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AIIS Speaker’s Bureau

By April 30, 2026No Comments

American Institute of Indian Studies Speaker’s Bureau Application Information

The American Institute of Indian Studies solicits applications from U.S. colleges and universities to partner in bringing a distinguished scholar on Indian studies on to their campuses to give a public lecture and classroom visit. Events are expected to be recorded for AIIS to post for broader dissemination. Preference will be given to AIIS member institutions and consortium events or events that will reach more than one campus.  AIIS will support the program with:

  1. A modest honorarium of $500
  2. Payment of roundtrip economy class airfare (purchased 30 days or more ahead of the program, and vetted with AIIS for compliance with Fly America rules)
  3. Ground transportation costs
  4. Advertising for the lecture on AIIS platforms

Partner Universities/Colleges will provide:

  1. Institutional and Event Support for the speaker: supports including planning the visit, providing letters of invitation, purchasing tickets and providing information for reimbursement, A/V support to record the event, and event planning with the speaker
  2. Hotel accommodations
  3. Meals
  4. Venue

Universities may work with AIIS to support a scholar of their choosing or may request AIIS assistance in finding a scholar on a specific Indian studies topic. The AIIS Speaker’s Bureau is primarily focused on scholars but will accept applications for talks by practitioners related to India. Universities requesting a scholar from outside the US or Canada must apply with at least one additional university or college who will also host the same scholar— if supported, AIIS will pay airfare between the two or more stops in addition to the international flight. All participating events must be documented in the South Asia Presenters Exchange by the university/college partner.

Application requirements:

  1. Completed application form
  2. Letter of support from an administrator at your college/university (department chair, center director, dean, etc) acknowledging the willingness of the university to undertake the required work/ costs. In the case of joint applications letters must be provided from each university/college (uploaded to the form site)
  3. Detailed budget for the event, including the total cost for AIIS (uploaded to the form site)

If approved, units will be reimbursed upon the purchase of an eligible plane ticket and proof of payment of the honorarium. Applications due June 1st for events between July 1- December 15, 2026. Funding dependent we will run a second competition applications due December 1 for events from January 15-May 15, 2027

All awarded grantees are expected to acknowledge AIIS support on all promotional materials for the speaker event. All awardees are expected to provide the recording of the event to AIIS within a week after the event, and an evaluation no more than 60 days after the event including audience numbers, any photos or engagement materials, and a short discussion of the events in context of other programs or events for the year.