ANNUAL REPORT 2025 - 2026
Report By: Juan Rubio
TABLE OF CONTENTS Center Overview Founder Recognition - Administration - Our Pillars 2025-2026 By the Numbers
Programming & Dialogue Signature Events - Partnered Events - The Hyphen Podcast Op-Ed Publications
Research & Scholarship Faculty Affiliate Directory - Raman Family Initiatives Scholarly Projects
Community & Partnerships Partner Listing - Exchange with KIIT/KISS, Bhubaneswar Scholarship Recipients - Acknowledgments
Center Overview
FOUNDER RECOGNITION Gurpreet 'Sunny' Singh The Roundglass India Center exists because of Gurpreet "Sunny" Singh's vision and generosity. His founding gift established RGIC at Seattle University, dedicated to advancing scholarship, dialogue, and community around contemporary India and the Indian American diaspora.
Since the Center's launch in 2023, Sunny envisioned a hub where rigorous research, dialogue, and cross-community partnership could come together to deepen understanding of India's role in the world and the U.S. diaspora's evolving identity. That vision continues to guide RGIC's work, from our faculty grants and visiting scholar program to our public programming and growing network of partners. Sunny's continued partnership through the Global India Collective has helped shape RGIC's direction, open doors to new collaborations, and connect the Center to a wider community of scholars, leaders, and storytellers invested in India's story. As RGIC has grown, so has the scope of his commitment, and we are grateful for his ongoing generosity, guidance, and belief in this work.
ADMINISTRATION
Executive Director Sital Kalantry
Advisory Council Gurpreet 'Sunny' Singh (Chair) Roundglass Foundation Malini Balakrishnan Sea Mar Community Health Shasti Conrad (Sr. Advisory Member) WA State Democrats Vin Gupta Manatt, Phelps, & Phillips
Director Shannon Young
Prakriti Poddar Roundglass Living Suri Raman Microsoft Meenakshi Rishi Seattle University
Associate Director Ashini Jagtiani Williams
Pratik Sharma Jeppesen ForeFlight Surabhi Vora Seattle Children's Pallavi Mehta Wahi (Sr. Advisory Member) Arnold & Porter
OUR PILLARS Launched in 2023, the Roundglass India Center is focused on the study of contemporary India and the Indian American diaspora. Programming is the Center's public platform to bring diaspora voices into a cohesive conversation. Our events and podcasts created a shared platform for dialogue. Faculty research and scholarship builds our academic credibility. Contemporary India remains underrepresented in American education despite its relevance to global affairs and we aim to close that gap. Community & Partnerships is our connective tissue, spanning relationships and collaborations that tie us to a wider network of institutions invested in a similar mission.
2025-2026 BY THE NUMBERS
16
Events & Podcast Episodes by Theme
Signature & Partnered Events
19
Partnerships Activated
6
The Hyphen Podcast Episodes
5 Op-Ed Publications
Arts & Culture (6) Diaspora Leadership & Engagement (5) U.S. India Relationship (5) Trade & Economy (2) Tech & Innovation (2) Wellness & Health (2)
19
34
Faculty grants awarded to advance study of India
Faculty across all 7 colleges affiliated with Center
6%
Faculty by College/School
Percentage of full time SU faculty engaged in work related to India
Faculty Affiliate Growth Since 2023 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
34 22 11
Arts & Social Sciences (14) Business & Economics (7) Law (5) Science & Engineering (3) Art (2)
Year 1 Year 2Year 3
Health Sciences (2) Education (1)
Programming & Dialogue
Programming & Dialogue is the Center's public platform to bring diaspora voices together into a cohesive conversation. It includes events, The Hyphen podcast, and op-eds.
Events & Podcast Episodes by Theme
16 Total Events
6
Podcast Episodes
5
Op-Eds Publications
Arts & Culture (6) Diaspora Leadership & Engagement (5) U.S. India Relationship (5) Trade & Economy (2) Tech & Innovation (2) Wellness & Health (2)
SIGNATURE EVENTS Our signature events are those the Center plans, funds, and runs independently. Programming is designed around common themes relevant to India and the Indian American diaspora, including diaspora leadership and engagement, U.S.-India relations, arts and culture, tech and innovation, trade and economy, and health and wellness. Signature events gather leading scholars, practitioners, and community members and promote dialogue about India and the diaspora.
Entrepreneurial Wellness & Resilience TiE Seattle x Rounglass India Center Event 10/15/2025 A special conversation on entrepreneurship and well-being, especially among Indian Americans, that explored how founders can sustain both their ventures and their well-being in the age of AI. Sunny Singh shared resilience strategies drawn from his entrepreneurial journey, followed by a panel featuring Cindy Nie (Tmind AI), Prakriti Poddar (Roundglass Living), and Swatee Surve (Litesprite). They discussed managing burnout in Seattle's competitive AI startup ecosystem and strategies for sustaining an entrepreneurial career.
Faculty Research Symposium 2025 Raman Family Faculty Grant Recipients 10/30/2025 The Symposium brought together Seattle University's 2025 Raman Family Faculty Grant recipients to share research spanning global health, South Asian diasporic literature, Punjab farmer suicides, and women's labor force participation in India. The six featured faculty, Tapoja Chaudhuri, Rebecca Cobb, Nalini Iyer, Sonora Jha, Meenakshi Rishi, and Annette Thomas, showcased the range of India-focused scholarship the grants have enabled across disciplines.
People, Planet, & Progress India's AI Strategy for Social Good, Economic Growth, and Sustainability 01/12/2026 Ahead of the India–AI Impact Summit 2026, RGIC convened leaders from government, academia, and industry to examine how artificial intelligence is shaping India's development priorities. Co-hosted with the Consulate General of India, Seattle, the conversation explored national AI strategy, the ethical and educational implications of rapid adoption, and India's growing leadership in building AI. Speakers included Consul General Prakash Gupta, Badri Gopalakrishnan, Matt Oppenheimer, and Onur Bakiner.
Digital Humanities: Intersections & Challenges How Digital Tools Are Saving Endangered Stories 04/07/2026 Dr. Nirmala Menon (IIT Indore) is a world-renowned digital humanities scholar whose talk explored how digital tools can rescue stories at risk of disappearing. Her lab's work spans mapping the decades-long displacement of Delhi's protest spaces from city center to margins, and building an open-access digital archive of rare pre-Partition Sindhi-language books. Her work points to what technology can do for the Indian diaspora's stories, preserving culture while expanding who has access to it, and who gets remembered.
Deputy Chief of Mission Namgya C. Khampa Visit Fireside Chat with Sunny Singh 08/05/2026 Sunny Singh hosted a fireside chat with Ms. Namgya C. Khampa, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India, exploring the importance of the U.S. Indian diaspora in U.S.-India relations and the global economy. DCM Khampa described the Indian diaspora in the U.S. as a "benchmark for all others to follow," citing the diversity of voices within it as its greatest strength.
PARTNERED EVENTS The Center lent support through funding, promotion, or speakers to a range of programs led by our community collaborators. Whether through direct investment or lifting up the conversation, these collaborations reflect our commitment to strengthening the broader dialogue about India and the diaspora.
JLF Seattle | September 19–21, 2025
The international literary festival featured keynote speakers including Kiran Desai and historian William Dalrymple, with many panels moderated by RGIC faculty affiliates.
Indian American Impact Summit | September 16–17, 2025
The "Desis Persist: Our Stories, Our Strength" summit brought together elected officials, organizers, advocates, and community leaders for two days of dialogue and policy advocacy.
Judge Roopali Desai Visit | November 24, 2025
The School of Law hosted a fireside chat with Judge Desai of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the first South Asian American to serve on that court.
Padma's All American Tour | November 18, 2025
Seattle Arts & Lectures presented Lakshmi discussing her new book of recipes from immigrant and Indigenous communities alongside her own family stories, focusing on reframing American cuisine.
Sonora Jha in Conversation with Nalini Iyer | November 20 2025
On the final stop of her U.S. book tour, Jha discussed her new novel Intemperance, a feminist swayamvar satire about love, in conversation with Professor Nalini Iyer.
Composing the Place: Creativity & Imagination in Jesuit Education | April 9, 2025
As part of SU Mission Day, RGIC presented Mehfil Nights, a performance of South Asian music and storytelling, while Ashini Jagtiani-Williams joined "Living the Imagination" panel reflecting on her own Jesuit education in India.
India's Energy Transition | April 20, 2025
Bosanko Public Lecturer Aparna Sawhney (Jawaharlal Nehru University) explored how India is expanding energy access while cutting emissions, covering its renewable energy policy, tradeable clean energy credits, and early moves toward carbon pricing.
China and India: Conflict and Cooperation | April 21, 2025 Peter L. Lee Endowed Lecturer T.V. Paul examined China and India's "managed rivalry" shaped by territorial disputes, competing visions of regional order, and deep economic interdependence.
Indian Americans: From Model Minority to Job Thief | April 21, 2025
Sital Kalantry's Red Talk traced how Indian Americans have moved from being considered a "model minority" to blamed as "job thieves" in public conversation, exploring what the shift reveals about immigrants' contributions to U.S. prosperity.
Mehfil Nights: A Conversation Beyond Words | May 5, 2025 An evening of music, poetry, and storytelling, featuring Hardik Chauhan performing "Vaat" ("conversation" in Gujarati), a blend of Gujarati folk melodies with Western musical textures.
Ethics & Tech Conference | May 5, 2025
Explored how emerging technologies are reshaping energy systems, security, and governance, featuring keynote from Amandeep Singh Gill, UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies.
THE HYPHEN PODCAST From December 2025 through April 2026, the Center launched The Hyphen: Indian-American Dialogues, a video podcast hosted by Sital Kalantry and produced by Ashini Jagtiani Williams and Shannon Young. The podcast examines current events that impact Indian Americans and people in India. Each episode brings together thought leaders to debate the issues shaping one of America's most dynamic diasporas — delving into what affects the Indian American community, exploring the multi-faceted relationship between India and the United States, and unpacking transnational topics relating to both countries. Episode 1
Should Indian Americans Lobby the U.S. Government on Behalf of India? with Kapil Sharma, Global India Collective
Episode 2
Anti-Indian Hate: Why Is It Happening, and Why Now? with Manjusha Kulkarni, civil rights attorney and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate
The U.S.-India Trade Deal: A Boeing Perspective
Episode 3
with Salil Gupte, President of Boeing India and South Asia
Decoding the Diaspora
Episode 4
with Milan Vaishnav, Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Iran War and India's Balancing Act
Episode 5
with Ambassador Dr. Mohan Kumar, former Ambassador to Bahrain and France and Director General, Motwani Jadeja Institute for American Studies
Indian Immigration Trends in the United States with Devesh Kapur, Starr Foundation Professor of South Asia Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Episode 6
OP-ED PUBLICATIONS Hindustan Times What the US Supreme Court’s tariffs’ decision means for the India-US trade deal, by Sital Kalantry and Robert Kossick Published: February 23, 2026
New India Abroad Parties must address Indian American community concerns to win their vote by Sital Kalantry and Ashini Jagtiani-Williams Published: April 02, 2026 What happens to the India-US trade deal after Court strikes Trump’s tariffs? by Sital Kalantry and Robert Kossick Published: February 23, 2026 Why is anti-Indian hate rising - and what should we do about it? by Sital Kalantry and Ashini Jagtiani-Williams Published: February 14, 2026 Will the U.S. Courts Strike Down the Tariffs on India? by Sital Kalantry Published: September 18, 2025
Research & Scholarship
Research & Scholarship is our academic core, which includes faculty affiliates, research and course grants, the Raman Visiting Scholar in India Studies, and publications.
34 Faculty across all 7 colleges affiliated with Center.
6%
Faculty Affiliate Growth Since 2023 34
35 30 25
22
20 15 10
11
5 0
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Faculty by College/School
Percentage of full time SU faculty engaged in work related to India.
19
Faculty grants awarded to date to advance study of India
Arts & Social Sciences (14) Business & Economics (7) Law (5) Science & Engineering (3) Art (2) Health Sciences (2) Education (1)
FACULTY AFFILIATE DIRECTORY Albers School of Business & Economics
Ajay Abraham, Marketing Niranjan ‘Chips’ Chipalkatti, Accounting Nathan Colaner, Management Andrea Holtan, Marketing Mathew Isaac, Marketing Claus Portner, Economics Meenakshi Rishi, Economics
College of Arts & Sciences
Vinod Acharya, Philosophy Onur Bakiner, Political Science Tapoja Chaudhuri, Anthropology & Sociology Serena Rose Chopra, English Rashmi Chordiya, Public Affairs & Leadership Rebecca Cobb, Couples & Family Therapy Julie Homchick Crowe, Communication & Media Nalini Iyer, English Sonora Jha, Communication & Media Yangjung Lee, English Yitan Li, Political Science Felipe Murtinho, International Studies Eric Severson, Philosophy
Enyu Zhang, International Studies
College of Education Colette M. Taylor
College of Nursing & Health Sciences Robin Narruhn Annette Thomas
College of Science & Engineering
Shiny Abraham, Electrical & Computer Engineering Agnieszka Miguel, Electrical & Computer Engineering Amit Shukla, Mechanical Engineering
Cornish College of the Arts Brian Harlan Simran Jagnik
School of Law
Elizabeth Baldwin Sital Kalantry Tayyab Mahmud Nazune Menka Russell Powell
RAMAN FAMILY INITIATIVES The Roundglass India Center is deeply grateful to Suri and Mala Raman, whose generosity supports two distinct academic initiatives and a broader commitment to India-centered scholarship at Seattle University.
Visiting Scholar in India Studies Launching in 2026-2027, the Raman Family Visiting Scholar in India Studies is an annual residency program bringing a distinguished scholar or practitioner to campus. The inaugural Scholar is acclaimed poet, novelist, and performer Tishani Doshi, whose visit marks the program's first creative-practice appointment. As the centerpiece of her residency, Doshi will bring her acclaimed performance piece Egrets, While War, a staged convergence of poetry, film, and movement, to Cornish College of the Arts.
Faculty Grants for Research & Course Development The Raman Family Faculty Grants program is one of the Center's longest-standing initiatives and has supported 19 faculty projects over 3 years. The program funds full-time SU faculty pursuing India- or diaspora-related research or course development. The program expands SU course work on India, while fueling multi-disciplinary faculty research and publications.
2026 RAMAN FAMILY FACULTY GRANTS Blurbportance of academic center
Vinod Acharya | UCOR Course: Politics, Identity and Belonging in India and South Asian Diaspora Julie Homchick Crowe | Heritage and Health: Yoga, National Identity, and Hindu Nationalism in Modern India Mathew Isaac | Collaborative Research Incubator for Consumer Behavior Scholars from India and the United States Nalini Iyer | Mother–Daughter Collaboration in the Fiction of Anita and Kiran Desai Claus Pörtner | Institutional Shocks and Biological Vulnerability: Disentangling India’s Shifting Sex Ratios Eric Severson | India-Based Research for A Monster’s Guide to World Philosophy Annette Thomas | UCOR Course: Introduction to Global Health: India
SCHOLARLY PROJECTS Why Study Indian Law at U.S. Law Schools A virtual India Law & Policy Symposium on March 26 was spearheaded by RGIC Executive Director Sital Kalantry with Center support. The symposium brought together seven U.S.-based scholars to explore why Indian law should be studied in U.S. legal education. Participants include Afra Afsharipour (UC Davis), Deepa Badrinarayana (Chapman), Swethaa Ballakrishnen (UC Irvine), Deepa Das Acevedo (Emory), Jayanth Krishnan (Indiana University Maurer), Smita Narula (Pace), and Srividhya Ragavan (Texas A&M) with projects spanning corporate law, environmental regulation, gender and legal theory, constitutional law, and global legal systems, illuminating how Indian law offers critical insight into democracy, globalization, and access to justice. Essays from the symposium will appear in a future issue of the SU Law Review, extending the conversation to a broader audience.
Access to Justice in Punjab Project RGIC's Access to Justice in Punjab project, led by Professor Dipika Jain (JGU) and Professor Sital Kalantry (RGIC), studies Dalit women's access to the formal legal system through trial court case analysis and field interviews in Bathinda and Mansa districts. In November 2025, the team completed its first round of interviews alongside case law analysis. Findings are being developed into a co-authored manuscript for a leading U.S. or international law journal.
Community & Partnerships
Community & Partnerships is our connective tissue, which includes organizations with whom we partner on programming and events, international student scholarships, and exchanges that tie us to universities beyond campus.
SeattleU Partners Albers School of Business & Economics Asian and Asian American Studies Program College of Arts & Sciences College of Science & Engineering International Studies Program Office of Diversity & Inclusion Office of Mission Integration Office of Research & Sponsored Projects Political Science Dept School of Law Tech & Ethics Initiative
Community Partners
EXCHANGE AT KIIT/KISS, BHUBANESWAR From December 5–15, 2025, a delegation of 12 Seattle University faculty and staff representing all 7 colleges traveled to India as guests of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) and the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, founded by Dr. Achyuta Samanta. Two hallmark KIIT/KISS programs, India Trek and the Global Faculty Program, were combined into a single experience of academic exchange, institutional partnership, and place-based learning. The Global Faculty Program engaged SU faculty directly with India's educational contexts through teaching, roundtables, and meetings with institutional leaders to explore curriculum and research collaboration. The India Trek added cultural immersion, connecting faculty with students and local communities to deepen their understanding of India's social and educational landscape. In total, SU faculty engaged with nine KIIT schools and six centers, labs, and offices building relationships that position Seattle University as a unified academic partner for future collaboration.
SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS Each year, the Center supports outstanding graduate students whose work advances understanding of India, from Roundglass Scholars to the Mehta Wahi LLM Scholar. These recipients reflect our commitment to access, academic excellence, and building a pipeline of talent who engage thoughtfully with India's evolving role in the world.
Tanveer Kaur
Ruman Sidhu
Deepti Shinde
Kaur graduated in December 2025 with her LL.M. in Technology, Innovation Law, and Entrepreneurship. She is an alumna of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law in Patiala.
Sidhu, a second year Data Science student from Chandigarh is a self-described storyteller drawn to data. Her graduate work reflects her drive to combine technical skill with real-world impact.
Shinde is the inaugural Mehta Wahi LLM Scholar. She joins the LLM program in 2026-27 from Bhopal, focusing on the intersection of law and technology to improve access to justice across South Asia.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This year's work would not have been possible without the generosity, partnership, and dedication of many across our community. We are especially grateful to Sunny Singh and the Global India Collective, whose vision and support underpin so much of RGIC's work; to Seattle University's academic departments and offices for their continued collaboration; to our community partners for lending their platforms and expertise; to our growing network of faculty affiliates, speakers, and podcast guests for enriching the conversation around contemporary India and the diaspora; and to our Advisory Council for their guidance and vision. Mala and Suri Raman's generosity has fueled the Raman Family Faculty Grants and the Visiting Scholar in India Studies. We are grateful for their investment in India studies at Seattle University. Pallavi Mehta Wahi and Ash Wahi's generous gift established the Mehta Wahi LLM Scholarship, supporting a student with a demonstrated interest in South Asia-related legal, social, or policy issues. We are grateful for their investment in Seattle University's global legal community.
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