“As perhaps the only space on campus consistently hosting and leading progressive conversations on the subcontinent for the public, CISAR is a small but important force, especially in the face of rising fascism around the globe.”
The Centre for India and South Asia Research (CISAR) has been engaged in promoting interdisciplinary research on South Asia since 1992. Through lectures and conferences it has cultivated a unique space for faculty, research associates, graduate and undergraduate students, and community members with an interest in South Asia. CISAR’s work has also been instrumental in creating institutional and scholar-to-scholar linkages between UBC and institutions in South Asia and beyond, and between UBC and South Asian communities in British Columbia. Read on for a glimpse of the varied initiatives led by the Centre over the years. If these highlights pique your interest, also consider diving deeper into past Annual Reports from CISAR here.
1992-2000: Building the Foundations of CISAR
CISAR was founded as one of five regional research centres at IAR and was headed by Dr. John Wood in its early years. Dr. Wood—who passed away in 2023—is fondly remembered for his extensive research on South Asia and as a mentor, colleague, and friend of the UBC community who played an integral role in CISAR’s formation and growth. During his directorship, Dr. Wood worked extensively on furthering ties in higher education between India and Canada through his parallel leadership roles at the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute and the Canadian Asian Studies Council.
During the rest of the decade the Centre grew rapidly and was actively engaged in researching and discussing significant issues in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. By 1997, CISAR had a membership of 46 Faculty Associates, Research Associates, Graduate Associates and Visiting Scholars. The Centre hosted the 30th year of the South Asian Colloquium of the Pacific Northwest (SACPAN), a biannual conference of South Asianists from Western Canada and the North West United States which it continues to co-organize to date. The Centre was also involved in significant research projects at this time, including a study of the ‘co-operative management of water resources’ in South Asia. In December 1997, CISAR organized an international workshop on this theme, bringing together researchers, practitioners and administrators, including six South Asian research partners and representatives from the government of India. Simultaneously, CISAR spearheaded a study of the South Asian Diaspora in BC in association with the Progressive Intercultural Services Society (PICSS) in Surrey, BC.
In July 1999, the Centre Directorship role was taken on by Dr. Mandrakanta Bose. In October of the same year, CISAR also hosted the biennial meeting of the South Asian Colloquium of the Pacific Northwest (SACPAN) at the C.K. Choi Building. The meeting featured a wide range of papers on literature, border disputes, nuclear power, and the Sikh experience in North America. During the end of the decade, CISAR also worked with the Institute for Resource and Environment at UBC to prepare a training program for mid-level officers and graduates in resource management which would eventually be run at the University of Kerala. This program, in addition to collaborative research projects on Womens’ Education as well as Peace and Security, helped build strong and lasting connections between CISAR and Indian Institutions such as Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Indian Habitat Centre in New Delhi.
Dr. Yves Tiberghien (centre left) and Dr. Mandrakanta Bose (centre right) welcoming visitors from the Consulate General of India to the CISAR Reading Room, 2013
Dr. Bose at the Exhibition of Madhubani Paintings hosted by CISAR, 2002
Guests, CISAR Faculty, and IAR Faculty at the Madhubani Paintings Exhibition, 2002
Inaugurating Tagore's bust with flowers and dance, 2002
Inaugurating Tagore's bust with flowers and dance, 2002
Dr. Sara Shneiderman (right) at the Himalaya Program's launch party, 2016
2000-2017: Exploring Culture, Community, and Class
With a strong foundation and a growing web of community connections, the Centre continued to flourish and explore new avenues of research and programming in the new millennium. In the early 2000’s the Centre facilitated several events related to the visual arts, literary arts and humanities. In June 2001, CISAR sponsored the third Ramayana Conference held at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, UBC. Similarly, in the following year CISAR held a rare exhibition of Madhubani paintings at the Asian Centre from February-March 2002. The Centre’s faculty carried out research on a diverse range of projects during these years: Dr. Mandrakanta Bose worked on “Gender and Performance in Epic”, Dr. Milind Kandlikar worked on environmental issues and vehicular emissions, Dr. Ashok Kotwal produced research on “Indian Economic Reforms”, and Dr. Vidyut Aklujkar worked on Indian literature.
A material testament to these years is the rich collection of scholarly books and archival material housed in CISAR’s reading room, which was collected through its members interest’s and initiatives. It was also during this time that the Centre acquired the iconic bronze sculpture of Rabindarnath Tagore which forms a key part of UBC’s visual landscape today. This sculpture was gifted to CISAR by the Consulate General of India and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. It was installed in 2002, marking the 141st birthday of Tagore, the Nobel Laureate poet of India. The installation was accompanied by a beautiful celebration featuring flower offerings, dance presentations, and speeches.
In 2009, CISAR held another community-centric event celebrating Kabir, 15th-century mystic/ weaver/poet who sang of the ultimate and challenged the people to rethink the religious and other boundaries that bind and divide us. The “Festival of Kabir” in March 2009 and comprised three days of academic talks, movie screenings, and a concert celebrating the life, work and contemporary influence of Kabir in South Asia. Attended by over 200 people, this event exemplified CISAR’s growing capacity to provide an important space for the South Asian community of the Lower Mainland to gather, connect, and celebrate their rich literary and artistic traditions.
From 2012-2017, Dr. Mandrakanta Bose assumed the Directorship of CISAR for a second term during which the Centre continued to facilitate research and lectures on emerging socio-political issues in South Asia. In 2014, CISAR held a key symposium in the lead up to the Indian General Elections. Other notable themes addressed by that years’ programming included gender, migration, and healthcare in India; water-management in Bangladesh; as well as Urdu literature and South Indian folklore. Similarly, the CISAR community held thoughtful discussions on the political conditions in Afghanistan, the post-earthquake reconstruction of Nepal, democracy in Bhutan, and modern Indian art in the following years. The Centre also helped launch the UBC Himalaya Program in 2015 and has actively collaborated with the program since. Beyond UBC, the Centre maintained strong engagements with the Asia Pacific Foundation and the Shastri Indo Canadian Institute as well as with major Indian institutions, such as IIM of Calcutta.
2017-2021: Building Partnerships and Navigating Unprecedented Times
In 2017, Dr. Bose stepped down as Director and the role was take on jointly by Dr. Anne Murphy and Dr. Sara Shneiderman. Reflecting on the Centre’s activities during her term, Dr. Bose wrote: “As a sign of CISAR’s growth and reputation I may point out its ability to attract faculty from neighboring universities as Research Associates…. The Centre has [also] been able to build a strong body of postdoctoral fellows during the past few years while graduate and undergraduate students remain a vital part of its activities.”
CISAR continued this growth over the coming years with a consistent programming of events and a strong focus on building fruitful institutional relationships. From August-September 2017, the Centre hosted three international SSHRC-supported conferences and workshops, dealing with Punjabi cultural history, post-earthquake reconstruction in Nepal, and Bengali migration. The Centre’s programming during the rest of the year facilitated discussions on film, literary and cultural history, politics, the Rohingya refugee crisis, domestic violence and honour killings, nuclear proliferation, and more.
Speaker for the third Annual Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Lecture, Ms. Santosh Das (Centre) with CISAR Directors and Participants
Dr. Anne Murphy offering opening remarks at a panel talk on "Caste in Canada"
Acclaimed Indian Journalist P. Sainath with the CISAR Leadership and Community at his talk on media (un)freedom
It was also in 2017 that the Centre first held an event marking International Mother Language Day to honor people’s right to speak their mother tongues, and to preserve their culture and identity. This tradition has been continued annually since then. Later that year, CISAR contributed to a major Canada 150 project entitled “Canada at 150+: Trauma, Memory and the Story of Canada,” which included an exhibition at the UBC Asian Centre and at various public sites in Vancouver that was curated by CISAR Research Associate Raghavendra Rao, K.V.
In November 2017, CISAR held the inaugural Annual Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Lecture, with a talk by Vivek Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University. The following spring, it once again hosted the South Asia Conference of the Pacific Northwest (SACPAN) which featured over 35 presentations and keynote addresses by historians Ruby Lal and Gyanendra Pandey of Emory University. During this time CISAR also worked to strengthen and initiate new partnerships with institutions in South Asia—including Sri Ram College of Commerce/Delhi University and Punjabi University Patiala (PUP)—as well as Canada-based institutions and community groups such as the Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation, Watan online Punjabi magazine, the Chetna Association of Canada, Skyrocket Digital, and Nepal Cultural Society of BC. The Centre also placed emphasis on graduate student research by providing travel awards to graduate students and inviting them to share their research with the CISAR community through panel discussions. In a similar vein the student recipient of the 2017 Nehru Humanitarian Award (a flagship program of CISAR) was invited to present a colloquium on his doctoral research.
The 2019-2020 academic year was a challenging year with global political upheaval and the cessation of in-person classes and public events at UBC from March 2020 onwards due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. CISAR cancelled its remaining events and hosted an online musical and performance series with the Indian Classical Music Society of Vancouver. The Centre also focused its energy on understanding and responding meaningfully to the political crisis in India due to the state’s revocation of Kashmir’s special status and the ensuing lockdown in the region. These efforts included a film screening and conversation with filmmaker Sanjay Kak, and a talk by anthropologist Mona Bhan on the topic “Infrastructures of Occupation: Dams, Development, and the Politics of Integration in Kashmir.” Relatedly, CISAR joined with the IAR to host two events in February 2020 to address the Citizenship Amendment Act, and the massive protests that followed its passage, in the effort to provide an opportunity for the UBC community to engage with these ongoing developments. CISAR also hosted two online events in August 2020 to engage with the Black Lives Matter movement: to enable critical discussion of racism in broad terms, as well as critical reflection on how South Asian solidarity with Black Lives can be enacted.
CISAR Today
Following the pandemic, the Centre resumed in-person and hybrid programming with renewed vigour in 2022. The role of Director was taken on by Dr.Priti Narayan from 2022-2024. Following that the Centre is being co-directed by three members of the Executive Committee: Dr. M.V. Ramana, Dr. Veena Sriram, and Dr. Priti Narayan.
Over the past three years the Centre’s research and events have addressed pressing issues such as the 2022 floods in Pakistan, state responses to the pandemic in India, and other ongoing structural issues of perpetual importance including Indigenous dispossession and caste discrimination. With it’s deep commitment to South Asian arts, politics, history, and social justice, CISAR has grown into a unique space at UBC. We echo the sentiments that Dr. Narayan shared in her outgoing director’s note: “As perhaps the only space on campus consistently hosting and leading progressive conversations on the subcontinent for the public, CISAR is a small but important force, especially in the face of rising fascism around the globe.”
