The project aims to reinvigorate social scientific research and education at a rural university located in a remote region of South India. The Centre for the Study of Local Cultures (CSLC) focuses upon innovative research on local problems of caste/inequality and pluralism/conflict. It also established a feedback loop between the university and the local society in Karnataka, its self-government bodies, its policy makers and NGOs. Simultaneously, the Research Centre will set up an Academy to provide an umbrella for social sciences and humanities research in Karnataka.