In this chapter, we reflect on the history of the Center for South Asia’s Annual
Conference on South Asia (ACSA), which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022. We explore the Center’s role as a resource to the public and UW–Madison’s international community of scholars through its facilitation of the conference. Unique among National Resource Centers (NRCs) and area studies centers at UW–Madison, ACSA regularly draws over 1,000 participants from many academic and social sectors and is the largest South Asian Studies conference of its kind worldwide. We trace the development of ACSA, which began in 1971, focusing on key collaborations and institutional principles, such as the Wisconsin Idea, and how they shaped this field-defining event in South Asian Studies at UW, nationally, and around the world. We discuss the Center’s programming for the annual Conference, highlighting how it makes vital research questions and discussions in the study of South Asia accessible
to the WI public, educators at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and an international community of scholars, and continues throughout the year through the Center’s support of K–12 schools and teachers in the region to implement South Asia-related curricula and events.