Call for Abstracts: BASAS Annual Conference 2026
The SOAS South Asia Institute is pleased to host the 2026 British Association for South Asian Studies (BASAS) Annual Conference. Please note that the conference dates have been updated and will now take place from 11–13 September 2026. The conference will showcase pioneering scholarship on South Asia from the Subcontinent and around the world.
This will be an interdisciplinary conference, bringing together expertise from across the arts, humanities and social sciences.
We particularly encourage contributions from scholars working on regions of the subcontinent outside India.
We are also keen to promote scholarship on the pre-modern study of histories, languages and cultures of South Asia.
We are happy to accept submissions for thematic, inter-disciplinary panels (of a maximum of four papers) and individual submissions.
Submission Guidelines
- Abstracts should not exceed 250-300 words
- Panel submissions must include a brief (100‑word max) overview of the panel's theme
- All submissions must include: contributor name(s), affiliation(s), paper title(s), and contact email address(es)
- Submit abstracts and panel proposals via the form below.
The deadline for submissions closed on 30 April 2026.
BASAS conference programme
For conference-related queries, please email southasiacollective@soas.ac.uk
Image credit: Manzur Alam via unsplash
Graduate Essay Prize 2026
Submissions are invited for the BASAS 2026 Graduate Essay Prize. To submit an essay, you must be enrolled in a postgraduate programme (anywhere in the world), have had the abstract for your paper accepted, and be registered to attend the conference.
Papers should be between 3,500 and 5,000 words (excluding footnotes and the bibliography). Essays outside these word counts will not be considered. Please submit your essay for consideration using the link below.
Submissions will be accepted until 31 August 2026. The winner of the prize will be announced during the 2026 Conference.
