Category : News

Video: The Labor of Fashion, the Global COVID-19 Crisis, and the Politics of Resistance in Bangladesh

Jul 15, 2020 | Announcements, Bangladesh, News

Through the lens of a contemporary case study, the panelists explore the geopolitics of how vaccines are developed, the funding and distribution methods that are critical to the effort, and the global alliances that facilitate this in the world today, focusing on the South Asia context. They discuss the mechanics and commerce of vaccine development and the critical role that science and business can play in combating pandemics such as COVID-19.

Video: Crowdsourcing Memories of the 1947 Partition of British India

Jul 14, 2020 | Announcements, Bangladesh, Faculty, Fellows, India, News, Pakistan, Partition

“There is nothing as epochal as the cataclysmic event that was visited upon the people of South Asia when decolonization occurred and the British withdrew during the dismantling of the British empire. That forced event — that trauma — continues to shape the lives of two billion of the world’s seven billion people today,” says Professor Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School and Director of the Mittal Institute. Despite the abundant historical and political scholarship on the Partition of British India in 1947, there are still gaps in our understanding of the event — and the Mittal Institute’s research team set out to change that.

Announcing the Seed for Change Exploratory Grant Program

Jul 2, 2020 | Announcements, News, Students

The Mittal Institute recognizes that as a result of COVID-19, we have all had to make adjustments to our daily lives. We also know that students are doing their best under the circumstances to continue learning in new and creative ways. In light of this, we’re offering a one-time SFC Exploratory Grant to students who are currently working on ideas or a project that addresses intractable problems in India and Pakistan.

An Artist’s Journey from Nepal to Cambridge, and Back

Jul 2, 2020 | Announcements, Arts Program, Fellows, In Region, Nepal, News

“The southern border of Nepal, along India, was created 150 years ago by external parties,” says Sagar Chhetri, a visual artist from Nepal and a former Visiting Artist Fellow at the Mittal Institute. When that border was created, communities were cut in two. “[In Nepal], the ruling caste tried to unite all the peoples of the country to create one single Nepali identity. But in the populous open border region, Nepalis and Indians share marital ties, cultures, languages, and histories. With the promise of federalism during the decade-long civil war in Nepal came stronger rhetoric and ideology based on ethnic identity,” he said.

Video: Science, Business, and Vaccine Development to Combat the Pandemic

Jul 2, 2020 | Announcements, Faculty, In Region, India Seminar Series, News

The Mittal Institute’s recent panel webinar in collaboration with Harvard Business School India Research Center and Harvard Business Publishing, “Science, Business, and Vaccine Development to Combat the Pandemic,” was moderated by Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School and Director of the Mittal Institute.

Rajeeb Samdani: Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh, from the Pandemic to the Future

Jun 18, 2020 | Announcements, Bangladesh, Community, News

Recently, the Mittal Institute held a webinar to delve into entrepreneurship in South Asia amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We spoke with webinar panelist Rajeeb Samdani — Managing Director of Golden Harvest Group, Co-Founder and Trustee of the Samdani Art Foundation, and a member of the Mittal Institute’s Arts Advisory Council — to learn more about how the pandemic has impacted business in Bangladesh, as well as the nation’s many unique qualities that have quickly made it an economic powerhouse in the region.

Video: Educational Responses to COVID-19 in South Asia

Jun 18, 2020 | Announcements, Faculty, News

The Mittal Institute’s recent panel webinar, “Educational Responses to COVID-19 in South Asia,” was moderated by Zainab Qureshi, LEAPS Director at Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD), Harvard Kennedy School. Together, the panelists discussed how COVID-19 has shut down traditional education programs throughout South Asia, from primary education to higher education. They highlighted the unique challenges the region is facing in the education sector, such as access to technology and the potential long-term effects of distance learning.

Video: Entrepreneurs and the COVID-19 Global Reset in South Asia

Jun 18, 2020 | Announcements, Community, Faculty, News

The Mittal Institute’s latest panel webinar, “Entrepreneurs and the COVID-19 Global Reset in South Asia,” was moderated by Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School and Director of the Mittal Institute. Together, the panelists delved into the impact of the COVID-19 maelstrom across South Asia on enterprises. They explored the extent to which entrepreneurs have been able to work with both the state and civil society to limit the damage and distress caused by the pandemic, but also to begin exploring new opportunities that a possible “global reset” has opened up to the developing world.

Assessing the Response to COVID-19 in South Asia

Jun 4, 2020 | Announcements, Faculty, In Region, News

Recently, we spoke with two panelists from our first COVID-19 webinar to answer some of your lingering questions about COVID-19 in South Asia — delving deeper into the impact of public messaging and the lockdown. Dr. Richard Cash is a Senior Lecturer on Global Health in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Srinath Reddy is President of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).

Together, they explore improvements to future public messaging about the pandemic, as well as alternatives to lockdown and the social and economic costs of lockdown in South Asia.

Podcast Series: COVID-19 in South Asia

Jun 4, 2020 | Announcements, In Region, News

How has COVID-19 impacted South Asia? Throughout the spring and summer, the Mittal Institute is bringing together Harvard faculty and in-region experts in numerous webinars to discuss the interdisciplinary issues that have arisen in South Asia amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. From the science of the virus to changes in education, you can learn how COVID-19 has impacted South Asia.

Harvard University Centers Condemn Recent Police Violence in the United States

Jun 3, 2020 | Announcements, Community, News

The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute has issued a joint statement with several other centers and institutes at Harvard University condemning police violence in the United States.

Suhasini Kejriwal: Transforming India’s Urban Landscape Through Art

May 21, 2020 | Announcements, Arts Program, Fellows, India, News

Suhasini Kejriwal, a mixed media artist from India, joined the Mittal Institute earlier this Spring in our latest group of Visiting Artist Fellows. Through photography, paintings, embroidery, and more, Suhasini’s practice acts as witness to the lived experiences of those whom she observes, living out their lives in the busy streets of India’s urban landscapes.