South Asian Studies Council Collaborates to Foster Scholarship and Dialogue on Contemporary India

The South Asian Studies Council at Yale has entered into a partnership with the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS), Shimla, and the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, to organize an annual conference about contemporary India. 

The intent of this partnership is to bring together scholars from the US, Europe, and India for deeply empirical, rigorous comparative and theoretical exploration of an issue of contemporary salience in India at the IIAS, Shimla.  Through an innovative approach to enhancing dialogue among researches based within and outside India, the conference also draws into conversation scholars with expertise in other fields and regions, who are able to bring novel comparative and theoretical insights to the discussions.
The inaugural conference, held from 1-3 June at IIAS, Shimla, was organized around the theme of “Changes in Caste Hierarchies in Rural India”.  The conference drew together 49 participants, including K. Sivaramakrishnan, Professor of Anthropology and Forestry & Environmental Studies and Chair of the South Asian Studies Council at Yale, and Steven Wilkinson, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and the Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies.  The conference participants examined the changing nature of caste and caste hierarchies, and their implications for democratic politics, through pre-circulated papers, presentations, and discussions.

In June 2012, a second conference will take place at IIAS, Shimla, on the theme of Law and Democracy in India.  Professors K. Sivaramakrishnan and Steven Wilkinson will be joined by other distinguished Yale faculty, including, Ian Shapiro, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Henry R. Luce Director of Yale’s MacMillan Center; David Singh Grewal, Associate Professor of Law; and Frances Rosenbluth, Professor of Political Science and Deputy Provost for the Social Sciences and Faculty Development at Yale.