Jayati Bhattacharya

My long-standing association with the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden, has been profoundly formative and intellectually enriching. Over the years, IIAS has provided an unparalleled space for critical dialogue, interdisciplinary collaboration, and academic growth, enabling me to engage with scholars from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. This engagement has not only expanded my intellectual horizons but also allowed me to contribute meaningfully to evolving discourses in Asian Studies.

My association with IIAS began in 2011 when I was entrusted with editing and contributing to the Asian Network pages in the IIAS Newsletter (Summer 2011). This experience sharpened my editorial skills and reinforced the importance of making academic discourse more accessible and engaged with public debates. A similar opportunity arose in Spring 2020, when I co-edited The Focus section of the IIAS Newsletter, titled Re-centering the Bay of Bengal: Connected Spaces in an Inter-Asian Bordersea. This project, the culmination of four roundtable sessions I co-organized at IIAS in 2019, sought to challenge established historiographies and propose new frameworks for understanding the Bay as a dynamic, relational zone rather than a peripheral maritime domain.

Beyond editorial work, I have actively participated in numerous IIAS events and conferences, presenting papers, organizing panels, and facilitating roundtable discussions. In 2015, I was honored to receive the Reading Committee Accolades in Humanities for the ICAS Book Prize, an experience that reinforced my appreciation for collaborative scholarship and the collective production of knowledge in Asian Studies. More recently, in September 2023, I was invited to deliver a guest lecture titled Connections and Disconnections: Re-thinking ‘Bengal’ in Linking the Trans-Himalayan Region and the Bay of Bengal. The exchange of ideas with scholars from varied disciplines and geographies provided fresh insights that continue to shape my work on inter-Asian connectivity.

Another significant milestone in my engagement with IIAS was serving as a member of the Dissertations Reading Committee for the 10th edition (2023) of the ICAS Book Prize (IBP). Evaluating a diverse range of dissertations from across the world was both a privilege and an intellectually enriching experience, broadening my understanding of emerging methodologies and thematic innovations in Asian Studies. The ICAS Book Prize remains a crucial initiative in advancing cutting-edge scholarship, and being part of this process reaffirmed my commitment to fostering academic excellence and interdisciplinary dialogue.

Over the years, my association with IIAS has been one of continuous learning, collaboration, and intellectual exchange. The institute has provided a dynamic space where ideas are debated, refined, and reimagined, fostering an environment that encourages scholars to challenge existing paradigms and develop new analytical frameworks. IIAS has played a pivotal role in shaping my academic trajectory, deepening my engagement with inter-Asian networks and histories.

As I look ahead, I remain committed to strengthening my ties with IIAS, contributing to its vibrant intellectual community, and engaging with the dynamic scholars it brings together. IIAS stands as a beacon of interdisciplinary scholarship, and I am honored to be part of its ongoing legacy.

Jayati Bhattacharya is Senior Research Associate at the South Asian Studies Programme (SASP), National University of Singapore. She worked as Senior Lecturer at SASP till 2023 and had been a part of the teaching faculty at NUS for more than a decade.. She has a PhD in Indian economic/ business history (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi), and more than fifteen years of teaching and research experiences in Indian trade diaspora, inter-Asian networks, and Indian transnationalism. Some of her publications include Beyond the Myth: Indian Business Communities in Singapore (Singapore: ISEAS, 2011) co-edited volume, Indian and Chinese Communities: Comparative Perspectives (London: Anthem, ISEAS, 2015), and articles in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Asian History (2019), Routledge Handbook of Indian Transnationalism (2019), and other book chapters and articles on economic/ business history, Indian diaspora and Indian Ocean connections in peer-reviewed international journals.