From improving digital literacy in India, to researching ways to prevent Alzheimer’s in Bangladesh and beyond, Harvard’s class of 2024 is full of graduates with big ideas for South Asia. These movers and shakers will now set off across the globe, eager to put into practice their years of learning. We curated a list of profiles on some notable graduates across many of Harvard’s schools — though this list is not all-encompassing, it gives you a flavor of the many ways that our Harvard graduates aim to improve the world. Congratulations, Harvard University Class of 2024!
Each semester, the Mittal Institute offers grants to Harvard students to further their research, language study, or internship opportunities. This coming summer 2024, 13 students were awarded grants to carry out projects across five countries, ranging from studies on women in Urdu print culture, to the career mobility of rural-urban migrants in India, to the environmental impacts on mothers with disabled infants, to language studies on Persian, Mewati, and more.
The multimedia exhibition HUM SAB EK (We Are One) launched this past week at CGIS South (read an interview with project leader Dr. Satchit Balsari here). Ahead of the April 15 Opening Reception, we spoke with some of the students who volunteered their time to make this exhibition a reality. Few had prior experience bringing an exhibit to life, yet they all pitched in to make it a reality. They hail from departments and schools across Harvard, with a variety of academic backgrounds and interests. Together they created something powerful, and look forward to bringing their immersive show to sites around the U.S. in in South Asia.
April 15 will mark the launch of a new multi-media exhibition on the Harvard campus, titled HUM SAB EK (We Are One). The project leader is Dr. Satchit Balsari, Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and LMSAI Steering Committee member. In this Q+A, Satchit Balsari talks about the ideation of the exhibition, what difficulties the curatorial team came across, and the lessons that public health can learn from poor working women in India.
This spring break, 27 Harvard students joined a trek to Pakistan, representing the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Business School, the Nieman Foundation, and Harvard College. Designed to immerse the student delegation in Pakistan’s culture, history, politics, and development trajectory, this trip was organized by some of the Pakistani student groups on campus.
Imaan Mirza, a third-year undergraduate concentrating in History and Literature, earned a Mittal Institute student grant to intern in January with AGHS Legal Aid Cell in Pakistan. AGHS is a law firm that provides free legal representation to the vulnerable and fights for human rights for the disenfranchised. During Imaan’s three-week internship, she completed legal research, legal drafting, and administrative tasks – read on for more about her three-week experience.