Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University

A new South Asia Centre has been established in the College of Asia and the Pacific, based in the Faculty of Asian Studies. The centre sits alongside the Faculty’s China and Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asian Centres and the Centre for Asian Societies and Histories. Its work will complement the economics and development research carried out at a high level by the Australia South Asia Research Centre (ASARC), based in RSPAS..

The South Asia Centre is a concrete expression of the ANU’s growing interest in South Asia, and of the growing national and international recognition of the significance of South Asian nations. Now emerging as a geo-political powerhouse, for three millennia South Asia has been one of the world’s great intellectual powerhouses as home of three world religions and a vast range of cultures, languages, literatures, art, architecture, dance and philosophy.

The new Centre will serve as a focal point for teaching and learning at undergraduate level, and research at postgraduate level. Undergraduate teaching will include languages (Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit) and area-related subjects in the fields of history, politics, religion and security studies. Our research topics include Hindi and Urdu devotional poetics, masculinity and Buddhism, gender and security, and Hinduism.

The Centre is already delivering language classes remotely to University of Sydney and is proposing to run intensive community courses in Hindi in Melbourne. The new South Asia Centre is an exciting initiative that will enable the ANU to meet more successfully the challenges and opportunities presented by the emergence of South Asia.

Head of Centre: Dr McComas Taylor

Centre members: Dr Richard Barz, Dr John Powers, Mr Yogendra Yadav

Centre affiliate: Dr Bina D’Costa

The Centre focuses on the languages and literatures of South Asia from the earliest times until the present. The South Asia Centre's programs are open to undergraduate and graduate students taking degrees in the Faculty of Asian Studies as well as to students enrolled in other Faculties at the Australian National University.

The Centre offers the following programs:

• Hindi studies program
• Sanskrit studies program
• Urdu and Persian studies program

with pass and honours courses and postgraduate study in language and literature.

The South Asia Centre's courses may be combined with complementary courses in history, society and religion studies offered by the Centre for Asian Societies and Histories in the Faculty and by the Faculty of Arts. Courses in Asian politics, economics and law are available in other Faculties.

For information about courses and enrolment procedures, please contact the South Asia Centre Administrator Ms Karina Pelling via email FAS_Admin_Team@anu.edu.au, phone + 61 2 6125 3163, or write to:

Centre Administrator
South Asia Centre
Faculty of Asian Studies
Australian National University
CANBERRA ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA

The Head of the South Asia Centre is Dr McComas Taylor.

Listed separately are the Centre's academic and general staff.

Pakistan News Service

Pakistan Politics

Photographs from the Centre's launch, 20 August 2007

Paul Brownell, Ashvin Parameswaran			Dr Richard Barz, Professor Robin Jeffrey
	Yogendra Yadav, Dr George Quinn	Professor Ian Chubb, Dr McComas Taylor, Professor Robin Jeffrey	Professor Ian Chubb, Dr McComas Taylor