Introduction
With a rich, 500-year history and more than 20 million followers worldwide,
the Sikh religion deserves the attention of today's best scholars.
The Center for South Asia Studies (CSAS) at the University of California,
Berkeley, is devoted to enhancing scholarly understandings of Sikhism,
its historical emergence in 16th- and 17th-century India, and its contemporary
manifestations around the world. In particular, we seek to encourage
Sikh Studies by supporting young scholars entering the field. The Amrit
Kaur Ahluwalia Memorial Grant Program will provide a critical stimulus
to the careers of promising Master's level students pursuing Sikh
Studies.
[By "Master's level students," we mean graduate students
beyond the first year of graduate study who are either conducting research
for a Master's thesis or preparing to undertake preliminary research
toward a doctoral thesis.]
Background
In 2000, CSAS established the Amrit Kaur Ahluwalia Memorial Lectures
on Sikhism with the generous support of Dr. Joginder Singh Ahluwalia
and family. This annual lecture series was designed to bring a well-known
scholar to Berkeley to deliver a public address on some aspect of Sikhism:
Sikh history, language and literature, religion, culture, art or music.
Past speakers have included Dr. Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia (Vice Chancellor,
Punjabi University, Patiala), Bhai Baldeep Singh (13th-generation singer
of the Sikh Kirtan Marayada), and Dr. Avtar Brah (Birkbeck College,
University of London).
While this lecture series has met the goals of its founders and significantly
benefited Berkeley scholars and the wider community, we believe a program
that focuses on providing research opportunities to younger scholars
will have an even greater long-term impact.
Mission
By annually providing grants for summer research
to select graduate students, the Amrit Kaur Ahluwalia Memorial Grant
Program will give young scholars at this critical juncture the opportunity
to pursue their first serious research in Sikh Studies. We believe that
this program will fulfill an important mission by drawing promising
scholars to Sikh Studies, enabling them to embark upon exciting research
agendas, and encouraging them to share their enthusiasm and knowledge
with the wider community.
Recipients of Ahluwalia Grants will be required to present the results
of their research at a public event. This annual symposium will be a
direct link to the previous Amrit Kaur Ahluwalia Memorial Lectures and
will continue to honor the Ahluwalia family's generosity. The symposium
will be open to academics and the general public, and will be followed
by a reception or private dinner. In addition to the student grant recipients,
CSAS and the Ahluwalia family will invite an established Sikh Studies
scholar to attend the symposium and lead a discussion of the students'
presentations. The symposium will serve to introduce these young scholars
to the vibrant local Sikh community and the public at large.
Timeline
The Ahluwalia Grant Program will follow the annual schedule below:
- April: Grant competition announced and widely publicized. Research areas
of special interest may be emphasized in the announcement.
- June: CSAS convenes a review committee; applications are reviewed
and grant recipients selected.
- June–September: Grant recipients conduct research at their chosen
field sites, anywhere in the world.
- October: Grant recipients send reports detailing their research activities
and initial findings to CSAS, which are shared with the Ahluwalia family.
- April: Grant recipients present the results of their research at a symposium
at UC Berkeley organized by CSAS.
Students and Projects
Graduate students from UC Berkeley will be given first priority, followed
by students in the UC system, before students nationwide will be considered.
In the first years of the program, the committee may also consider giving
small awards to outstanding undergraduates if the pool of qualified
graduate student applicants is not sufficiently large.
Ideally, the research should be rigorous and extensive enough to form
the basis of a Master's thesis or PhD dissertation proposal. We expect
that many students will travel to India; some may conduct research at
archives in the US or UK; others may pursue ethnographic work among
diaspora Sikh communities.
How to Apply
The application deadline for research in Summer or Fall 2006 is June
1. Please include the following in your application:
- A 2-page project proposal
- A letter stating the need for research funding
- A budget
- Two letters of recommendation, with one of these from your advisor
Address for Applications:
Sanchita Saxena
Vice Chair
Center for South Asia Studies
10 Stephens Hall, #2310
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-2310
(510) 642-3608 (phone)
(510) 643-5793 (fax)
Email: sanchitas (AT) berkeley.edu
Website: ias.berkeley.edu/southasia
