BACKGROUND At it’s 2006 meeting ASPAC, an affiliate of the Association for Asian Studies, decided to sponsor a special conference focused only on  South Asia.  The South Asian Studies Alliance (SASA), a coalition of like minded individuals interested in  South Asian scholarship, was quickly assembled.  A foundational conference was held at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, in 2007.  In 2008 a second conference was held at Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California.  SASA, now the South Asian Studies Association, recently incorporated as a California nonprofit, public benefit corporation and enjoys 501(c)3 tax exempt status, thus concluding all ties with ASPAC,

The SASA Board of Directors is currently made up of seven individuals sharing a common vision for the Association and commitment to its realization.  The Board will grow over time as additional individuals come forward who share the vision with enthusiasm and dedication.  The current directors are:

William Vanderbok (PhD, Indiana University), serves as SASA president.  Dr. Vanderbok has held full time academic appointments at the University of Colorado, Indiana University, Texas Tech University and the University of California, Los Angeles.  He received multiple grants from the East-West Center (Honolulu) to do research on Indian politics.  He has published in Modern Asian Studies, The British Journal of Political Science, Political Methodology, Contemporary South Asia, Asian Survey, The Canadian Journal of Political Science, Social Science History, Journal of Police Science and Administration, Polity, Western Political Science Quarterly, The Journal of Asian Studies and PC Magazine.  He served a term as president of Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast, is currently its treasurer, and is active in the East-West Center Association.  He has organized multiple professional conferences with attendance ranging from 100-300 scholars.  Retired from university life, he is now an independent scholar.

ChandrikaKaul (PhD, OxfordUniversity), serves as SASA vice president as well as the Programme chair for the 2008 and the forthcoming 2009 conferences. Dr. Kaul is a Lecturer in Modern History at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. She is the co-editor of a new book series from Palgrave Macmillan titled: “Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media”. She is the author of Reporting the Raj: The British Press and India, 1880-1922, the first detailed examination of British press coverage of the sub-continent. She has also edited Media and the British Empire.  In addition, she has contributed articles to a number of international academic journals, including Twentieth Century British History, The Indian Economic and Social History Review, Media History and Contemporary India. Her contributions have also appeared in New Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford); The Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia as well as in book chapters in Northcliff’s Legacy: Aspects of the Popular Press 1896-1996; A Journalism Reader;The Round Table Movement, The Empire/Commonwealth and British Foreign Policy; Contemporary History Handbook; The Communications Revolution; Gender and Media; Empire, Competition and War: Essays on the Press in the Twentieth Century, etc. She has taught for various US educational institutions’ study abroad programmes at OxfordUniversity including the Smithsonian Institution,Princeton, New York University, Duke/UNC, etc.

Deepak Shimkhada (PhD, Claremont Graduate University), serves as SASA treasurer.  Dr. Shimkhada taught in the School of Religion, Claremont McKenna College and is now affiliated with the Claremont Graduate University.  He has published three books, The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions of Asia, Popular Buddhist Mantras in Sanskrit, and Himalayas at the Crossroads: Portraits of a Changing World. Two other books nearing publication are Contented Heart, and Memories of a Painful Past: Chinese Posters of the Cultural Revolution.  He has contributed chapters to Hinduism and Feminism and Vijayanagara.  Articles have appeared in NAFA Art Magazine, Arts of Asia, Orientations, Artibus, Oriental Art, Himalayan Research Bulletin, Voice of Ulan Bator, Himalaya, Folk Dance Scene, The Overseas Times, Bulletin of America-Nepal Society of California, and The Rising Nepal.  He is the president of Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast, founder and president of the Foundation for Indic Philosophy and Culture, editor of Himalaya, founder and president of the Himalayan Arts Council at the Pacific Asia Museum and adviser to the Institute of Fine Arts, Tribhuban University, Kathmandu.

Dean McHenry (PhD, Indiana University), serves as SASA secretary.  Dr. McHenry is currently a professor of politics and policy at the Claremont Graduate University.  He has also taught at the University of Calabar (Nigeria), Brown University, University of Illinois, and the University of Dar es Salam (Tanzania).  He served as dean of the School of Politics and Economics at CGU.  In addition to field research in Africa, he has conducted extensive work in India (Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal).  He is the author to two books on African politics, Limited Choices, The Political Struggle for Socialism in Tanzania, and Tanzania’s Ujamaa Villages, the Implementation of a Rural Development Strategy.  He has contributed chapters to a number of books on African politics, one on India, and published nearly two dozen professional papers.  He was a Fulbright Senior Specialist had received research awards/fellowships from the Haynes Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Fulbright-Hayes, N.D.F.L., Fletcher Jones, and Midwest Consortium for International Development.

Paul Hanson (PhD, University of Chicago) is chair of the history department at California Lutheran University.  He previously taught at St. Olaf College and Agra University (India).  Twice a Fulbright Scholar in India, Dr. Hanson's research has focused on Islamic history in South Asia, especially the relationship of religion and political legitimacy. Other national fellowships and awards have enabled him to study in London, Sri Lanka and Jordan. He is the winner of the President's Award for Teaching Excellence

Ram M. Roy (PhD, Claremont Graduate University).  Dr. Roy is professor emeritus of political science at California State University, Northridge.  His areas of interest include:  U.S. Foreign Policy; Comparative Foreign Policies; India U.S. and Asia relations. Dr. Roy's publications include: Indian Democracy in Crisis; India and The World in Post Cold War Era. He has also written papers such as: "Non-alignment: the cultural Background" and "The Sino-Soviet Disputes in Southeast Asia." He is a TV Commentator, and a Public Speaker.

Ken Silverman is the president of Interactive Teamworks, a privately held consulting and creative services organization.  Mr. Silverman is a nationally prominent media strategist and entrepreneur with more than 35 years’ experience in the front ranks of the U.S. entertainment and communications fields.  He has participated in the acquisition, production, distribution, and marketing of content for motion picture theaters, commercial and public broadcasting, cable and pay-television, home video, satellites, interactive media, and the Internet.   Since 1997, Mr. Silverman has specialized in electronic media related to the Indian subcontinent.  He is a Charter Member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), former Executive Vice President of Indians in American Media [IAM], and writes often for The India Journal.  He is Executive Producer of two forthcoming US motion pictures targeted to be shot in India, and a sponsor of The 2006 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.  A critical member of the SASA board, he brings needed management and marketing expertise.