American Institute of Indian Studies Podcast

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 characteristics of the AIIS language programs, and current challenges and future directions of Hindi language learning.

A note to our listeners - the following interview is in Hindi. For those who would prefer an English transcript, you can download a pdf translation of this episode on our website, www.indiastudies.org.

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.
Join us for a discussion on forms of home inspired by the 2016 collaborative conference between Elon University and the University of Madras entitled “To Take Place: Culture, Religion and Home-Making in and Beyond South Asia.” In this conference, “speakers addressed the means and practices by which migrants, displaced persons and various other subcommunities in South Asia establish physical, conceptual and emotional spaces that put them at home or give rise to conflict with other groups.”

With conference co-creators Amy Allocco and James Ponniah we look to how AIIS has supported various forms of institutional collaboration, how concepts of the home shift in spaces and places, and how to successfully build a base (or home) from which to build long-lasting dialog and partners in scholarship.
The following interview is taken from a webinar that took place virtually on November 4, 2022.

*Transcript coming soon*

Produced by AIIS
Music “Desh” by Stephen Slawek

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 to shape Sanskrit pedagogy in the US and publishing influential translations of a wide variety of Sanskrit literary works, Dr. Goldman has also been very active with AIIS - first as a junior and senior fellow, then a trustee and vice president of the institute.

As we look back on sixty years of AIIS, not only has the institute supported research across disciplines and created an important support system for the study of India in the United States, but AIIS has also been a critical part of language pedagogy for undergraduate and graduate students. In this episode, we’ll hear about AIIS and its role in development of Sanskrit pedagogy and scholarship in the US, Dr. Goldman’s own work and intersections with the institute, and the future of AIIS, language study, and Sanskrit in the US.
Visit aiis60.org to explore interactive timelines, a founding history of AIIS, information on centers and programs, and to stay up to date on AIIS 60th anniversary events.
Produced by AIIS
Music “Desh” by Stephen Slawek

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. They have used their diverse language and humanities training to make themselves stand out in a crowded applicant field and have also applied their AIIS study abroad experiences directly into their daily work to allow them to bring fresh perspectives to traditional solutions in tech, whether it is coding, design, or leadership and management. Join us today to speak with three former AIIS language students as we chat about study abroad experiences, how they switched careers from South Asian Studies to tech, and tips on making the leap to a non-traditional career track.
Joining us in this episode is Nicole Hemenway Bratz, former AIIS Sanskrit and Urdu student and current Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Capsle Stories: www.capslestories.com; Tyler Neill, former AIIS Prakrit student and currently a software engineer and Sanskritist living in NYC: tylerneill.info; and Rachael Hyland, former AIIS Hindi and Bangla student and current Senior Content Designer at Intuit. Rachel's blog post on Hindi and product design was a major catalyst for this conversation. You can read her thoughts on combining study abroad, language learning, and product design on the Intuit Design blog.
The AIIS Language Program offers nine-month academic year, summer and semester courses at elementary to advanced levels in many languages, including several that are rarely taught outside of India.

Produced by AIIS
Intro and Outro music: “Desh” by Stephen Slawek

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.
The Nilgiris Field Learning Program (NFLP) connects “Cornell faculty and students with practitioners and community members in the Nilgiris, the “blue hills” of southern India. Since 2015, the NFLC learning community has explored a range of issues around sustainability, conservation, livelihoods and education in a region recognized for its biodiversity.” Program members Neema Kudva, Andrew Willford, Pratim Roy, and Anita Varghese join us to explore how AIIS has supported this collaborative work, research methods in ethnographic collaboration and co-creation, what it means to work at the intersection of climate change, health, well-being, development, and study abroad.

The following interview is taken from a webinar that took place virtually on October 4, 2022 and is part 1 of 2 webinars this fall featuring India-US collaboration and AIIS.
*Transcript coming soon*
Produced by AIIS
Music “Desh” by Stephen Slawek