March 20, 2024

Seminar on Gender and Social Justice

This occurred after the Sundar Singh Institute’s seminar on Gender and Social Justice in South Asia. Academics, practitioners, and civil society members convened to closely study quasi-stable gender injustices throughout South Asia. The keynotes and panels reviewed governmental policies and legal initiatives as well as ground-level engagement (activism) to address ongoing gendered violence. Participants could assess contemporary scholarship from intersectionality to caste and gender to socioeconomic disbandment and its relationship with marginalized populations. The Institute seeks this kind of conversation for an inclusive social justice project and social change in South Asia.

Reflecting on 40 Years of Research Excellence: An Interview with Dr. Isaac S. Sato

Originally Published: April 2, 2024

Fortieth Anniversary of The Sundar Singh Institute. As Acting Director, Dr. Isaac S. Sato assessed the last forty years of the Institute and its devotion to and impact on the burgeoning South Asian studies field and beyond. Dr. Sato’s thoughts during this hindsight interview came from such an authoritative perspective, and such calm, level-headed articulation regarding the political and institutional challenges the Institute had to face to ensure its autonomy made it clear that interdisciplinary study kept the Institute not only afloat but also a worthwhile addition to various polities, ethics and resultant social change.

Additionally, he let slip the philosophical foundation for which The Sundar Singh Institute approached its research endeavors—method loyalty, inclusive scholarship and engagement, engagement printed with an ethical drum—all derived from a moral imperative to the larger South Asian community. Therefore, The Sundar Singh Institute has not merely been an academic institution of sorts but a transitioning force of good in the public sphere debate of South Asia as well as the learned field.

Publication: Cultural Heritage and Modern Governance (March 10, 2025)

The Sundar Singh Institute was pleased to share the recent release of Cultural Heritage and Modern Governance by Professor Helena von Strauss, a UNESCO published report. This far-reaching endeavor was a step in the development of an interdisciplinary connection between cultural heritage research and the governance realities of the state. Professor von Strauss determined that cultural heritage conservation activities served as both a retrospective endeavor of memory and a proactive pursuit for regional/international identity, political cohesion, and immediate and long-term sustainable development goals—all the more necessary in an increasingly contentious South Asian political climate.

Using comparative case studies from the subcontinent and beyond, ethnographic fieldwork, and a comprehensive governance evaluation research agenda, the report makes theoretical contributions and pragmatic applications for various participants from the micro municipality to the macro international development agency. By denoting cultural heritage as a component of modern governance—urbanization, war and peacebuilding, citizen engagement, disaster relief, etc.—the report is timely to inform those with the power to change the world that cultural heritage is not merely a secondary need of humanity; rather, in the 21st century, it must be taken seriously as one of the most essential aspects of an innovative governance arsenal.

February 10, 2024

Launch of the South Asia Economic Monitor Report

Quarterly South Asia Economic Monitor and the World Bank’s South Asia Development Update. This was an article that looked at the prior fiscal year in South Asia and took a data-driven, all-encompassing approach. It took the information from subsequent year’s changes and predictions, policy changes and shifts that occurred from April to March in all disciplines to assess macro and microeconomic efforts that had been undertaken in the region in the prior year.

It assessed the changes in fiscal and monetary policy of regional governments and took projectable, assessable policy changes into consideration for future actions to better develop the understanding of the situation based on insights for researchers, policymakers, and development practitioners. The intention of the assessment was to look back on such actions and give a quasi-temporary assessment for better projection of how to manage the region moving forward.

January 5, 2024

Inauguration of the Sundar Singh Lecture Series

The Sundar Singh Institute is proud to announce the establishment of the Sundar Singh Lecture Series in honor of the enduring legacy of Sadhu Sundar Singh, who was one of the most prominent figures of early twentieth-century South Asian Christianity, as well as his presence of intellectual thought and spiritual leadership. The Sundar Singh Lecture Series seeks to create such a forum for critical scholastic engagement and interdisciplinary exploration by bringing in guest lecturers from esteemed scholars and seasoned practitioners in the field relative to increasingly complicated issues important to the South Asian region.

For further information and future updates, please check our website or contact the Institute’s communications office.