The scope of the research and teaching interests of the Chair of South Asian Studies at the Faculty of Asian and African Cultures, University of Warsaw, has expanded over time. Initially focusing on classical Indology and Buddhist studies based on Sanskrit and Pali, the Chair now also covers early modern and contemporary India. The latter focuses on sources in Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages, such as Bengali, Hindi/Urdu and Tamil. This shift has also been reflected in the name of the unit since 2008: the Chair of South Asian Studies. Today, the Chair is a leading centre for the study of South Asia in Poland, with faculty members focusing their research and teaching on the region's languages, literature, religions, philosophy, history, culture, and societies. The Chair is actively engaged in international academic life, collaborating with scholarly institutions around the world and organising seminars, conferences and workshops. It also participates in grants and international research projects.
The Chair was one of the founding members of the Central and Eastern European Network of Indian Studies (CEENIS, 2006), which brought together nine academic institutions from Central Europe. In 2008, in Warsaw, a research group consisting of Prague–Milan–Kraków–Warsaw—originally comprising the centers of Indian Studies at Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic), the University of Milan (Italy), and Jagiellonian University, along with the Chair —signed a letter of intent. In 2015, another institution, the University of Cagliari (Italy), joined the group. This letter outlines academic and research cooperation in areas of shared interest, primarily conducted through annual seminars and subsequent publications. The Chair has organized numerous significant international events, including the 24th European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS 2016) in collaboration with the Polish Oriental Society, which brought together nearly 500 scholars from around the world, as well as the 13th International Conference on Early Modern Literatures of North India (ICEMLINI 2018), regarded as a leading forum for research on early modern vernacular sources. Other important events organized by the Chair of South Asian Studies include the International Conference on Sanskrit and Related Studies (1999); the international seminar Argument and Reason in Indian Logic (held in 2001 in Kazimierz Dolny).
The bachelor's and master's degree programmes are offered in four languages: Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Tamil, at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Doctoral studies are also possible through one of the Doctoral Schools of the University of Warsaw. The Department's interdisciplinary curricula provide students with the opportunity to study a wide range of topics focused on the cultures and societies of South Asia.
The Chair of South Asian Studies conducts research in the following areas:
- Languages and literatures of South Asia
- Culture and history of South Asia
- Religion, philosophy, and art
- Socio-political issues of contemporary South Asia
- Indian theatre
- Indian folklore
History
Former Faculty and Collaborators
