Speaker Series - Department of Asian Studies

Department ofAsian Studies

Pictured: Herat Province, Afghanistan

Pictured: The Baitul Aman Jame Masjid Complex, Bangledesh

Pictured: Badshahi Mosque, Lahore, Pakistan

Pictured: Maldives

Pictured: Sri Lankan Elephants, Sri Lanka

Pictured: Himalayas, Nepal

Initiatives and Institutes

South Asian Studies at Penn State

Speaker Series

South Asian Studies

South Asian Studies Speaker Series

SASI hosts a monthly speaker series that invites both external national and international scholars and Penn State faculty to share their cutting-edge research with our community. These events are open to all faculty, students, and community members and are a great space to make connections and meet leading scholars in their fields who work on South Asia. Chai and samosas are served!

2026

“The View from the Islamic Port-City: Mercantile Disputes and Scribal Encounters in the Early Modern World”

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

302 Pond Laboratory

View “The View from the Islamic Port-City: Mercantile Disputes and Scribal Encounters in the Early Modern World” on Events Platform

2025

“Living with Gandhi: Experiments in Utopia” with Karline McLain

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

302 Pond Laboratory

View “Living with Gandhi: Experiments in Utopia” with Karline McLain on Events Platform

“Perilous Intimacies: Debating Hindu-Muslim Friendship after Empire” with SherAli Tareen

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

302 Pond Laboratory

View “Perilous Intimacies: Debating Hindu-Muslim Friendship after Empire” with SherAli Tareen on Events Platform

“Seeing Like a Hydrocrat: Wading through the Backwaters of Power” with Prakriti Prajapati

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

102 Old Botany Building

View “Seeing Like a Hydrocrat: Wading through the Backwaters of Power” with Prakriti Prajapati on Events Platform

“The Climate of Infrastructure: Desiccation and Dispossession of Littoral Worlds” with Nikhil Anand

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

101 Old Botany Building

View “The Climate of Infrastructure: Desiccation and Dispossession of Littoral Worlds” with Nikhil Anand on Events Platform

“Taste for Risk: Elite Risk Preferences in Developing Country Democracies” with Vineeta Yadav

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

101 Old Botany Building

View “Taste for Risk: Elite Risk Preferences in Developing Country Democracies” with Vineeta Yadav on Events Platform

2024

“Universalizing Broadband: State Legitimation and Policy-Making in China and India” with Krishna Jayakar

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

101 Old Botany Building

View “Universalizing Broadband: State Legitimation and Policy-Making in China and India” with Krishna Jayakar on Events Platform

“Making Sense of Multiples: Literary Rebirth in the Sanskrit Mahābhārata” with Nell Hawley

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

335 Willard Building

View “Making Sense of Multiples: Literary Rebirth in the Sanskrit Mahābhārata” with Nell Hawley on Events Platform

“Muscular Nationalism in Contemporary India” with Sikata Banerjee

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Foster Auditorium, 102 Paterno Library

View “Muscular Nationalism in Contemporary India” with Sikata Banerjee on Events Platform

“The Quest for the Plant Script” with Sumana Roy

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

101 Old Botany Building

View “The Quest for the Plant Script” with Sumana Roy on Events Platform

“How Does Religiosity Affect Fertility? A Tale of Two Bengals” with Mary Shenk

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

102 Weaver Building

View “How Does Religiosity Affect Fertility? A Tale of Two Bengals” with Mary Shenk on Events Platform

2023

“Film Screening: Sama in the Forest” with Coralynn Davis

3:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.

335 Willard Building

View “Film Screening: Sama in the Forest” with Coralynn Davis on Events Platform

“Film Screening: Sama in the Forest” with Coralynn Davis

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

335 Willard Building

View “Film Screening: Sama in the Forest” with Coralynn Davis on Events Platform

“‘We are bored of eating bread and coffee’: Unintended travel narratives of Indian soldiers in WWI” with Alaka Chudal

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

101 Old Botany Building

View “‘We are bored of eating bread and coffee’: Unintended travel narratives of Indian soldiers in WWI” with Alaka Chudal on Events Platform

“#GandhiMustFall: The Dilemmas of Being Turned into Statue” with Sumathi Ramaswamy

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

102 Weaver Building

View “#GandhiMustFall: The Dilemmas of Being Turned into Statue” with Sumathi Ramaswamy on Events Platform

“Automobilities and Urban Topologies in Contemporary India: Whose Road Is It Anyway?” with Tarini Bedi

102 Weaver Building

View “Automobilities and Urban Topologies in Contemporary India: Whose Road Is It Anyway?” with Tarini Bedi on Events Platform

“Merchants of Virtue: Hindus, Muslims, and Untouchables in Eighteenth-Century South Asia” with Divya Cherian

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

124 Sparks Building

View “Merchants of Virtue: Hindus, Muslims, and Untouchables in Eighteenth-Century South Asia” with Divya Cherian on Events Platform

“Intimate Eating: Food in Asian America” with Anita Mannur

101 Old Botany Building

View “Intimate Eating: Food in Asian America” with Anita Mannur on Events Platform

“Cruising Masculinity: Immanent Affect in Post Partition Short Stories” with Amrita De

3:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

102 Weaver Building

View “Cruising Masculinity: Immanent Affect in Post Partition Short Stories” with Amrita De on Events Platform