American Institute of Indian Studies Podcast

In this episode, we’ll hear from Lisa Björkman on her new book: Drama of Democracy: Political Representation in Mumbai. Dr. Bjorkman explains her approach to democracy through performance, emphasizing audience, interpretation, and "uptake" in how political displays are encountered and evaluated. The conversation explores representation as an embodied, real-time process shaped through ral...

In this episode, we’ll meet the new Executive Director of AIIS, Dr. Emily Rook-Koepsel. As many of you know, the long-time US Director of AIIS, Dr. Elise Auerbach, retired this spring and has left us an incredible legacy of language, research, and outreach programs that have become the gold standard across disciplines for study abroad. Today, we’ll hear from Dr. Rook-Koepsel about this next era of...

In this episode, we explore the bright and fascinating futures of the AIIS Digital India Learning initiative. Launched in 2019 as a new effort from AIIS President Sumathi Ramaswamy, the DIL program has already awarded several rounds of grants to senior scholars and students creating digital projects on India from across the spectrum of disciplines and methodologies. The initiative has funded work...

In this episode, we look back on the work and impact of McKim Marriott, Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, who passed earlier this year on July 3, 2024. Initially, we recorded this conversation as a celebration of work and impact, but after his passing this summer, we wanted to share this as a celebration of work and a remembrance.  Joining us today in conversation on the life and wo...

In this episode, we look to the world of tech and the bridges that AIIS students create between Indian and South Asian Studies and successful careers in technology fields of all kinds. The stereotypical careers that stem from the study of Indic languages and South Asian Studies may be in the humanities, but many AIIS language students have made the jump from South Asian Studies to STEM fields. The...

In this episode, we explore what it’s like to create born digital projects in India with support from the two AIIS research centers: the Center for Art and Archeology (CA&A) and the Archives and Research Centers for Ethnomusicology (ARCE). Both units share an online archive and digital exhibit space, the Virtual Museum of Images and Sounds, that you can visit and browse at vmis.in . The DIL Su...

In this episode, we highlight new forms of innovative research being done on South Asian classical music through the AIIS performing and creative arts fellowship . Sitarist and ethnomusicologist Brian Q. Silver interviews sitarist and AIIS fellow Paul Livingstone. Through their knowledgeable experiences as international performers and dedicated musicians, Brian Q. Silver and Paul Livingstone discu...

This year we have been celebrating a history of scholarship in and through AIIS – exploring the narratives within the walls of the institute and the conversations that have happened thanks to the support of AIIS. In this episode, we turn from history to current research that highlights collaboration and co-creation, a foundational piece of what makes AIIS the American Institute of Indian Studies....

This year we have been celebrating a history of scholarship in and through AIIS - exploring the narratives within the walls of the institute and the conversations that have happened thanks to the support of AIIS. In this episode, we turn from history to current research that highlights collaboration and co-creation, a foundational piece of what makes AIIS the American Institute of Indian Studies....

In this episode of our 60th anniversary series, we have the unique honor of speaking to a scholar who has been part of the foundational landscape of Sanskrit scholarship and education in the United States, Robert Goldman, Professor of the Graduate School and Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus at the University of California Berkeley. Besides helping t...

In this episode of our 60th anniversary series, Dr.  A. N. Singh, AIIS Hindi program head, interviews Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, Senior Lecturer and Language Coordinator at Columbia University and former AIIS Hindi Language Program Director and current AIIS Language Committee member. In their interview, they discuss the early days of the Hindi language program at AIIS and its growth, the unique format and...

This year, the American Institute of Indian Studies turns 60! To celebrate the history of AIIS, we have launched a year-long series of audio interviews exploring the history of AIIS over the last 60 years including the founding of the institute, its impact on scholarship and students, and the future of AIIS. In this episode of our 60th anniversary series, Sandria Freitag, Associate Teaching Profes...

 This year, the American Institute of Indian Studies turns 60! To celebrate the history of AIIS, we have launched a year-long series of audio interviews exploring  the history of AIIS over the last 60 years including the founding of the institute, its impact on scholarship and students, and the future of AIIS.  In this episode of our 60th anniversary series, former AIIS President and Professor Eme...

This year, the American Institute of Indian Studies turns 60! To celebrate the history of AIIS, we have launched a year-long series of audio interviews exploring  the history of AIIS over the last 60 years including the founding of the institute, its impact on scholarship and students, and the future of AIIS.  In this inaugural episode of our 60th anniversary series, current AIIS President and Jam...

In this episode, we will highlight the innovative visual and multimodal work of former AIIS fellows and filmmakers. AIIS offers four categories of research fellowships: Junior fellowships, Senior long-term and short-term fellowships, and Performing and Creative Arts fellowships - and within any of these categories, the form that research takes can be moulded to fit what the fellows see as the best...

In this episode, we’ll explore the joint work of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers , or CAORC, and AIIS in supporting faculty at community colleges and minority-serving institutions. CAORC has been partnering with member centers since 2017, organizing two-week international study abroad trips focusing on enriching faculty development opportunities through the exploration of complex...

In this episode, we spotlight the AIIS immersive language programs in India and their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Joining us to discuss the monumental task of taking a country-wide language program online in a matter of weeks is Dr. Rebecca Manring, AIIS Language Committee Chair and Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University; Dr. Ahtesham Khan, Language Coordinator at the AIIS He...

In this episode we'll speak with AIIS Book Prize winner Dr. Dipti Khera, Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History and Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, about her new book The Place of Many Moods: Udaipur’s Painted Lands and India’s Eighteenth Century . We'll hear about Dr. Khera's experience with the American Institute of Indian Studies , navi...

In this episode we’ll learn about the museum initiatives from the AIIS Center for Art & Archaeology to share best practices in museum curation and exhibition development between the US and India. The Center for Art & Archeology held its All India Museum Summit in July of 2019 in New Delhi and that event spawned a five-day virtual curatorial workshop in August 2020 and a second workshop to...