The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley invites submissions of doctoral dissertations for the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize. The prize will be awarded to an outstanding doctoral dissertation on the art, architecture, or visual cultures of South Asia and its diasporas from any discipline in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. The dissertation may focus on any time period from the prehistoric to the contemporary. 

The prize comes with a $1,500 award.

Ph.D. dissertations submitted for consideration must have been filed between September 2, 2018 and September 1, 2020 at an accredited university in North America or Europe. The submission package must include the following:

  • A pdf abstract (< 1000 words)
  • A pdf curriculum vitae (please include your contact information)
  • A pdf copy of the dissertation
  • A confidential letter from a member of the dissertation committee that speaks to the merits of the dissertation with respect to the current state of the field and the innovation that the work attempts

DEADLINE: The submission package including the dissertation must be in English and submitted via email to Puneeta Kala by December 1, 2020. Late submissions will not be accepted.

The result for the 2020 prize recipient will be announced on the South Asia Art Initiative website on February 14, 2021. The winner will give a talk in conjunction with an expenses-paid award conferral ceremony at UC Berkeley in April 2021.1

The 2020 Prize Committee: Atreyee Gupta (Chair, University of California, Berkeley), Navina Najat Haidar (The Metropolitan Museum of Art), Partha Mitter (Emeritus Professor, University of Sussex), Tamara Sears (Rutgers University)

All inquiries regarding the UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize should be directed to: Puneeta Kala at the Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley

  • 1. If there are continued COVID-19 travel restrictions, the award ceremony in 2021 may be held through a virtual platform.