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Fri, Feb 4, 2022 at 04:00pm
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Fri, Feb 4, 2022 at 05:45pm
Speakers:
Me Me Khant (Penname: PamarNi) is a Burmese poet from Yangon, Myanmar. She began her poetry journey by writing political poems in local media outlets, criticizing the military-controlled education system (particularly the National Education Law) and crackdown of the journalists. She has then transitioned to composing a wide array of topics from love to banishment, and she especially enjoys writing about her home city. She is currently a Knight Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University, pursuing a Master’s in International Policy.
Mandy Moe Pwint Tu is a writer and a poet from Yangon, Myanmar. Her work has appeared in Longleaf Review, Tint Journal, perhappened mag, and elsewhere. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of the South and is an MFA candidate at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She is also a Thomas J. Watson Fellow. At 21, she co-founded the Yangon Literary Magazine, providing a platform for young and emerging Burmese writers to showcase their work. During her undergraduate years at Sewanee, she was involved in a number of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, serving as the president of the Organization for Cross-Cultural Understanding (OCCU) for two years and as the Order of the Gown president in her senior year.
Edna Du (Ei Htet) is a reader, writer, and community supporter. She was born and raised in Yangon, Myanmar before moving to the United States. They are currently located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Tongva people (Los Angeles). She holds a B.A. in Politics from Willamette University, with a focus on international human rights and children in armed conflict. They also write under the pen name Away and has appeared on the Aruna Global South blog. Their commitments include transnational justice, mutual aid, and community building.
Discussant:
Chu May Paing: Born and raised in Yangon, Myanmar, Chu May Paing is a first-gen immigrant currently pursuing her PhD in cultural and linguistic anthropology at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is also the founder and director of Aruna Global South, a non-profit that serves to highlight and amplify experimental scholarship from scholars of marginalized backgrounds with interests in Asia and its diasporas. Her academic writings have appeared in The New Ethnographer, American Ethnologist, Society for Linguistic Anthropology among others. When Chu is not doing research on signs, symbols, and images in Burmese political communication, she writes under the pen name of Ma Chinthe (Miss Lion). Her creative writing in Burmese has appeared in Aruna Global South blog and is forthcoming in Jakarta Biennial.
Sponsored by the Harvard University Asia Center
Co-sponsored by the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard and Aruna Global South
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Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 05:30pm
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Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 06:30pm
Each year, the Mittal Institute’s Visiting Artist Fellowship (VAF) welcomes mid-career artists from South Asia to Harvard’s campus to engage with Harvard faculty and students, to participate in art exhibitions, and to perform research using Harvard’s intellectual resources to further their art practice. On November 8, the Mittal Institute will host a Virtual Art Exhibition Opening of “Women in South Asia: Expectations, Burdens and Obligations” to showcase this year’s artists’ work. The event will open with a presentation by Fall 2021 VAFs Bunu Dhungana and Pragati Dalvi. The presentation will be followed by an online conversation between the artists and Jinah Kim, Faculty Director of the Arts Advisory Council at the Mittal Institue and George P. Bickford Professor of Indian and South Asian Art. This event is online and open to all.
The Exhibition will be on view at CGIS 4th Floor, November 1 – February 15, 2022, Monday- Friday 10AM – 5PM.
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Thu, Oct 8, 2020 at 07:30am
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Thu, Oct 8, 2020 at 09:00am
In its recent history, South Asia has witnessed a deep polarization of society fueled by ideologies that seek to exclude “the other,” variously defined through the lens of caste, religion, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation, and race. Promoted through various media, these exclusionary discourses have overshadowed the region’s rich legacy of inclusion and humanism expressed through its vibrant literary and performative traditions, best exemplified by Amir Khusrau, South Asia’s legendary historian, poet, musician, and mystic.
This presentation, which features performances by musician and writer, Ali Sethi, and Dastango (story-teller), journalist, and writer, Himanshu Bajpai, with commentaries by Harvard Professor Ali Asani, aims to highlight this cosmopolitan ethic and shared cultural history by showcasing Khusrau’s work and legacy. Through the dastan-goi or qissa, traditional form of storytelling, and the qawwali, the iconic form of South Asian Sufi poetry, the presentation will offer an alternative lens through which we may engage with and appreciate difference.
Speakers:
- Ali Asani, Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures, Committee on the Study of Religion and Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University
- Ali Sethi, singer and writer
- Himanshu Bajpai, Dastango, writer, and journalist
Time: 7:30a EST / 5.00p IST / 4:30p PKT / 5:30p BST
Venue: Live on 24 hours of Harvard website
This online session is presented as part of “24 Hours of Harvard,” a special feature of Worldwide Week at Harvard 2020.
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Fri, Oct 25, 2019 at 09:00am
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Fri, Oct 25, 2019 at 06:00pm
The Pride & Progress film festival and symposium will screen movies and highlight human rights filmmakers and activists who are leading the cultural fight against laws that criminalize and discriminate against LGBTQ+ people in the former British colonies.
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Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 06:00pm
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Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 08:00pm
Our Fall 2019 Visiting Artist Fellows, Sagar Chhetri from Nepal and Sakshi Gupta from India, will exhibit their artwork to provide creative commentary on identity today in South Asia. During the reception, both Chhetri and Gupta will present their work and engage in a discussion with the audience. Snacks will be served at the October 15 opening reception!
Eclipse, Sagar Chhetri
At the Still Point of the Turning World, Sakshi Gupta
The exhibition will be available for viewing between October 15, 2019 and November 26, 2019 on the fourth floor of CGIS South. The opening reception will take place on October 15, 2019.
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Wed, Sep 4, 2019 at 04:30pm
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Wed, Sep 4, 2019 at 06:00pm
Celebrate the start of the school year with the Mittal Institute over chai and snacks! Learn from our team about the work that the Mittal Institute is doing in South Asia and the numerous funding opportunities available, interact with various Harvard South Asia student groups, and meet with other Harvard students who are interested in South Asia!
