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{{Short description|Academic institution in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}

{{Infobox university
| name = School of International Studies, JNU
| former_name = Indian School of International Studies
| established = {{Start date and age|1955||}}
| affiliation = [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]]
| city = [[Delhi]]
| country = [[India]]
}}

The '''School of International Studies''' ({{langx|hi|स्कूल ऑफ इंटरनेशनल स्टडीज}}) (formerly Indian School of International Studies) is an academic institution created in 1955 which merged with the [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|Jawaharlal Nehru University]] in 1970. It was founded by Pandit [[H. N. Kunzru|Hriday Nath Kunzru]], Prof. A. Appadorai and Professor [[M.S. Rajan]], under the auspices of the [[Indian Council of World Affairs]]. In the 15 years of its existence, it came to be noted as the leading institute of research in the area of [[International Relations]] and [[Area Studies]] in [[India]]. Many of its former faculty and students went on to occupy academic positions in other universities and research institutes across the country.<ref name="rajan">{{cite journal|last=Rajan|first=M.S.|title=Indian School of International Studies Joins Jawaharlal Nehru University|journal=International Studies|date=1 January 1973|volume=12|issue=1|pages=138–140|doi=10.1177/002088177301200105|s2cid=153796117 }}</ref>

==History and structure==
The School was created on the suggestion of the then [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] and [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Foreign Minister]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], that there was the need for an institution to help build a pool of academic experts on [[international relations|international affairs]] and [[area studies]] who could give an informed second opinion on India's relations with the world.<ref name=Vivekanandan>{{cite journal|last=Vivekanandan|first=B.|title=A Tribute to Life and Work of Professor M.S. Rajan|journal=International Studies|date=12 April 2012|volume=47|issue=2–4|pages=99–111|doi=10.1177/002088171104700403|s2cid=154173182 }}</ref>
The school was inaugurated on 1 October 1955 in the presence of [[Prime Minister]] Jawaharlal Nehru and [[Vice President]] [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]].<ref name=Radhakrishnan>{{cite book|last=RadhaKrishnan|first=Sarvepalle|title=Occasional speeches and writings, October 1952-January 1956, Volume 1|year=1956|publisher=Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOkxAAAAIAAJ}}</ref> Though initially affiliated to the [[University of Delhi]], it was granted [[deemed university]] status in 1961, and could independently grant degrees.
===Centres===
The School had eleven departments of study.<ref name=Appadorai>{{cite journal|last=Appadorai|first=A.|title=International and Area Studies in India|journal=International Studies|date=1 April 1987|volume=24|issue=2|pages=133–143|doi=10.1177/0020881787024002004|s2cid=153821781 }}</ref>
* International Politics and Organisation (including European studies)
* [[International law]]
* [[International economics]]
* [[South East Asian studies]]
* West Asian studies
* [[American studies]]
* [[African studies]]
* Commonwealth studies
* [[Russian studies]]

===Directors of the school===
The school's first director was Professor A. Appadorai, who served from 1955 to 1964. Several steps were taken by him to nurture this first effort of its kind. All students had to compulsorily attend a one-year pre-Ph.D course since they did not have a background in [[International relations]].
The School's second Director was Prof. [[M.S. Rajan]] and he served until the School was merged with the [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|JNU]] in 1970. The School building at 35, Feroze Shah Road was constructed during his tenure and inaugurated in 1968. Prof. Rajan also solicited fellowships from the governments of the various Indian states for financially disadvantaged students from those states, a practice that continues to this day.

===Merger with Jawaharlal Nehru University===
The merger with [[Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi|JNU]] was opposed by the staff and scholars of the School since it was seen to imposed on the school by the government. However, there was nothing much that could be done since the government held the financial purse strings and began to squeeze the school financially to persuade it to fall in line. Even prior to this action, the School had been in the middle of a controversy in Parliament with a parliamentary committee set up to look into various allegations, in response to an intensive campaign run by various vested interests.<ref name=Vivekanandan />

A controversy that followed the merger was the decision to bifurcate the library of the ISIS on the basis of ownership of books, documents and journals. The bifurcation was done in a bureaucratic style without regard to the wholeness of collections built up over a period of time, leading the last Director of the ISIS, Prof. [[M.S. Rajan]] to describe it as "one of the tragedies that struck ICWA as well as ISIS".<ref name=Rajan2005 />

==Accomplishments over 15 years==
* Sixty six researchers were awarded Ph.D degrees over a period of 15 years.<ref name=rajan />
* More than sixty books were published by members of staff as well as students.
* The school journal ''International Studies'' began publication in 1959.
* 31 seminars were held all over India.
* The School [[Library]], whose collections were held jointly with the [[Indian Council of World Affairs]] grew to become one of the biggest libraries in India on international and area studies
* The School trained officers of the [[Indian Foreign Service]] as well as [[diplomat]]s from other countries especially from [[Bhutan]] and [[Nepal]].<ref name=Appadorai />
* The School had a program of visiting scholars and faculty and many well-known academics joined the School for short periods of time under this program, including Sardar [[K.M. Panikkar]] and Professors Tarachand, [[Nicholas Mansergh]], [[Quincy Wright]], and W.H. Morris-Jones.<ref name=Rajan2005>{{cite journal|last=Rajan|first=M.S.|title=Golden Jubilee of the School of International Studies: An Assessment|journal=International Studies|date=1 October 2005|volume=42|issue=3–4|pages=195–204|doi=10.1177/002088170504200301|s2cid=154778795 }}</ref>
* The School also started an annual series of extension lectures on major developments in international affairs in the mid 1960s, named after its late President, Pandit [[H. N. Kunzru|Hriday Nath Kunzru]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Pandit Hridaynath Kunzru Memorial Lectures 2011|url=http://www.jnu.ac.in/Academics/Schools/SchoolOfInternationalStudies/Making%20SIS%20visible/KunzruLectures/Poster2011.pdf|publisher=JNU|accessdate=16 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302064144/http://www.jnu.ac.in/Academics/Schools/SchoolOfInternationalStudies/Making%20SIS%20visible/KunzruLectures/Poster2011.pdf|archive-date=2 March 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Notable Staff ===

* Dr [[Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao|P.S. Rao]], Indian International Lawyer ([[Pedra Branca dispute]])

===Notable alumni===
* [[Nirmala Sitharaman]], Indian [[Finance minister of india|Finance Minister]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024-02-09 |title=Prof. Amitabh Mattoo appointed Dean of SIS, JNU |url=https://statetimes.in/prof-amitabh-mattoo-appointed-dean-of-sis-jnu/ |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=Statetimes |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[S. Jaishankar]], Indian [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|External Affairs Minister]] (EAM) and former [[Foreign Secretary (India)|Foreign Secretary]]<ref name=":0" />
* [[Jyotindra Nath Dixit|J.N. Dixit]], former [[Foreign Secretary (India)|Indian Foreign Secretary]]
* [[Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit|Santishree D. Pandit]], 13th Vice Chancellor of [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]], New Delhi

== See also ==

* [[List of institutions of higher education in Delhi]]
* [[International Relation Studies]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* School of International Studies, JNU [https://web.archive.org/web/20120815124756/http://www.jnu.ac.in/main.asp?sendval=SchoolOfInternationalStudies]
* Address delivered by Prof. A. Appadorai, Director of the Indian School of International Studies, at its Fifth Annual Convocation, 28 May 1970. Available in ''International Studies'', April 1987, 24: 133-143 [http://isq.sagepub.com/content/24/2.toc]



[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1955]]
[[Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1970]]
[[Category:1955 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Jawaharlal Nehru University]]

Indian School of International Studies - Revision history

QLXChristoper at 18:56, 25 April 2026