HT Correspondent
TEZPUR, June 13: A team from Tezpur University has been awarded the prestigious Modern Endangered Archives Program (MEAP) grant by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Library. The winning proposal, titled “Archiving Childhood: Assamese Periodicals for Children (1980–2020),” will focus on creating an online digital archive of Assamese children’s periodicals published over the last four decades.
The two-year project is led by Pallavi Jha from the Department of English and Subhadeepta Ray from the Department of Sociology, in collaboration with Abhijit Bhattacharya, Documentation Officer from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences (CSSS), Kolkata.
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This is the first time a university or institution from the Northeast region of India has secured this highly competitive grant, underscoring Tezpur University’s growing reputation for innovative research in humanities and cultural preservation.
The project aims to safeguard and digitize endangered literary materials, providing open access to researchers, educators, and members of the global Assamese diaspora. Once completed, the online repository will offer a comprehensive, searchable platform that captures the educational, cultural, and social narratives reflected in these periodicals.
Congratulating the project team, Prof. Shambhu Nath Singh, Vice Chancellor of Tezpur University, said, “This project will play a pivotal role in preserving the rich legacy of Assamese children’s literature. It opens doors for interdisciplinary research into childhood, regional languages, and cultural history.” The MEAP initiative, supported by the UCLA Library, is globally recognized for preserving endangered records of cultural heritage. It provides vital funding for digitizing vulnerable collections, ensuring their longevity and accessibility for scholarly use.
