As a center located within the Institute for Asian Research, CISAR contributes to teaching and administration of the MAPPS (Masters of Asia Pacific Policy Studies) program at UBC. CISAR also serves as a university wide resource for undergraduate and graduate education on the UBC campus. CISAR supports graduate work related to South Asia on the UBC campus by providing competitive fellowships and awards. We offer a limited number of travel grants to doctoral students in late stages of their thesis work. In addition, CISAR also supports the organization of the graduate student portion of SACPAN, the annual regional South Asia conference organized jointly by UBC, University of Washington, and other universities in the region.
Nehru Humanitarian Fellowship
The Nehru Humanitarian Fellowship is competitive grant awarded annually to the graduate student with the most promising research on a topic related to South Asia. Students submit a statement of research outlining the objectives, methods and significance of their graduate work. An inter-disciplinary committee of UBC faculty members adjudicates for the award on the behalf of CISAR. The Nehru Humanitarian Fellowship is made possible by a grant made to CISAR in the memory of Prem K. Goel by the Goel Foundation, Vancouver.
Past winners:
2008: Pooja Parmar, Doctoral Student in Law. Topic: Subaltern groups and right to water in Plachimada, Kerala. 2007: Heather Frost, Doctoral Student in Geography.
Topic: “Getting By High”: The Untold Stories of Punjabi Youth in Surrey, B.C.
2006: Julia Freeman, Doctoral Student in Resource Management and Environmental Studies. Topic: Regulation of Genetically Modified Seeds in India
Annual Graduate Student Conference
The annual graduate student conference is held in conjunction with South Asia Colloquium of Pacific Northwest (SACPAN) annually on a Saturday in late February/early March. The location of SACPAN alternates between Seattle (at UW) and Vancouver (at UBC), and the grad conference is held on the Friday before SACPAN. The South Asia graduate student conference attracts students from other regional universities such as Simon Fraser University (SFU) and University of Victoria, in addition to UBC and UW.
2008 conference program (download)
Travel Grants
CISAR provides grants to graduate students in advanced stages of their thesis and dissertation work for research related travel. Funds are limited and given on the basis of both merit and need. Students can apply in the fall (November 1 deadline) and Spring (April 1 deadline). Application needs to provide a brief description of the research, and a short rationale for why the funds are needed.
Resources
Shastri Indo-Canadian Foundation (www.sici.org)
UBC is a founding member of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, which was created in 1968 to deepen the knowledge of Indian and Canadian scholars about each others' society and culture. The Shastri Institute is instrumental in providing Canadians with scholarships for language studies, humanities & social sciences, science and technology, development studies and for performing arts training in India. Shastri support research and teaching about India in Canada and about Canada in India. The Institute also co-ordinates visits by Indian scholars to Canadian universities and vice-versa. In addition to travel and research scholarships that enable research in India, Canadian students have an opportunity to earn university credits while studying development issues in India through the Shastri Summer Programme. Many UBC students have been selected to participate in this programme and have gone on to win Shastri scholarships. UBC faculty are consistent winners of Shastri scholarships and serve frequently on the Institute's Board of Directors, Executive and standing committees.
IDRC
IDRC is a Canadian Crown corporation that works in close collaboration with researchers from developing countries to help build healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies. IDRC offers a number of avenues for funding of graduate student research in developing countries including those in South Asia. Details can be seen at
www.idrc.org.
Collaboration with Indian and North American Institutions
An exchange program allows graduate students frorm UBC and the University of Washington to earn credits in the sister institution. UBC's involvement in India and South Asia extends beyond the classroom to include links with numerous educational, research and performing arts institutions on the subcontinent. A number of UBC faculty maintain formal and informal links with institutions in India, other countries in South Asia, and Canada. These include formal research ties with the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi), the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), and the Indian Statistical Institute (Delhi). Additionally, UBC faculty collaborates on South Asia related work with faculty in other North American universities including McGill and Ryerson. UBC has also signed Memoranda of Understanding with several Indian institutions designed to facilitate formal research collaborations.
Courses Related to South Asia at UBC
To be added.