People

Faculty

SAP has more than 50 core and affiliated faculty from across Cornell’s colleges and schools, working in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. SAP faculty and language instructors offer classes in Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Pali, Persian, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sinhala, Tamil, Tibetan, and Urdu.

Steering Committee

The SAP steering committee provides internal faculty leadership from SAP's core faculty, collaborating with the director to set goals and priorities for SAP and to develop innovative programming and curricula related to South Asia.

Advisory Council

The SAP advisory council is composed largely of persons based outside Cornell. With the aim of making our governance structure more global, the advisory council ensures that SAP fulfills its intellectual and educational mission in a rapidly changing international context.

Visiting Scholars

SAP hosts visiting scholars from South Asia and elsewhere, including Fulbright fellows, our own South Asian Studies fellows, and other scholars, writers, and artists, who collaborate with Cornell faculty and students on South Asia Program activities.

Graduate Students

Students who minor in South Asian Studies work across Cornell's colleges and schools, in more than two dozen disciplines.

Staff

SAP staff have years of combined experience working in international studies, and they play an active role in enhancing the world's knowledge about South Asia.

Ravi Kanbur

T. H. Lee Professor of World Affairs

Ravi Kanbur is well-known for his role in policy analysis and engagement in international development. He has served on the senior staff of the World Bank.

Gloria Kane

Program Coordinator & Administrative Assistant

Sabrina Karim

Associate Professor, Department of Government

Sabrina Karim is an associate professor in the Department of Government. Her research focuses on conflict and peace processes, particularly state building in the aftermath of civil war.

Geographic Research Area: Sub-Saharan Africa, Bangladesh

Karim-Aly Saleh Kassam

International Professor of Environmental and Indigenous Studies

Karim-Aly Kassam's research interests include human and environmental relations and indigenous ways of knowing.

Mary Fainsod Katzenstein

Stephen and Evalyn Professor of American Studies Emerita

Geographic Research Area: India and United States

Teaching/Research Interests: Incarceration, political activism, ethnic activism, and gender

Yakin Kinger

Graduate Student

Yakin Kinger is pursuing his PhD in the History of Architecture and Urban Development (HAUD) at Cornell University.

Anurag Koyyada

Graduate Student, Reppy Fellow 2025-26

Anurag Koyyada is a JD candidate at Cornell Law School. He enjoys interpreting rules and designing technologies in defense, national security, and space contexts. Anurag is interested in how law, society, and technology interact in military and surveillance contexts.

Neema Kudva

Associate Professor, House Professor, and Dean, Carl Becker House

Geographic Research Area: India

Teaching/Research Interests: Urbanization, planning theory, research methods, transborder/transdiscipline engaged learning

Satish Kumar

Graduate Student

Satish Kumar, a Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Doctoral Fellow at TCI, is a PhD student in public policy at IIT Bombay. His research focuses on agriculture-nutrition linkages and diversification in semi-arid regions.

Sarosh Kuruvilla

Andrew J. Nathanson Family Professor in Industrial and Labor Relations

Sarosh Kuruvilla is Cornell University's Andrew J. Nathanson Family Professor of Industrial Relations, Asian Studies, and Public Affairs. He is also a visiting professor at the London School of Economics.