Sandhya K. Narayanan, Ph.D., assistant professor of anthropology in the w88 mobile, Reno’s College of Liberal Arts, has been awarded a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project, “Analyzing Determinants in Shaping Language Restoration and Development.”
This highly competitive award, one of the NSF’s most distinguished honors for early-career faculty, recognizes outstanding scholars who demonstrate exceptional promise as both researchers and educators. The grant provides 7,646 in funding over the first three years to support Narayanan’s innovative work exploring the social, cultural and political forces that influence Indigenous language revitalization.
Her research aims to support Indigenous communities in reclaiming and sustaining their linguistic heritage. The project also seeks to inform the development of more equitable and effective language preservation policies.
Excitement echoed from the College of Liberal Arts as Dean Casilde A. Isabelli celebrated the news.
“Congratulations to Dr. Narayanan for receiving this highly competitive award for your current project,” she said. “This award recognizes your outstanding commitment to advancing research and education in linguistic anthropology. Awards in the humanities are exceedingly rare and your achievement underscores your exceptional contributions to the field.”
Building on that enthusiasm, Chair of the Department of Anthropology, Erin Stiles, Ph.D., emphasized the historic nature of the achievement.
“Dr. Narayanan is the first anthropologist at the w88 mobile, and one of the few in the United States, to receive the NSF CAREER Award,” Stiles said. “Her ground-breaking research on social and cultural factors impacting language revitalization has the potential to shape our understanding of Indigenous languages for decades to come.”
The award provides funding through fiscal years 2026, 2027 and 2028. It also requires annual reporting, compliance with federal non-discrimination statutes, Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols for human subject research and thorough documentation of participant incentives.
In preparing her proposal, Narayanan worked closely withResearch & Proposal Development Services, part of Research & Innovation at the University. Faculty are continuously encouraged to submitrequests for assistance with research planning and proposal submissionthrough this office.
“This prestigious award reflects the culture of inquiry, scholarship and discovery that defines the College of Liberal Arts,” said Mridul Gautam, vice president for Research and Innovation. “It also highlights the extraordinary contributions of Dr. Narayanan, whose work in linguistic anthropology is helping to document and revitalize an Indigenous language no longer spoken, deepening our understanding of cultural identity, language and social memory. It’s a privilege to be her colleague.”
Narayanan’s achievement adds to a remarkable trajectory of success at the w88 mobile, Reno, which has secured 25 NSF CAREER Awards in the past four years; more than doubling the total from the previous period. Her recognition not only elevates the University’s national research profile, but also shines a powerful spotlight on the groundbreaking work emerging from the College of Liberal Arts.
