Select Page

Category : Announcements


Post Pandemic: Driving Inclusive Growth in Asia (Videos)

Post Pandemic: Driving Inclusive Growth in Asia (Videos)

This semester, the three-part series “Post Pandemic: Driving Inclusive Growth in Asia,” focused on the unique challenges faced by many Asian countries recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Hosted by the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research, Harvard University’s Center for International Development, and Harvard University’s Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, the series explored the following topics: Education in Asia (January 19); Healthcare in Asia (February 16); Economics and Social Policy Driving Social Cohesion in Asia (March 16)

Murty Classical Library of India: New Translations of World Classics

Murty Classical Library of India: New Translations of World Classics

The Mittal Institute sat down with Dr. Sharmila Sen, Editorial Director of Harvard University Press, to learn more about the Murty Classical Library of India collection and the new volumes published this winter. Harvard University Press, founded in 1913, has published many bestsellers and critically-acclaimed books for general readers and scholarly/professional audiences. Dr. Sen strategizes and oversees Harvard University Press’ overall book acquisition program.

Transforming the Art of Learning: The Work of Pre-Texts with Doris Sommer

Transforming the Art of Learning: The Work of Pre-Texts with Doris Sommer

Professor Doris Sommer, a Mittal Institute Steering Committee member, recently visited the Indian city of Pune to launch the Pre-Texts project, a pedagogy based on interpretation through the arts. She is partnering with Professor Yugank Goyal of FLAME University in Pune, where the project is being housed. Pre-Texts is an arts-based training program for teachers of literacy, critical thinking, and citizenship. While the number of readers has grown worldwide, reading comprehension stays alarmingly low because students need to use texts in order to understand them. With Pre-Texts, students master texts by using them to create visual and performative arts.

The Economics of Decision-Making: A Spotlight on the Work of Graduate Student Associate Ronak Jain

The Economics of Decision-Making: A Spotlight on the Work of Graduate Student Associate Ronak Jain

Ronak Jain, a Mittal Institute Graduate Student Associate, is a 4th year Ph.D. student in Economics at Harvard University. Her research interests lie in the intersection of economic development and behavioral economics. Her work seeks to understand how beliefs and preferences shape economic and psychological outcomes of individuals and communities, with a regional focus on South Asia. She is a former Harvard Kennedy Scholar. She also serves as a Resident Advisor for Graduate Students in the GSAS Residence Halls at Harvard.

Welcoming Pakistani Artist Mehwish Abid: New Visiting Artist Fellow

Welcoming Pakistani Artist Mehwish Abid: New Visiting Artist Fellow

The Mittal Institute welcomed a new VAF Artist, Mehwish Abid, to campus this week, for the start of her eight-week research fellowship at Harvard. The program connects artists from South Asia with Harvard’s intellectual resources, and allows a platform for mid-career artists to conduct independent research that explores critical issues in South Asia through the lens of art and design.

From Pigments to the Politics of Paintings: Prof. Jinah Kim Presents Technical Session to South Asian Art Conservationists

From Pigments to the Politics of Paintings: Prof. Jinah Kim Presents Technical Session to South Asian Art Conservationists

The Mittal Institute’s Conservation Science Research and Training Program (CoSTAR) program is an attempt to bridge the gap between art history, museology, art conservation, and conservation science, with the aim of strengthening the practice of conservation science in India. Module 1 of the CoSTAR program began in April 2021 and consisted of a nine-week lecture series. Module 2 of the program was launched in November 2021.

‘Indian Sex Life’: Durba Mitra on Strict Social Norms

‘Indian Sex Life’: Durba Mitra on Strict Social Norms

Durba Mitra, Carol K. Pforzheimer Assistant Professor at the Radcliffe Institute and Assistant Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality has been awarded the Bernard S. Cohn Book Prize by the Association for Asian Studies for her book, Indian Sex Life: Sexuality and the Colonial Origins of Modern Social Thought. This prize honors “outstanding and innovative scholarship across discipline and country of specialization for a first single-authored monograph on South Asia.” Indian Sex Life, which demonstrates how ideas of deviant female sexuality became foundational to modern social thought, also received an honorable mention for the J. Willard Hurst Book Prize from the Law & Society Association.

Fleeing Afghanistan: Fara Abbas on Starting Over

Fleeing Afghanistan: Fara Abbas on Starting Over

Fara Abbas, a Fellow with the Negotiation Task Force, based at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, is a specialist on Afghan affairs with over 10 years of in-country experience on security, peace, and development. She fled Afghanistan in August after the Taliban takeover, and a stipend by a number of Harvard entities – including the Mittal Institute – is supporting her year-long Fellowship at Harvard.