Since 1953, the South Asia Program has coordinated teaching, research, and campus activities focusing on the Indian subcontinent, which comprises the modern nations of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Its special resources include a library collection of more that 290,000 volumes, faculty in more than 25 disciplines teaching more than 110 courses, and an extensive collection of films and video tapes.

Providing a forum for interchange among students, faculty, and visitors, the program enriches the study of the sub-continent on campus. Since 1986 Cornell has been in consortium with Syracuse University as a National Resource Center for South Asia, one of nine sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Program draws on the resources of the joint center to provide expertise in South Asia. Undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals all have opportunities for specialized training and interdisciplinary course work. Students may take courses in any of Cornell's colleges and graduate students may enroll in South Asia offerings at Syracuse University.

In the Fall of 1998, the South Asia Program was delighted to receive a generous gift to fund an annual lecture series. Designated the Rabindranath Tagore Lectures, we will bring in distinguished writers from South Asia to present a series of seminars on aspects of modern Indian literature (prose, poetry and fiction). Writers will include those who write in Indian regional languages plus English.