Professional and Academic Opportunities

At SAC

• MSI & Community College Course Development Grant
• Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships (Summer and Academic Year)
  • Check back in November 2025 for the Summer 2026 and Academic Year 2026-2027 applications.
• Summer Research Internships in South Asia
  • Check back in the Fall for Summer 2026 applications.
• Pulitzer International Reporting Student Fellowship
  • Check back in the Fall for Summer 2026 applications.
• Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO) Summer 2025 Trip to Sri Lanka

  • Teacher Trip to Sri Lanka with our own Outreach Coordinator Sharifa Halimi

  • 06/30/2025 - 07/13/2025

  • The cost for the program is $2042. SAC is offering eight $1000 grants to active K-12 classroom educators who wish to participate in this program (all eight grants have been distributed)
  • Apply here

At Penn

• South Asian Studies (SAST) Majors and Minors
• SAST Language Certificate in Gujarati, Hindi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, or Urdu
• The South Asia Center's Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS)
• SIT Study Abroad India: Public Health, Gender, and Sexuality 
  • (Applications due Fall: February 15, Spring: September 15)
• Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) Student Programs (from research funds to fellowships to internships!)
  • CASI Summer Internship Program 
  • CASI Summer Research Funds
• Penn Global's India Research and Engagement Fund

Academic Opportunities

1. High school graduate/GED and up

• Boren Awards, South Asian Flagship Languages Initiative (SAFLI), Hindi & Urdu
• SASLI Summer Language Program
  • Should be over 18 years old
  • Apply Here
• SAI Summer Language Program
  • Application deadline: May 2, 2025
  • Apply Here
• AIPS Online Urdu Language and Culture Course

2. Undergraduates and up

• The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), Hindi & Urdu
• Fulbright U.S. Student Program
• SAI Summer Language Program
  • Applications due May 2, 2025
• University of Washington Two Week Intensive Nepali Language Program
  • Applications due May 6, 2025
• AIIS Summer and Academic Year Language Programs in India
• 53rd Annual Conference on South Asia
  • October 22-25, 2025 (Wed-Sat), at the Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor's Club in Madison, Wisconsin.

3. Graduate students and up

• Presidential Management Fellowship (PMF)
  • Applications closed for 2025

• United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Fellowships

• Call for Proposals: Education About Asia
  • Manuscripts selected for publication should be written in prose that is accessible for high school and/or undergraduate instructors and students. Please consult the Author Guidelines before submitting a proposal, paying particular attention to Feature Article (3,000 to 4,000 words) and Teaching Resources Essay (2,000 to 3,000 words) word-count ranges.
  • Deadline to be Considered for Spring 2026 Publication is Thursday, May 1, 2025.

• A Conference on South Asian Capitalism(s)

  • September 12-13, 2025: Workshop at the Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley

• South Asia Conference of the Pacific Northwest (SACPAN)

  • May 30-31, 2025 (approx. 1-5:30pm Friday, 9am-5:30pm Saturday)

  • University of Washington, Seattle (in person)

• Princeton South Asia Graduate Conference, Small Voice of History
  • Conference Dates: October 24, 25 26
  • Applications must be sent to- southasiaconference2025@gmail.com
  • For additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Ainee Farooqui at: af8527@princeton.edu

4. PhD

• Fulbright-Hays-Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad
• American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) Fellowships
• American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS) Fellowships
• American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) Fellowships
• American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies (AISLS) Fellowships
• Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) Fellowships
• AIIS Dissertation to Book Workshop
  • Applications due July 15, 2025

Professional Opportunities 

1. Careers

• Vital Voices Global Partnership

  • Temporary Program Manager (US), Women Leaders India

• Council on Foreign Relations

  • Research Associate, Southeast Asia and South Asia

• Amentum

  • ICITAP Pakistan Counter Terrorist Financing Contractor

• Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief & Development (ACBAR)

• Berkeley

  • Lecturer in Sikh Studies

    • Applications due May 1, 2025

• International Rescue Committee

  • Regional Research Deputy Director

• The International Foundation for Electoral Systems

  • Senior Programs Manager South Asia

• Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI)

  • Assistant Director of Research & Outreach, Center for the Advanced Research of India

  • Tenured Professor/Associate Professor and Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Peace Corps

  • Nepal Openings: Applications due July 15, 2025. Departure January 15, 2026, for two years and three months of training.

    •  Food Security Volunteer

    • Community Forest and Environment Advocate

    • English Education Teacher/ Co-Teacher

• U.S. Federal Government

• U.S. Foreign Service

  • Next foreign service officer test window: October 4 - October 11, 2025

  • Registration window: August 19, 2025-October 2, 2025

  • Learn more and register for the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT)

• South Asian Summer Language Institute (SASLI) - Language Instructor

• Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) - Resident Director (Summer)

2. Internships

• Global Philadelphia Internship Opportunities 
  • 1. Marketing and Business Development Intern
  • 2. Emerging International Journalism Intern 
  • 3. Heritage Education Intern
  • 4. SDG Project Management Fellowship
  • 5. Law/Document Intern
  • 6. Events Intern

    • These positions are unpaid internships with a $50 monthly travel stipend. Internships are offered year round and they require a minimum three-month stay with a 12 to 15-hour weekly time commitment. 

• Department of State Paid Internships
  • Summer 2026 applications will open in October
  • Fall 2026 applications will open in February
  • Spring 2026 applications will open in July

3. Grants/Awards

• South Asia Book Award
• AIIS Digital Scholarship Grants
• AIIS Book Prize
• AIPS Book Prize

4. Conferences

• South Asia Language Teachers Association (SALTA Conference) 
  • Two-day online international conference, which will be held on Friday and Saturday, May 9th-10th 2025. 
• The Indigenous Consciousness Education Research Methodology Convening
  • Call for abstracts, deadline of May 15, 2025

5. Opportunities 

• Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad fellowships program
• Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad for Educators

Career Services

The South Asia Center prioritizes enhancing career advising and mentoring at the undergraduate and graduate levels; and promoting career opportunities in government service, education, business, and non-profits.

SAC is available to work with undergraduate advising programs and the Penn Office of Career Services (OCS) to enhance career resources for South Asia including recommended programs of study, recommended experiential opportunities, and alumni mentor matching opportunities. SAC can work with the Center for Teaching and Learning and OCS to enhance career resources for graduate students, including global careers and careers outside academia.

Find out more about Penn's Career Services here.