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CoSTAR Module 1: Creating Community and Collaboration Among Art and Science Professionals in South Asia; Advancing Towards Module 2

CoSTAR Module 1: Creating Community and Collaboration Among Art and Science Professionals in South Asia; Advancing Towards Module 2

Conservation Science Research and Training Program, CoSTAR, aims to build up a temper of scientific studies for the conservation of art objects in India in conjunction with art historical studies. The three-year program is a collaboration between the Mittal Institute, Harvard University, Harvard Art Museums, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Mumbai. Launched in December 2020, CoSTAR is envisioned as a series of theory and practical modules covering various topics in Conservation Science.

Data-driven Decision-making: A focus on the India Policy Insights Program

Data-driven Decision-making: A focus on the India Policy Insights Program

The Mittal Institute’s Delhi Office has long been focused on fostering collaborations – both in-country and beyond. They recently had a visit from S.V. Subramanian, a Professor of Population Health and Geography at Harvard University, and chair of the Faculty Advisory Group for the Center for Geographic Analysis at Harvard University. He is also the Principal Investigator of the India Policy Insights program, based out of the Geographic Insights lab at Harvard. This interdisciplinary research lab uses fine-grained data to bring important insights and accountability to policy actions. Professor Subramanian is based at the LMSAI Delhi office while he works on the program, where he is building collaborations with stakeholders, including the government of India.

Celebrating Diversity of Culture: A Spotlight on the Harvard South Asian Association

Celebrating Diversity of Culture: A Spotlight on the Harvard South Asian Association

Founded in 1986, the Harvard South Asian Association (SAA) is one of the largest and most active student groups on campus. The focus of their 300 members – who span myriad ethnicities, religions, and interests – is to bring the Harvard community closer to South Asia through academic, political, social, outreach and cultural initiatives. They host more than 100 different events each year to celebrate and foster awareness of South Asia. The Mittal Institute sat down with two of their Board members, Varshini Odayar and Siona Prasad, the co-presidents to learn more about the Harvard SAA and their own place in the student group.

Studying How People Form Beliefs: Explore the Research of Akshay Dixit, Mittal Institute Graduate Student Associate

Studying How People Form Beliefs: Explore the Research of Akshay Dixit, Mittal Institute Graduate Student Associate

Akshay Dixit, a Mittal Institute Graduate Student Associate, is a Ph.D. student of Political Economy & Government at Harvard University. He is a James M. and Cathleen D. Stone PhD Scholar in Inequality and Wealth Concentration, and a recipient of the Amartya Sen Fellowship for Students from India. He is interested in studying how people form beliefs about fairness and inequality, and how that shapes their support for redistributive policies. In ongoing research with Rachel Brulé, he is examining the effect of climate change-induced weather shocks on women’s collective political engagement in Bangladesh. In the past, Akshay has done research on youth civic engagement and accountability in public services, as a Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, and prior to that at Save the Children. He spent two years in Bangladesh as a Research Associate at Innovations for Poverty Action. The Mittal Institute sat down with Akshay to learn more about his research and future aspirations.

Introducing the Inaugural India Fellowship: New Opportunity for Postdoctoral Researchers to be Based at the Mittal Institute’s New Delhi Office

Introducing the Inaugural India Fellowship: New Opportunity for Postdoctoral Researchers to be Based at the Mittal Institute’s New Delhi Office

Last week, the Mittal Institute announced the launch of an inaugural India Fellowship. The Fellowship will commence on March 15, 2022, and aims to support research projects that focus on the advancement of public benefit in India. This unique Fellowship offers two (2) postdoctoral researchers in New Delhi the opportunity to work with Harvard Faculty remotely and have remote access to all Harvard libraries. It prioritizes scholars who have never received any opportunities or access to Harvard resources and those whom have primarily been educated at institutions in India. The Mittal Institute sat down with Sanjay Kumar, India Country Director at the Mittal Institute, to learn more about this exciting new opportunity.

Harvard, through Their Eyes: New Visiting Artist Fellows Showcase First Week on Campus

Harvard, through Their Eyes: New Visiting Artist Fellows Showcase First Week on Campus

The Mittal Institute welcomed two new VAF Artists, Bunu Dhungana and Pragat Jain, to campus this week, for the start of their 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.

Kushagra Nayan Bajaj’s New Gift to LMSAI Remarkably Expands Opportunities for South Asian Scholars

Kushagra Nayan Bajaj’s New Gift to LMSAI Remarkably Expands Opportunities for South Asian Scholars

Kushagra Nayan Bajaj, an Indian businessman and Chairman of the Bajaj Group, Chairman and Managing Director of Bajaj Hindusthan Limited, and Chairman of Bajaj Corp Limited is the benefactor of the Mittal Institute’s newest research fellowship, the Jamnalal Kaniram Bajaj Trust Visiting Research Fellowship Fund. His support creates a fellowship at the Mittal Institute to deepen the teaching and research on significant cultural issues related to South Asia.

Urban Modernity, Religion, and the Urban Informalities: A Study on Makeshift Cattle Markets in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Urban Modernity, Religion, and the Urban Informalities: A Study on Makeshift Cattle Markets in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Nusrat Jahan Mim, a Harvard D.Des candidate, was a recipient of a Mittal Institute Summer 2021 Research Grant, and she shared her findings in the account below. As a part of her Doctor of Design thesis, she investigated and collected spatial data from the largest annual makeshift cattle marketplaces in Dhaka, Bangladesh during Eid ul Adha (July 19-23, 2021).

Lancet Citizens’ Commission Podcast: The Role of the ‘Finance’ Workstream in Reimagining India’s Healthcare

Lancet Citizens’ Commission Podcast: The Role of the ‘Finance’ Workstream in Reimagining India’s Healthcare

In this episode of the ‘India in Focus’ podcast, Bindu Ananth, Chair at Dvara Trust, speaks with Dr. Nachiket Mor, Visiting Scientist, The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health. Dr. Mor leads the financing workstream at the Lancet Citizens’ Commission, which seeks to address challenges related to the sources and utilization of health expenditures, in order to maximize financial risk protection and to ensure an effective, equitable, reliable, and responsive health system for all.

Harvard Worldwide Week Preview: Dinyar Patel on “India at 75: The Global Roots of Independence”

Harvard Worldwide Week Preview: Dinyar Patel on “India at 75: The Global Roots of Independence”

Join us on Wednesday, October 6 at 8:00am EST for “India at 75: The Global Roots of Independence,” moderated by Dinyar Patel, Mittal Institute Research Affiliate and Assistant Professor of History at the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR) in Mumbai. He will join a conversation on “India at 75: The Global Roots of Independence” with panelists Nico Slate, Professor and Department Head, Department of History, Carnegie Mellon University and Carolien Stolte, Senior Lecturer in History at Leiden University, The Netherlands. The Mittal Institute sat down with Dinyar to discuss the event and his new paper, which he will share at the talk.