AIIS is pleased to announce the award of five student fellowships for digital sonic and visual projects, to be carried out in the summer of 2023. The recipients will carry out original projects using the resources of the two AIIS research centers in India (Archives and Research Center for Ethnomusicology (ARCE) and Center for Art and Archaeology (CA&A)) and resulting in the creation of a digital exhibition, digital curriculum, or other creative products intended for varied audiences. The goal of this opportunity is to: foster the digital production and dissemination of knowledge about India; promote the creation and use of digital resources and media for the study of India; and promote digital collaboration. This is the second year that AIIS has offered this opportunity.
Student fellows will work under the guidance of a project supervisor and assigned faculty mentor on their projects and will exercise their creativity to shape and implement their projects while also acquiring a digital skill set and hands-on practical experience that will enhance their professional development. AIIS will also foster a community among the five fellows working on their own projects with ample opportunities for collaboration. The five DIL summer fellows are:
Arya Adityan, a graduate student in the Department of Religion at Florida State University, for the project “Oral Epics and Narratives of India: Villupattu.”
Ava Bush, an undergraduate student completing her B.A. in Art History at Tulane University, for the project “People’s Art: Clay Modelling in Ancient India.”
Balakrishnan Raghavan, a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, for the project “Oral Epics and Narratives of India: Annanmar Katai.” Mr. Raghavan has been designated the Pradeep Mehendiratta Fellow. The fellowship is in memory of Pradeep Mehendiratta who had been the long-time Director-General of AIIS in India and who passed in January 2022. Funding for this fellowship was generously provided by his son Deepak Mehendiratta.
Jamphel Shonu, a graduate student in the Department of History at Pennsylvania State University, for the project “Situating the Great Monastery of Nalanda through the Asher Archive.”
Tyler Thom, a graduate student in the Department of Ethnomusicology at the University of Denver, for the project “The Song Lines of Arnold Bake.”
The Digital India Learning (DIL) initiative of the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) promotes the creation and use of digital resources and media for the study of India, facilitates training in digital methodologies, strengthens India-related collections and projects in U.S. libraries, and fosters the digital production and dissemination of knowledge about India. AIIS’s DIL builds upon, extends and strengthens the AIIS core mission. These fellowships are partially funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.