In order to promote scholarship in South Asian Studies, the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) awards two prizes each year for the best unpublished book manuscript on an Indian subject:
“The Edward Cameron Dimock, Jr. Prize in the Indian Humanities”
“The Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences”
Only junior scholars who have received the PhD from a U.S. university within the last eight years (2017 and after) are eligible. This must be the first book by the author.
A prize committee will determine the yearly winners, though the committee may choose not to award prizes for any year in which worthy submissions are lacking. The prize will include a cash prize of $2500 for the press publishing the manuscript.
Unrevised dissertations are not accepted. Applicants must demonstrate they have revised the original dissertation.
There is no designated press for publication. Authors are advised to submit their manuscript for publication at the most appropriate press; concurrent submission to multiple presses is recommended. Manuscripts under review or under contract with a press are eligible, but manuscripts that go into print before the annual prize announcement will become ineligible.
Applicants need not have held an AIIS fellowship or participated in an AIIS language program in India.
The Publications Committee Co-Chair: Ulka Anjaria()
Ulka Anjaria, Brandeis University co-chair
Sarah Lamb, Brandeis University co-chair
Namita Dharia, Rhode Island School of Design
Sonal Khullar, University of Pennsylvania
Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner, University of Virginia
Preetha Mani, Rutgers University
Smitha Radhakrishnan, Wellesley College
