Category : India

5 Reasons to Visit the Mittal Institute’s India Office This Summer

May 21, 2025 | Community, In Region, India, News

As the summer approaches, the Mittal Institute extends a warm invitation to Harvard’s community to visit the India office in New Delhi. Whether using the office space to conduct research, participating in scholarly discussions, or immersing oneself in the vibrant academic milieu of the region, the office offers a unique opportunity to engage with South Asia’s rich cultural heritage and scholarly legacy. The office has planned several events that will connect Harvard with India’s intellectual scene. Come and be a part of it!

HUM SAB EK (We Are One) Part of Hopkins India Conference in Washington, DC

May 15, 2025 | COVID-19, India, News

In May 2025, the HUM SAB EK (We Are One) exhibition was showcased as part of the Hopkins India Conference at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC. It marks the third stop of this traveling exhibition outside Harvard University after a visit at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City in September 2024, and The World Bank Headquarters in January 2025.

The Impact of Climate Change on Emergency Healthcare in India: Research by Prof. Caleb Dresser

May 14, 2025 | Announcements, Climate, Faculty, India, News

As climate change intensifies, extreme weather events—especially heatwaves—are placing growing pressure on India’s healthcare system. To better understand these challenges, the project “Climate Change, Health Security, and Emergency Care in India: An Exploratory Evaluation” was launched with support from a Mittal Institute grant.

The Mittal Institute’s 2025 Seed for Change Winners

May 13, 2025 | In Region, India, News, Students

Focused on innovation and entrepreneurship, the Mittal Institute’s annual Seed for Change (SFC) competition awards funding to bold, creative ideas developed by Harvard students with the potential to drive meaningful impact in India. Meet this year’s grand prize winner, The Paal, who is working to empower smallholder farmers, particularly women, to own insured, high-quality cattle by turning livestock into a retail investment asset class.

Shivangi Chopra ’25 Brings Breast Cancer Awareness to Delhi Classrooms

May 8, 2025 | In Region, India, News, Students

Shivangi Chopra, a Master in Public Administration in International Development candidate at Harvard Kennedy School, spent this past winter in New Delhi, India, designing and implementing a culturally sensitive breast cancer awareness curriculum for adolescent girls in government schools.

Climate Change and Maternal Health: A Student Grant Report from Saravanan Thangarajan

Apr 28, 2025 | Climate, India, News, Students

Saravanan Thangarajan, Master of Medical Sciences in Global Health Delivery Candidate at Harvard Medical School, traveled to Tamil Nadu this winter to explore the impact of climate change on maternal and infant health. Supported by a Mittal Institute Winter Research Grant, he interviewed mothers struggling to protect their children from heat, air pollution, and other environmental stressors. Below, Saravanan shares findings from his research and how the experience will impact his future academic path.

Teaching Through Art: How Pre-Texts is Transforming Education in India

Apr 28, 2025 | Faculty, In Region, India, News

Pre-Texts is an arts-based training program that promotes literacy, critical thinking, and citizenship by having students interpret teaching through creative expression. Developed by Harvard’s Doris Sommer, Mittal Institute steering committee member and the Ira and Jewell Williams Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, it’s now active in South Asia, aligning with India’s mandate for arts-integrated education and helping teachers put policy into practice.

On the Front Lines of the World’s Largest Gathering: Professor Tiona Zuzul at the Maha Kumbh Mela

Apr 15, 2025 | Faculty, In Region, India, News

Kumbh Mela, one of the largest human gatherings on the planet, is a monumental Hindu pilgrimage and religious festival held in India every 12 years. An even more rare and significant version, the “Maha Kumbh Mela,” occurs just once every 144 years—the most recent taking place in February 2025. Tiona Zuzul, who also attended the recent Maha Kumbh Mela, shared a dispatch from her experience in the Mittal Institute.

Harvard Faculty Visit Ahmedabad, India, to Understand Extreme Heat Impacts

Apr 3, 2025 | Climate, Faculty, India, News

In advance of the Mittal Institute’s major New Delhi conference last month, “India 2047: Building a Climate-Resilient Future,” a group of nearly two dozen Harvard faculty, affiliates, and climate philanthropists spent two days on an extreme heat immersion trip in the city of Ahmedabad, India. The two days provided unique opportunities to dive more deeply into heat adaptation policies and practices in India, both centuries-old and modern.

India 2047: Four-day convening in New Delhi brings together 180 scholars to advance climate resilience in India and beyond

Apr 3, 2025 | Climate, Community, Faculty, India, News

From March 19-22, more than 180 scholars and experts from Harvard and around the world gathered in New Delhi, India, for one of the largest events Harvard has ever hosted outside the United States. Leading experts in climate science, public health, medicine, labor, business, agriculture, and urban planning convened for “India 2047 – Building a Climate-Resilient Future,” a series of interdisciplinary dialogues on advancing climate resilience.

Goa-ing the Extra Mile: A Journey of Learning Together Through PSIL

Mar 25, 2025 | In Region, India, News, Students

The Program for Scientifically-Inspired Leadership (PSIL) brings together Harvard undergraduates, local college students from India, and underprivileged high school students in India for a week-long residential learning experience. Merlin D’souza ’25, Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology and Global Health and Health Policy, was part of the five-person Harvard undergraduate cohort, and she shares her own dispatch, below.

Filmmakers Preview “Seed Stories,” A Documentary on Sustainability, Biodiversity, and Changing Food Systems

Mar 18, 2025 | Community, In Region, India, News

The documentary “Seed Stories,” which will be screened at the Mittal Institute on Monday, March 31, is a powerful and thought-provoking narrative on sustainability amid the rise of genetically modified crops and hazardous herbicides.