The Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia is based at the Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs. The Saxena Center supports faculty, graduate and undergraduate research and teaching on the region and is home to the South Asian Studies concentration. The Saxena Center functions within the larger framework of the Watson School, which is seeking to define a new approach to regional studies for the 21st century. Anchored in the social sciences, this new approach is problem driven, comparative and multidisciplinary. Our multidiciplinarity includes sustained interaction of social scientists with the humanities on the one hand and the disciplines such as medicine and public health on the other.
Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia
About
The Saxena Center supports faculty, graduate and undergraduate research and teaching on the region and is home to the South Asian Studies concentration
About
The Saxena Center supports faculty, graduate and undergraduate research and teaching on the region and is home to the South Asian Studies concentration
Mission
The Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia promotes research, teaching and public engagement on key issues of modern South Asia in an interdisciplinary framework and in a historically and culturally grounded manner.
Programs
At this time, the Center’s programmatic and research themes focused on inequalities, development, urbanization, democracy and pluralism and diversities.
Partnerships
The Saxena Center collaborates with institutions and departments across Brown University and beyond. Learn more at our partnerships page.
Spotlight
News from Saxena
NLSIU-Brown University-MIDS Paper Workshop | 8-9 August 2026
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia, Brown University, USA and Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), Chennai are jointly organising a Workshop on ‘State, Citizenship and Mobilisations in Contemporary India’ on August 8th-9th, 2026 at NLSIU, Bengaluru.
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The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia, Brown University, USA and Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), Chennai are jointly organising a PhD Workshop on ‘State, Citizenship and Mobilisations in Contemporary India’ on August 10th-11th, 2026 at NLSIU, Bengaluru.
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Addressing a large gathering of young women in Pune during a student outreach programme called ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ on 22 August, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that an “adarsh naari” — an ideal woman — in India is “put in three boxes”. She is seen only “as a daughter, as a wife, or as a mother.” Gandhi added that there was “nothing wrong with being seen as one of these, but it cannot be your only identity”.
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