The Centre for South Asian Critical Humanities (CSACH) at the University of Toronto promotes greater understanding of South Asia through vibrant and informed conversations of the region’s politics, cultures, histories, languages, religions and peoples.
Prior to 2023, we were known as the Centre for South Asian Civilizations. We changed our name to Centre for South Asian Critical Humanities to reflect our programmatic direction and the focus of our faculty and students.
With faculty expertise in the fields of art history, languages, history, political science and the history of religions, CSACH provides resources for the study of South Asian pasts and their contemporary relevance. The Centre supports a wide range of activities related to the countries of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh including colloquia, public lectures, creative performances, and research affiliations.
Upcoming Events | Winter 2024
Melodic Cascades: T.M. Krishna in Concert
Isabel Alonso
P. Sainath
Supriya Gandhi
Ali Riaz
Crossing the Rubicon: How Bangladesh is Becoming a One-party State
Announcements
CSACH’s Winter 2024 Artist-in-Residence is Noni Kaur, a multi-disciplinary artist and educator. Noni's bold and sensuous canvases and ground sculptures stem from her heritage as a Singaporean woman of Punjabi heritage. Her immersive, ephemeral installations, body prints and mixed media paintings are living pieces that knit together the rich fluidity of gendered domestic rituals, culture, and the human and non-human world. Noni will be with us from Feb 1-April 30th.
A special issue of Political Power and Social Theory entitled Marxist Thought in South Asia is now available. This issue emerged from a working group that started during the pandemic as a way for CSACH faculty and graduate students with an interest in politics in South Asia to maintain social and professional connections. This special issue features two doctoral students, Priyansh and Umaima Miraj, and others who have been involved in CSACH and its events in the past including Salman Haider (a past Artist-in-Residence at CSACH), Ahilan Kadirgamar, Ayyaz Mallick, and Himani Bannerji.
The articles in the issue recover local traditions of Marxist theorizing from South Asia, thus revealing South Asia’s unique contributions to Marxist theory. The issue also features a selection of heretofore untranslated poetry by Salman Haider, who chose a selection of his poems that speak to the scholarly themes of the issue.