The Mellon Foundation just handed UCSB a $750,000 grant to launch a South Asian American Studies Center this fall. The funding will support a four‑year program that expands undergraduate curriculum, graduate research, faculty mentorship, and public‑facing partnerships.
Jigna Desai, UCSB’s Center for Feminist Futures director, and Sameer Pandya, chair of the Asian American Studies department, will steer the initiative. Desai said, "Having two South Asian American studies scholars in one department is a rarity, and this center will cement that presence." Pandya added, "The field has existed for three decades, but never had a dedicated institutional home."
The center’s first symposium drew 20 scholars from across the United States to debate power, dominance, and complicity within South Asian American studies. Desai explained that the event "strengthened ties among researchers at different career stages" and produced a draft of a forthcoming edited collection.
Over the next four years, the grant will fund open‑access online curricula, summer internships for undergraduates, dissertation fellowships, and manuscript workshops. The goal is to fill gaps left by broader Asian American programs, particularly research on caste in diaspora communities.
UCSB plans to open its doors in September 2026, immediately launching the center’s first symposium and scholarship initiatives. The move positions the university as a national leader in a field that has long lacked institutional backing.