Awards
- John W. Ryan Award for Distinguished Contributions to International Programs and Studies (2020)
About Rebecca Manring
Joining the Bloomington faculty in 1996, Rebecca Manring is an internationally known scholar of religion with special expertise in the languages and literatures of South Asia, with specific interest in vernacular religious literature of premodern Bengal.
Manring's influence in international language programs extends beyond her work at IU. She currently serves as chair of the Language Committee of the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS), is the re-elected secretary of the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies, and has been elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the South Asian Summer Language Institute. Through these organizations, she provides academic oversight of multiple language programs offering pedagogical insight to instructors across the globe, seeking and regularly receiving grant funding to sustain programs, and evaluating program effectiveness. Manring has also served two terms with the South Asian Microfilms Project, where she built relationships with South Asian librarians across the United States. Through these connections, she was critical in the development of IU's South Asian library collection in the 1990s.
At IU Bloomington, Manring is the director of IU's Dhar India Studies Program and serves as a faculty advisor on the curriculum committee for the Global Village Living Learning Center. Manring's connection with the AIIS led to the founding of Indiana University's India Gateway Office. She has led and served on event committees such as India Remixed and the Share Fair, where associate instructors showcase their ingenuity in language pedagogy. Manring's care of students has even included visiting the Fulbright Language Teaching Assistants in India prior to their arrival in Indiana to help them understand the complex bureaucratic requirements and secure housing.