17 Harvard Faculty Join Climate Platform as Affiliates
This academic year, 17 Harvard faculty have joined the Mittal Institute Climate Platform as new affiliates, greatly increasing the platform’s reach and expertise.
Category : News
Climate Insights: Book Recommendations from Harvard Faculty
Over the last few weeks, 17 Harvard faculty have joined the Mittal Institute Climate Platform as new affiliates, greatly increasing the platform’s reach and expertise. Now, these affiliates are sharing some of their top climate reads. Stay informed on the climate crisis, its global impacts, and some meaningful actions you can take. Enjoy the list!
Seeds of Change: Two Journeys of Impact, Innovation, and Reflection
The journey of two of the Seed for Change 2020 winner projects, Growthosphere and Sahayak, exemplifies how seed funding can act as a springboard for bold ideas with the potential to create lasting impact, and the diverse pathways through which meaningful change can be fostered. Growthosphere, born from a vision to empower marginalized youth through entrepreneurial mentorship, has grown into a thriving initiative that bridges skill gaps and cultivates innovation. Meanwhile, Sahayak’s endeavor to address labor migration through rural skill development has provided key insights into the structural challenges of fostering systemic change.
India Fellow P. Arun’s Work on Communications and Surveillance in Early Twentieth-Century Colonial India
The Mittal Institute welcomes India fellow Dr. P. Arun, a postdoctoral scholar whose work explores the interplay of politics, law, and technology. Under the mentorship of Prof. Sugata Bose, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Department of History, Harvard University, he will delve into the surveillance practices of late colonial India, examining how postal and telegraph systems were weaponized against colonial subjects and anti-colonial movements. In the interview, Arun shares insights into his research, his aspirations for the fellowship, and the broader significance of his work.
India Fellow Nobonita Rakshit’s Work on Exploring Water Justice Through Graphic Literature
The Mittal Institute welcomes two new India Fellows, including Dr. Nobonita Rakshit, a postdoctoral scholar whose work explores how the participatory art form of graphic narratives serves as a powerful response to India’s anthropogenic water crisis.
PSIL: A Reflection from the Director’s Desk
Every January, Dominic Mao, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies in Harvard’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Andrea Wright, Assistant Dean of Harvard College, train and accompany a group of Harvard undergraduates to India in what’s known as the Program for Scientifically-Inspired Leadership (PSIL). There, they collaborate with local college students to deliver a comprehensive liberal arts and sciences curriculum to high school students. This immersive camp provides intense, hands-on learning experiences, exposing high school participants to diverse academic disciplines, extracurricular activities, and meaningful cultural exchanges. By fostering interactions across these three groups, the program creates a vibrant environment for intellectual growth and cross-cultural understanding.
Presenting the Mittal Institute’s Spring 2025 Fellows
The Mittal Institute’s Cambridge and India offices foster South Asian scholarship by hosting Fellows, Visiting Artist Fellows, and Graduate Student Associates. This spring 2025, we welcome seven new researchers and welcome back one previous fellow.
Mittal Institute Hosts Faculty Dialogues Centered on Climate Change in South Asia
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.
Column in Business Today Magazine: “How To Adapt To Extreme Heat”
In a column in the Business Today Magazine, Prof. Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School and faculty director of the Mittal Institute, highlights the challenges of extreme heat and how awareness, information, and experimentation are needed to address the problem.
Watch Now: The Mittal Institute’s Top Event Videos of 2024
In 2024, the Mittal Institute community came together for virtual and in-person events in Cambridge, New Delhi, and beyond, on a diverse array of topics: a deep dive into the impacts of heat, lectures on ancient architecture and global health, an exploration of Bangladesh’s history and future, and much more. View our curated list of some not-to-be-missed events, and visit our YouTube page for more.
Courses on South Asia at Harvard: Spring 2025
Harvard offers a wide array of courses on South Asia, ranging from language to history, politics, economics, religion, and much more. Check out a selection of what is offered during Spring 2025. Please refer to the Course Catalog for the most up-to-date information. We will continue to add to this list as we hear about more courses.
The Mittal Institute’s Winter 2024-25 Student Grant Recipients
Each semester, the Mittal Institute offers grants to Harvard students to further their research, language study, or internship opportunities. For winter 2024-25, 14 students received funding to pursue projects across five countries. Their work spans a wide range of topics, from rethinking urban waste infrastructure in Mumbai, to studying opium economies across empires, to developing AI solutions for disaster response.