.
The Center for South Asia staff will continue teaching a variety of courses:
- Associate Director Lalita du Perron teaches and co-ordinates a First-year Interest Group (FIG), "Musical Cultures of South Asia", as well as Advanced Hindi Language. She also provides academic support for the Study Abroad program in Varanasi, India.
- Outreach Assistant/Webmaster Michael Kruse teaches a course entitled “Thought of Gandhi”
For more information visit www.southasia.wisc.edu, or call 608-262-4884.