SAC 

SEAC 

BEST CANADIAN DISSERTATION ON SOUTH ASIA

Information on Applying
Past Recipients

Information on Applying:

A $1000 prize for best dissertation on a South Asian topic accepted as partially fulfilling the partial requirements for a doctoral degree. Submissions are encouraged from all disciplines and geographic areas covered by CASA-SAC mandate. From now on, this competition will be held every two years.

Eligibility criteria:

• Dissertation was submitted/accepted between October 1, 2006 and September 30, 2008.
• Applicant is:
• a student at or recent graduate from a Canadian institution
or
• a Canadian citizen or permanent resident studying at an institution abroad.
• Applicant has been or will become a member of CASA-SAC at the time of applying.

Application process:

• Step One: Dissertation abstract and one letter of support from the dissertation supervisor or a member of the supervisory committee will be submitted to the adjudication committee by December 31, 2008.
• Step Two: The committee will invite applicants to submit a full electronic copy of the dissertation for consideration by January 30, 2009.
• Step Three: The committee will make a decision and inform the winner by April 1, 2009.

Award:

• The winning applicant will receive a $1000 prize and an invitation to a recognition ceremony at the SAC Conference. The winner will be invited to give a presentation on his/her dissertation.
• Two other dissertations will receive an “honorable mention” which will also carry a $500 prize each and an invitation to the recognition ceremony. They will also be invited to give a presentation based on their dissertations.

Another competition will be held in two years for the best “Canadian” dissertations on South Asia accepted between October 1st 2008 and September 30th 2010.

Applications should be sent to:

For enquiries, please contact Mr. Christopher Thomson, Secretary-Treasurer of the South Asia Council, at christopher.thomson@concordia.ca.

Past Recipients:

In April 2007, the South Asia Council of CASA awarded the Grand Prize of $1000 to Dr. Mitra Sharafi of the University of Wisconsin at Madison for best dissertation on a South Asian topic. This dissertation, defended in June 2006 at Princeton University, is entitled: Bella’s Case: Parsi Identity and the Law in Colonial Rangoon, Bombay and London, 1887-1925 .

In addition, two special mentions, with a prize of $500 each, went to dissertations written by Dr. Amar Athwal of the University of Toronto for The Contemporary Dynamics of Sino-Indian Relations: Exploring the Links Between Energy, Economics and Maritime Security and Dr. Lavanya Vemsani of Shawnee State University for Balarama: Change and Continuity in an Early Indian Cult.

• April 2005 - Grand Prize of $1000 to Dr. Derek Johnson of the University of Amsterdam. His dissertation written at the University of Guelph was entitled: Emptying the Sea of Wealth : Globalisation and the Gujarat Fishery, 1950 to 1999.
• Special Mentions - Dr. Chandrima Chakraborty of McMaster University for Gender, Religion, and Nationalism: The Trope of the Ascetic Nationalist in Indian Literature and Dr. Alok K. Mukherjee of York University for "This Gift of English": English Education and the Formation of Alternative Hegemonies in India.