The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley invites submissions of doctoral dissertations for the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize. The prize will be awarded to an outstanding doctoral dissertation on the art, architecture, or visual cultures of South Asia and its diasporas from any discipline in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. The dissertation may focus on any time period from the prehistoric to the contemporary. The prize comes with a $1,500 award. Ph.D. dissertations submitted for consideration must have been filed between September 2, 2024 and September 1, 2025 at an accredited university in North America or Europe. The submission package must include the following:

A pdf abstract (< 1000 words)
A pdf curriculum vitae (please include your contact information)
A pdf copy of the dissertation
A nomination letter from the chair of the department or the chair of the dissertation committee must accompany the application package. This letter should confirm that the application fulfills all eligibility requirements, and include the official dissertation submission date.
The 2025 Prize Committee: Sugata Ray (Chair, University of California, Berkeley), Rebecca M. Brown (Johns Hopkins University), Yuthika Sharma (Northwestern University), and Nachiket Chanchani (University of Michigan).

Deadline
The submission package must be in English and submitted via email to Puneeta Kala <pkalaberkeley.edu> by January 10, 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted. The result for the 2025 prize recipient will be announced on the South Asia Art Initiative website on March 14, 2026. The winner will give a talk via Zoom on Wed, April 16, 2026 at 9 am PST. All inquiries regarding the prizes should be directed to Puneeta Kala (pkalaberkeley.edu) at the Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley.