Mission

The Center for South Asia is the central forum at Stanford University for the study of South Asia.

Learn more about CSA's contributions to Stanford in our annual reports

Winter view from Nepal's Annapurna mountains.

Photo Credit: Tess Rothstein (Nepal's Annapurna mountains, 2012)

  • The Center for South Asia (CSA) facilitates research on the region of South Asia which comprises Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Our faculty and graduate students conduct research within and across disciplines to advance the study of South Asia.

  • We convene lectures and conferences that bring together a range of audiences to broaden, nuance, and deepen both scholarly and public understandings of South Asia. CSA collaborates with other universities, organizations, and centers as well as with student and community organizations on scholarly and cultural events, language offerings, library holdings, internships, and fellowship opportunities.

CSA also offers a specialization in South Asian Studies (under the larger umbrella of the minor in Global Studies) that formalizes the study of South Asia at Stanford for our undergraduates.

I enjoyed classes on poets of South Asia like Iqbal and studied the political history of Kashmir. These settings gave me the space to explore my own identity and my own history but also share my insights with peers. Through it all, I grew more confident in my skin and in my understanding of myself.
Muskan Shafat
Minored in South Asian Studies, 2021