Conference on South Asia

media release: 51st Annual Conference on South Asia October 18-21, 2023

The 51st Conference in 2023 is scheduled to meet in-person at The Madison Concourse Hotel & Governor’s Club (1 W. Dayton, Madison, WI 53703).

Conference Theme: Structure and Spontaneity

View the 2023 Conference Program Book here!

The Annual Conference on South Asia invites scholars, students, and professionals to Madison, Wisconsin, for a three-day event featuring research panels and round tables, lectures, performances, film screenings, booksellers, association receptions, and other special presentations! The conference has grown year-by-year since its inception in 1971 and will welcome over 900 registered attendees in 2023.

After October 1, registration fees must be paid upon arrival to the conference and are $260 for the general public, and $120 for students/emeriti.

Following the conference proper: “Come Eat With Me” Performance at the 51st Annual Conference on South Asia

Sultan (1054 Williamson Street), October 21, 2023 @ 6:00 pm

Tickets

Come Eat With Me is a 110-minute performance piece by Sri Vamsi Matta which explores the relationship between caste and food while sharing a meal together. Focusing on Dalit cuisine, the piece begins with personal stories and oral histories around food in Vamsi’s household and community and is peppered with existing literature and academic writing around the multilayered, many flavored relationships between caste and food. The piece unpacks questions of oppression and solidarity, grief and joy, and the everyday victories of the human spirit in the face of structural injustices.

Taking place during the evening following the Annual Conference on South Asia, this gathering invites conference attendees and Madison community members to Sultan, a new Pakistani restaurant on Williamson Street, to eat together and share their own stories around caste and food. In doing so, the form subverts an activity laden with caste hierarchies and hopes to create a space for community building.

The Annual Conference on South Asia (October 18–21) invites scholars, students, and professionals to Madison, Wisconsin, for a three-day event featuring research panels and round tables, lectures, performances, film screenings, booksellers, association receptions, and other special presentations! The conference has grown year-by-year since its inception in 1971, welcoming over 1100 registered attendees in 2019. This year’s conference will take place at The Madison Concourse Hotel & Governor’s Club (1 West Dayton Street).

Tickets cost $20 each.