New director named at the SOAS South Asia Institute
SOAS is pleased to announce that Dr Subir Sinha, a specialist in South Asian politics, has been appointed as the new Director of the SOAS South Asia Institute (SSAI).
The SSAI represents the most extensive and diverse community of scholars focusing on South Asia of any university in Europe. Its members’ research and teaching activities relate to the region, particularly India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
Dr Sinha’s expertise in South Asian politics includes populism, political ecology, agrarian political economy, social movements and state-society relations in development. He is also leading an independent public inquiry into the violence between South Asian communities that took place in Leicester last September.
Professor Laura Hammond, Pro-Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange, said: “The SOAS South Asia Institute plays a major role in enhancing our research and impact through strengthening links with our alumni, securing philanthropic funding and helping to inform the public debate on a range of issues. We very much look forward to welcome Subir in the role who will take forward this work and provide academic leadership for South Asian studies across the School.”
[I plan] to make new links with the South Asian diaspora, and with universities in South Asia, and to use online tools to host workshops, conferences and podcasts relevant to South Asia.
Dr Sinha said: "I am very excited to take up the Directorship of the SOAS South Asian Institute. Continuing its role as a platform showcasing new directions in research in South Asia, and hosting events featuring art, cinema and literature from this region, I plan also to use it as a portal to make new links with the South Asian diaspora, and with universities in South Asia, and to use online tools to host workshops, conferences and podcasts relevant to South Asia.
"Most of all, I look forward to working with our dynamic staff and students to develop relevant and cutting-edge programs that showcase to our university, and to London at large, what a SOAS vision of South Asia in the 21st Century looks like. I am grateful to SOAS for this opportunity."
Dr Sinha will be in the post from January 2024.
