Sunil Sharma Announced Center for the Study of Asia Director
The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies announced Dr. Sunil Sharma as the director of the Center for the Study of Asia. A literary historian and professor of Persianate and comparative literature at the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Sharma succeeds Dr. Robert Hefner, professor of anthropology and global studies at Boston University. Sharma will assume his leadership role on July 1, 2025.
“I am thrilled that Professor Sunil Sharma has joined us as the new director of the Center for the Study of Asia,” said Dean Scott Taylor. “Professor Sharma’s background in Persian language and literature brings a welcome perspective to the interdisciplinary environment we cherish in Pardee, as well as in the center. As a former department chair and director in WLL, Professor Sharma is an experienced leader who will hit the ground running in managing the affairs of the center. Moreover, having been engaged in the work of the BUCSA for many years, Professor Sharma is extremely well positioned to maintain and expand the center’s essential outreach to other BU schools and colleges.”
With an extensive scholarly background in Persian and South Asian literature, Sharma’s research interests range from poetry and court cultures to history of book and travel writing.
“I am particularly interested in the rich legacy of the poet Amir Khusrau (d. 1325) in South Asia and beyond, which I map through the existing manuscripts of his works and in Sufi performative practices,” said Sharma, as quoted in a BUCSA newsletter feature last year. “Another area of my focus is translating writings by women, mainly travelogues and poetry, and studying the history of how their lives and works were memorialized in anthologies and fiction in the modern period.”
At the CAS, Sharma teaches various courses including Persian Epic and Romance (CAS LZ380), Rumi and Persian Sufi Poetry (CAS LZ381), and Love in Indian Literature and Film (CAS XL381). He is also credited with establishing Persian and Hindi-Urdu language programs within the Boston University academia.
Besides journal articles and book chapters, Sharma has authored and edited several books including Mughal Arcadia: Persian Poetry in an Indian Court (Harvard University Press, 2017), In the Bazaar of Love: The Selected Poetry of Amir Khusrau (Penguin Global, 2011), and Atiya’s Journeys: A Muslim Woman from Colonial Bombay to Edwardian Britain (Oxford University Press, 2010). He is also a member of notable editorial boards, namely Iranian Studies Series (Leiden University Press), Murty Classical Library of India (Harvard University Press) Studies in Persian Cultural History (Brill), and Journal of Persianate Studies.
“I am both excited and honored to be BUCSA’s next director,” said Sharma about his appointment. “Its pan-Asian and transcultural focus makes it a vibrant and welcoming venue to interact with colleagues with various areas of expertise from different parts of BU.”
According to Sharma, the Center for the Study of Asia plays an integral role in engaging undergraduate and graduate students in the study of the cultures, languages, and history of Asia.
“My efforts will go towards ensuring that BUCSA’s presence through its academic and outreach activities will continue to be an important part of campus life in an ever changing world.”