Center, You and Periphery Should Totally Talk

By Vilas Pathikonda
MIA 2009

Two weeks ago, SIPA hosted an academic conference on new directions in South Asian studies. Panelists presented papers on topics ranging from the Ramayana to early modern Sanskrit texts. Capping the two-day event was a roundtable discussion which I attended that highlighted the work of Columbia’s own Sanskrit scholar, Sheldon Pollock. This crowd was no exception to the rule that academics seem to always think their field of study isn’t getting enough respect. Let’s be honest, Indian philological studies will always be “standing on a precipice,” to use one panelist’s words.  But one thing they did note is that there seems to be a trend in educational institutions away from serious regional study.