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Shikha Kukreti, Lancet Citizens’ Commission Researcher, Explores COVID’s Impact on Healthcare Workers

Shikha Kukreti, Lancet Citizens’ Commission Researcher, Explores COVID’s Impact on Healthcare Workers

As we enter the fourth year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Shikha Kukreti, MPH, BDS, is focused on exploring the attitude of healthcare workers to vaccines, and their psychological wellbeing during the pandemic. A researcher with the Lancet Citizens Commission and a Ph.D. candidate at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, Shikha is spending the spring at the Mittal Institute. We spoke with her about her project.

Previewing LMSAI’s Inaugural Climate Change Workshop in New Delhi

The Mittal Institute has embarked on a major climate change initiative focused on South Asia, hosted at our Harvard Global Research Support Center India, an affiliate of Harvard University. This focus comes as Harvard awarded the Mittal Institute two multi-year grants to catalyze climate change research in South Asia. To build on the initiative, the Mittal Institute will host an inaugural climate change workshop on March 30-31 in New Delhi. The sessions will convene an interdisciplinary group of experts, policymakers and academics to set collective research and strategic priorities. LMSAI Director Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School, spoke with us about LMSAI’s climate focus, and previewed the upcoming workshop.

The Mittal Institute Awards Record Funding to Seven New Faculty Grant Projects

The Mittal Institute Awards Record Funding to Seven New Faculty Grant Projects

The Mittal Institute annually supports faculty research projects that unite scholars from different fields and regions whose research relates to South Asia. Interdisciplinary scholarship, as well as projects that catalyze connectivity between scholars at Harvard and those in South Asia, are a funding priority. We are pleased to announce this year’s grant recipients—earning the highest individual funding amounts in Mittal Institute history—and their research initiatives.

Celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Harvard’s Beloved Student Tradition, Ghungroo

Celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Harvard’s Beloved Student Tradition, Ghungroo

For the 35th anniversary of Harvard’s Ghungroo—the longest-running student showcase of South Asian culture on campus—the production quality was bigger and better than ever. The event featured musical acts, dancing, comedic entertainment, and much more. We interviewed student organizers Sarah R. Ramberran ’24, Shraddha Joshi ’24 and Harini Kannan ‘24 for a behind-the-scenes look at what went into planning this beloved campus event.

Siblings Write the Book They Needed

Siblings Write the Book They Needed

For Nicole Jain, Ed.M.’11, the children’s book she recently published is the kind of book that would have been helpful when she was a girl. Our Mom, Our Superhero, co-authored with her brother Ravi is about the experience of two young siblings trying to help their mother deal with mental illness. It’s based on the experience the pair had with their own mom. Jain spoke about the book.

Kheya Melo Furtado on Working at the Intersection of Health Care Policy and Research

Kheya Melo Furtado on Working at the Intersection of Health Care Policy and Research

Kheya Melo Furtado, an expert on health systems financing and public health, joins the Mittal Institute as our Spring 2023 Jamnalal Kaniram Bajaj Visiting Research Fellow. She is a faculty member in the Healthcare Management program at the Goa Institute of Management, India. Kheya shared more about her research and endeavors while an LMSAI Fellow.  

From New York City to Nepal: How Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Became a Leading Scholar of Hindu-Christian Studies

From New York City to Nepal: How Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Became a Leading Scholar of Hindu-Christian Studies

Francis X. Clooney, a born and bred New Yorker, was following a fairly traditional path toward Jesuit priesthood when he took an unexpected detour that would change his religious and world view forever. Clooney, now Parkman Professor of Divinity at Harvard, is a leading scholar in the Sanskrit and Tamil traditions of Hindu India and the developing field of comparative theology. He has written numerous books, including Hindu God, Christian God (2001) and the more recent Reading the Hindu and Christian Classics (2019). How he found himself at the forefront of Hindu-Christian studies began in 1973 with a trip to Kathmandu, where different religious traditions were not just in books but all around him.

Calling All Harvard Photographers! Submit Pictures to the LMSAI Photo Contest

Calling All Harvard Photographers! Submit Pictures to the LMSAI Photo Contest
Calling all Harvard photographers! The Mittal Institute seeks images of South Asia for our inaugural PHOTO CONTEST. Deadline Extended to 5pm EST on Friday, March 10 in the following categories: CATEGORIES: 1. Nature + Landscapes 2. People 3. Urban Landscapes and...

Mariam Zia, Syed Babar Ali Fellow, Spotlights Dastan Storytelling

Mariam Zia, Syed Babar Ali Fellow, Spotlights Dastan Storytelling

Our new Syed Babar Ali Fellow, Mariam Zia, joined us in Cambridge this spring, and has gotten right to work on translating the first volume of Shamsur Rahman Faruqi’s multivolume study of the 46-volume Dastan-e Amir Hamza titled Sahiri, Shahi, Sahibqirani: Dastan-e Amir Hamza ka Mutalea (Sorcery, Magic, Kingship: A Study of The Adventures of Amir Hamza). We spoke with Mariam about her fellowship and impressions of Harvard.