SASNET Lecture with Rudra Sil: "What Comparative Area Studies (CAS) Brings to the Table"

In this lecture, Rudra Sil will discuss the evolving field of Comparative Area Studies (CAS), a framework elaborated in Comparative Area Studies: Methodological Rationales and Cross-Regional Applications (Oxford University Press, 2018). CAS combines deep, area-based expertise with cross-regional comparisons, offering fresh interpretations and middle-range analyses beyond single-case or large-data approaches.

Building on this foundation, Rudra Sil’s forthcoming book Advancing Comparative Area Studies: Analytical Heterogeneity and Organizational Challenges (Oxford University Press, 2025) expands CAS to include new methods, topics, and voices. It explores comparative work across regions on issues such as global human rights and the rise of regional powers, and examines how institutions can better support cross-regional scholarship while maintaining strong area-specific training.

This lecture highlights how CAS can reinvigorate area studies, foster collaboration across disciplines, and generate new frameworks for the social sciences.

This lecture is a collaboration between SASNET and the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies.

About the speaker

Rudra Sil is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

He received his Ph.D. from Berkeley before joining Penn in 1996. His research spans Russian/post-communist studies, Asian studies, labor politics, international development, qualitative methods, and the philosophy of social science.

He is the author, coauthor, or coeditor of eight books, including Managing ‘Modernity’ (2002), Beyond Paradigms (2010, with Peter Katzenstein, CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title), and the forthcoming Advancing Comparative Area Studies (2025). His work has appeared in leading journals such as Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Political Studies, and International Studies Quarterly.

Sil’s research has received awards including the Dorothy Day Award for Outstanding Labor Scholarship, and his teaching has been recognized with multiple honors, most recently the 2022 Ira H. Abrams Memorial Prize for Distinguished Teaching.