About MINDAS

National Institutes for the Humanities of Japan (NIHU) Program for Advancing Area Studies

The Center for South Asian Studies at National Museum of Ethnology
(The Secondary Hub of INDAS)

　The Center for South Asian Studies at the National Museum of Ethnology (MINDAS) will function as a supporting hub for this network project, advancing the international activities of INDAS. Our missions include organising international symposiums, promoting English language publications on the achievements of the whole project, and arranging and supporting international academic exchange. We are also planning to construct a consortium of South Asian research centers around the world.

　Through this research agenda, we will attempt to define characteristically South Asian forms of social resilience by understanding the dynamics of the global circulation of people, cultures, and South Asian values, as well as by analysing the particular characteristics of South Asian social relationships that have been maintained amidst rapid social change. Through this research, we intend to contribute to the academic and social discourse on the social risks resulting from meteoric globalization.

　Our research results will be published as articles and books in both Japanese and English. Information will also be shared on the Internet, and we plan to make our database of digitalized research resources available to the public. In addition, we will use our center at the National Museum of Ethnology to collect and exhibit socio-cultural materials relating to South Asian Studies. We will foster young South Asian Studies scholars researching socio-cultural anthropology and other relevant disciplines by encouraging early-career academics to participate in our collaborative research.