Category : Faculty

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.

Rethinking India’s Digital Health Ecosystem: An Update on the Work of the India Digital Health Net

Feb 10, 2025 | Faculty, India, News

For the past seven years, the India Digital Health Net (IDHN)—an interdisciplinary team of experts from medicine, computer science, data science, and law based at Harvard and in India–has contributed to shaping India’s evolving digital health ecosystem. This year, IDHN achieved two significant milestones. In the essay below, Dr. Verghese Thomas, Assistant Professor of Research in the Division of Medical Informatics at St. John’s Research Institute and Associate of the Mittal Institute, provides further insights.

Announcing the Inaugural Recipients of the Mittal Institute Faculty Climate Research Grants

Feb 6, 2025 | Announcements, Climate, Faculty, News

The Mittal Institute is pleased to announce its first recipients of the Faculty Climate Research Grants. These grants are designed to foster deeper scholarly engagement on climate change, catalyze the creation of new knowledge, and contribute to the development of sustainable solutions across South Asia. Projects focused on three main research categories: energy transition and energy policy; food systems, agriculture, and land use; and law and policy for climate transition and adaptation.

17 Harvard Faculty Join Climate Platform as Affiliates

Feb 4, 2025 | Announcements, Climate, Faculty, News

This academic year, 17 Harvard faculty have joined the Mittal Institute Climate Platform as new affiliates, greatly increasing the platform’s reach and expertise.

Mittal Institute Hosts Faculty Dialogues Centered on Climate Change in South Asia

Jan 17, 2025 | Climate, Faculty, News

In the fall semester of 2024, the Mittal Institute started hosting Climate Dialogues, a series of closed-door events centering South Asia in the climate change conversation. The talks feature Harvard faculty speakers from across the University in an informal environment that includes a dinner. They enable faculty, as well as affiliates of the Mittal Institute Climate Platform, to engage in interdisciplinary dialogues and forge connections and research collaborations.

The Mittal Institute Presents the 2023–24 Year in Review and Arts Program Reports

Dec 3, 2024 | Afghanistan, Announcements, Arts Program, Associates, Bangladesh, Faculty, Fellows, In Region, India, Myanmar, Nepal, News, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Students

The Mittal Institute is excited to announce the release of the 2023–24 Year in Review and 2023–24 Arts Program reports. Like every year, the comprehensive Year in Review Report includes updates on all major faculty-led programs, lists awards and fellowships, highlights the work of students, student organizations, and scholars, and summarizes events and other achievements. The Arts Program Report highlights the incredible impact and accomplishments of the Mittal Institute’s various arts initiatives, which include fellowships, exhibitions, and events. Both reports offer valuable insights into the institute’s mission of connecting Harvard with South Asia.

The 1970 Bhola Cyclone and the Birth of Bangladesh

Nov 5, 2024 | Announcements, Bangladesh, Climate, Faculty, News, Pakistan

In 1970, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was hit by a cyclone that killed 300,000 to 500,000 people. Prof. Mushfiq Mobarak, Yale University, and Prof. Sultan Mehmood, New Economic School of Moscow, provide empirical evidence that the cyclone’s devastation and the Pakistani government’s “callous response” to it were instrumental in galvanizing support for an independence movement. The two authors share their work in this Q+A ahead of a November 15 Joint Seminar on South Asian Politics.

Applications Now Open: Faculty Grants for Research on South Asia

Nov 4, 2024 | Announcements, Faculty, News

The Mittal Institute invites Harvard faculty from across the university to apply for funding for research related to any of the countries we work with in South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and/or Sri Lanka. This opportunity is open to all Harvard University faculty members. Applications are due on December 13, 2024.

Waste Pickers and Methane Emissions

Oct 26, 2024 | Climate, Faculty, In Region, India, News

In an essay for the 1800 Histories project based at the Harvard Center for History and Economics, which explores the local conditions at key sites that play a disproportionate role in methane emissions, WIEGO founder and Mittal Institute Steering Committee member Martha Chen writes about the impact waste pickers have on methane emissions in Delhi, India.

Prof. Vishal Khandelwal on the Values of Architecture and Design

Oct 21, 2024 | Faculty, In Region, India, News

Growing up in Kolkata, Vishal Khandelwal – now an Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture in Harvard’s Department of History of Art + Architecture – was first introduced to the art history field right before he left India to attend DePauw University in...

The History of Punishment in India

Oct 12, 2024 | Announcements, Faculty, India, News

The project “The History of Punishment in India,” led by Adaner Usmani, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, explores the paradox of low violence rates in India despite limited policing and high poverty.

Just announced: New Faculty Grants for Climate Research on South Asia

Sep 4, 2024 | Announcements, Climate, Faculty, News

The Mittal Institute is excited to announce a new funding opportunity for faculty research on climate change in South Asia in the academic year 2024-2025. Harvard faculty members from any Harvard School are invited to propose impactful climate research projects or interdisciplinary collaboration through workshops that address the critical challenges of climate change in the region.