C. Ryan Perkins

Bio

I grew up outside Portland, Oregon and always had an interest in languages, studying Spanish and Japanese in high school. In the middle of my collegiate education I took a three-semester break from school and spent that time in Pakistan, India, and Nepal where I picked up some Hindi, Urdu, and Dari. After returning to the U.S. and completing my B.A. I began working on my Ph.D. in South Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon completing my Ph.D. in 2011 I joined The University of Chicago as a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and then I was a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University where I taught courses related to South Asian history and literature while overseeing the Masters Program in Indian History and Culture. I joined Stanford Libraries in 2015 in a newly created position focused on South Asia.

PUBLICATIONS:
"Unpacking the Library" INTRODUCTION SOUTH ASIA-JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES
Boyk, D., Amstutz, A., Perkins, C.
2020; 43 (3): 446-454

"From South Asian Print to the Digital Archive: The Quest for Access and Sustainability" SOUTH ASIA-JOURNAL OF SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES
2020; 43 (3): 554-570

"A Bounty of Gems: Yūsuf u Zulaykhā in Pashto" in Jāmī in Regional Contexts: The Reception of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī’s Works in the Islamicate World, C. 9th/15th-14th/20th
Brill. 2019

"London, Lucknow and the Global Indian City c. 1857-1920" JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY.
2017; 27 (4): 611-626

A New Pablik: Abdul Halim Sharar, volunteerism, and the Anjuman-e Dar-us-Salam in late nineteenth-century India MODERN ASIAN STUDIES
2015; 49 (4): 1049-1090

"From the Mehfil to the printed word: Public debate and discourse in late colonial India" in INDIAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY REVIEW
2013; 50 (1): 47-76

Current Role at Stanford

As the Curator for South Asian and Islamic Studies I am responsible for building the library's collection of materials from and about South Asia and the Islamic world in English, European languages, and languages of the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. This involves building and sustaining a network of antiquarian dealers, book vendors, scholars, publishers, and libraries in South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Apart from responding to faculty teaching needs I work in collaboration with the South Asia Center, the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, and their affiliates to provide research assistance to faculty, students, and other library users. I also oversee the Bahai collection.

Administrative Appointments

• Chair of Executive Board, South Asia Open Archives (2022 - Present)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

• Board Member, Center for South Asia (2022 - Present)

Professional Education

• Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, South Asian Studies (2011)