Today AIIS activities in India are consolidated in a building constructed for the organization’s international headquarters. Located in Gurugram, close to Delhi’s international airport, this building has eliminated the payment of high rents for several buildings and duplication of effort by a dispersed staff. An endowment will insure the continuation of the Institute’s basic operations.
One main priority for AIIS is to expand and diversify the community of scholars and students who participate in the study and teaching of India in all of its aspects. To that end, AIIS is involved in outreach projects, including a colloquium on the intersection of South Asian and African Studies held at Howard University in April 2017. A crucial part of this program was the sharing of resources and opportunities for students and future scholars to obtain language training and research support that will provide them access to these fields of study. AIIS partnered with the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) to hold a faculty development seminar focused on urban sustainability in India in January 2019 for sixteen faculty members at community colleges and minority serving institutions. AIIS and CAORC are planning for another faculty development seminar in India for 2020.
AIIS is organizing the All India Museum Summit 2019, which will take place on July 22, 23 and 24, 2019 at the India International Centre, New Delhi. The Summit will convene a nation-wide audience of museum professionals and supporters for three days to consider ways to enrich the roles that museums play in the lives of India’s people and means for building institutional capacities to manage collections and resources. The Summit will bring together museum professionals, including curators, administrators and conservationists, as well as supporters and academics. The Summit will result in a draft white paper to present to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India on advancing India’s museums. A website will soon be online with the program and list of presenters.
AIIS receives funding from the U.S. State Department, the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S. Department of Education. As support for the Institute’s work has become increasingly challenging, fundraising initiatives have been developed to ensure that the American Institute of Indian Studies continues to flourish.