The Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies at the University of California (UC), Berkley in US was opened on Monday, becoming the first ever Bangladeshi center to open up on a university campus.
The center had been established in 2013, but was inaugurated only this year due to logistical complications, according to The Daily Californian.
The Chowdhury Center has been primarily funded by Subir Chowdhury, CEO of ASI Consulting Group and an author who donated $1m to the center.
The center aims to combine research, scholarships, the promotion of arts and culture, and the building of ties between institutions in Bangladesh and the US. It is located within the campus’ Institute for South Asia Studies.
Subir says he got involved with UC Berkley way back in 1993 when a Bengali faculty member had contacted him for teaching Bangla at the university.
“At that time I didn’t even have $10,000 in my bank account, but I promised myself that if I ever had money I would help her cause,” he had said in that interview. “Last year a friend posted on Facebook about the Bangla programme at Berkeley struggling to raise money, and it immediately reminded me of my resolve. So I flew in right away and met with a lot of faculty members. I was completely blown away with their commitment."
At the inauguration ceremony on Monday, Sir Fazle Hasan Abed gave a guest lecture to celebrate the center’s launch. UC Berkley Chancellor Nicholar Dirks said: “(Bangladesh is) a nation that still struggles with all kinds of issues and challenges.
“But (it) is also a sign of great hope and optimism … that we will be able to explore together as we engage with our colleagues and scholars — both here, elsewhere in the United States, across the world and in Bangladesh.”
In an earlier interview with the Dhaka Tribune, Subir had said: “The sad reality in Bangladesh is almost always portrayed in a negative light by the media. However, a lot of Bangladeshis are making many positive contributions in America, and in the same way Americans are doing a lot to help Bangladesh.
“So the question is: How can we reduce the gap between them, and I established this center with the hope of doing that.”
Tonima Khan, a Bangladeshi-American alumnus of Berkley, said in an earlier interview with the Dhaka Tribune: “To have an entire center dedicated just to the study of Bangladesh is incredible, because our language and culture has so much depth and richness that a simple 1-2 lectures on Bangla lit doesn’t do it justice.”
Subir’s original interview with the Dhaka Tribune can be found here.
