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Category : Announcements

Vijay Shekhar Sharma Provides New Fund for the Mittal Institute

Dec 7, 2020 | Announcements, Community, News

Vijay Shekhar Sharma Provides New Fund for the Mittal Institute

The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute is delighted to announce a new gift from India’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, which will support the activities and research performed by the Mittal Institute. By enabling scholars from South Asia to work in a cross-disciplinary fashion with faculty, researchers, and students across Harvard on critical questions and issues related to the region, Sharma’s gift will significantly enhance the goals of the Institute to deepen the teaching and research on cultural and global issues related to South Asia.

Launch Event: The Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System

Dec 3, 2020 | Announcements, In Region, India, News

Launch Event: The Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System

Join us next Friday, December 11, for the launch event of the Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System. The Lancet Citizens’ Commission is an ambitious, cross-sectoral endeavor that is working to develop a citizens’ roadmap to achieve universal health coverage throughout India. The Commission will be the first participatory, country-wide report of its scale to be published by the Lancet, a leading international medical journal that has paved the way for medical reforms and global health discussions around the world.

Anupam Sah: Finding a Balance in the Art and Science of Heritage Conservation

Dec 3, 2020 | Announcements, Arts Program, In Region, News

Anupam Sah: Finding a Balance in the Art and Science of Heritage Conservation

Until recently, expertise from outside of South Asia has been crucial to informing practices around cultural conservation, but efforts need to be made to understand and adapt to the regional context and nuances. The current state of research and practice of conservation in India is in a nascent stage and is faced by the overwhelming task of the safekeeping and conservation of India’s vast material and intangible cultural heritage. We spoke with Anupam Sah, the Head of Conservation at the CSMVS Museum, to learn more about the status of art and heritage conservation in India. Anupam Sah will be moderating an upcoming two-part seminar series on December 10, “Art and Science of Heritage Conservation: Finding the Right Balance.”

How (and Why) to Create an Interdisciplinary Classroom

Nov 19, 2020 | Announcements, Community, Faculty, News

How (and Why) to Create an Interdisciplinary Classroom

For many years, a group of faculty members at Harvard — Tarun Khanna (HBS), Satchit Balsari (HMS), Rahul Mehrotra (GSD), Krzysztof Gajos (SEAS), and Doris Sommer (FAS) — have taught a GenEd course, entitled “Contemporary Developing Countries: Entrepreneurial Solutions to Intractable Problems.” The course, initially created by Professor Khanna with the support of the Mittal Institute, covers case studies from emerging markets across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each year, about 100 students enroll in the course from a variety of backgrounds, including undergraduate and graduate students — from sophomores at Harvard College to budding surgeons at Harvard Medical School.

Evaluating the Prevalence of COVID-19 in India

Nov 19, 2020 | Announcements, Faculty, India, News

Evaluating the Prevalence of COVID-19 in India

Recently, a discussion moderated by Richard Cash, Senior Lecturer on Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, brought together Satchit Balsari, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Manoj Mohanan, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Economics, and Global Health at Duke University, to discuss “A Class Apart: COVID-19 Seroprevalence in India.” Together, they explored the findings and implications of a recent seroprevalence survey (the number of individuals in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology specimens) conducted by Professor Mohanan’s team in India.

Video: Models of Innovation: Education in South Asia

Nov 19, 2020 | Announcements, In Region, News, Social Enterprise

Video: Models of Innovation: Education in South Asia

Emmerich Davies, Assistant Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, recently moderated a discussion with panelists Ayaz Aziz (Manager, Online Education, Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center), Nishant Pandey (CEO, American India Foundation), Rumee Singh (Founder, Katha4Nepal), and Haroon Yasin (Co-founder and CEO, Orenda) as they showcased their innovative models of education delivery in times of the pandemic.

Video: The US Election’s Impact on South Asia

Nov 16, 2020 | Announcements, Associates, In Region, News

Video: The US Election’s Impact on South Asia

Ronak Desai, Research Associate at the Mittal Institute, recently moderated a discussion between Ambassador Nirupama Rao, Former Foreign Secretary of India, and Vipin Narang, Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT, as they explored how the potential outcomes of the US presidential election may impact the region of South Asia.

How Has COVID-19 Impacted Mental Health in India, China, and the US?

Nov 12, 2020 | Announcements, Faculty, News

How Has COVID-19 Impacted Mental Health in India, China, and the US?

This past week, a panel of experts came together to explore the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and how India, China, and the United States are responding to it. The discussion was moderated by Arthur Kleinman, Professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard Medical School, and hosted by Winnie Yip, Professor of Global Health Policy and Economics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Acting Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

Unpacking Binaries in the Art of South Asia

Nov 12, 2020 | Announcements, Arts Program, News

Unpacking Binaries in the Art of South Asia

In partnership with Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), the Mittal Institute recently hosted a webinar that delved into the history of art in South Asia. Presented by Laura Weinstein, the Ananda Coomaraswamy Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art at the MFA, she discussed with Jinah Kim, George P. Bickford Professor of Indian and South Asian Art at Harvard University, a new publication from the MFA that explores its South Asian collection, while critiquing the binaries based in Western Enlightenment thought that have historically been applied to art from India and its neighbors.

Hands-on STEM Education with the Soft Robotics Toolkit

Nov 12, 2020 | Announcements, India, News, Social Enterprise

Hands-on STEM Education with the Soft Robotics Toolkit

The education system in India relies heavily on traditional ways of teaching. However, evidence suggests that active, exploratory learning rather than traditional knowledge–sharing has a more constructive impact on academic performance, creating more motivation and ongoing interest in the subject as it puts the student in direct contact with the learning materials. The Soft Robotic Toolkit, part of the Mittal Institute’s Multidisciplinary Approach to Innovative Social Enterprises supported by Tata Trusts, uses active, hands-on pedagogy to provide cutting edge, high-quality STEM learning.

Partition’s Legacy: South Asian Art on the Line

Nov 5, 2020 | Announcements, Arts Program, India, News, Partition

Partition’s Legacy: South Asian Art on the Line

Recently, the Mittal Institute teamed up with the Peabody Essex Museum for a discussion on “Partition’s Legacy: South Asian Art on the Line.” Post-independent South Asia is depicted in many forms, with the intent to make sense of its complexities. After the Partition of the subcontinent along the Radcliffe Line, the socio-political ruptures and conflicts that ensued created numerous questions.