A Summer of South Asian Studies: SASC Awards Grants and Fellowships to Yale students

At this time of year, during the quiet summer months on Yale’s campus, 22 undergraduate and graduate students are busy in locales distant from Yale, immersed in summer research and language training through grants and fellowships awarded by the South Asian Studies Council.

This year, four undergraduate students with a demonstrated commitment to South Asian studies were chosen as recipients of the Rustgi Fellowship. The fellowship, made possible through a gift from Anil Rustgi (Yale ’80), Vinod Rustgi (Yale ’75) and his wife, Eileen Boyle Rustgi (Yale ’77), aims to support increased understanding of the region among Yale students. Abhinav Nayar (MC ’14) is pursuing an internship at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, Joanne Anthonypillai (SM ’13) undertakes a project about the types of play shown by kindergarten and first grade children in leprosy colonies in Kancheepuram district, South India, Ashish Mitter (JE ’12) explores secularism and the Indian judiciary in a study of the Ayodhya verdict, and Yong Cho (PC ’13) examines cosmopolitanism in South Asian religious architecture.

The South Asian Studies Travel Research Grant for Undergraduate students provides summer travel grants for Yale University undergraduate research on and study of South Asian history, society, languages, and culture in the United States and internationally. This year, 10 awards were made:

Abhinav Gupta, Yuva for Sewa – Youth for Seva Health Team

Griffin Collier, Buddhist Traditions of the Western Himalayas: An Architectural Perspective

Eric Jones, Dial 1298 – Mumbai, India

Angela Ramirez, Dial 1298

Rahim Sayani, Weighing Down the Himalayas: Environmental Challenges and Potential Solutions

Shabdha Chigurupati, A Comparative Analysis of Social Entrepreneurship in Developed and Developing Countries

Shweta Johri, Distressed Children International

Debdeep Nath, Study of village artisans in manufacture, sale and distribution of handicrafts in West Bengal

Hannah Mogul-Adlin, City, Society and Culture: A linguistic History of India, Internship with Sangath

Uriel Kejsefman, The Pursuit of Gross National Happiness

Among the recipients of these undergraduate awards, Yong Cho, Angela Ramirez and Rahim Sayani, were selected as recipients of the Senior Essay Research Grant.

Graduate students pursuing South Asian studies at Yale are now eligible for research and language training support through the SASC Research and Language Study Grants for Graduate Students. This year, 5 graduate students received the award for pre-dissertation research in South Asia, while 3 students were awarded the grant to support language study.

Luisa Cortesi, Floods in Bihar, Anthropology and Forestry & Environmental Studies PhD Program

Waleed Ziad, The Disturbance at Bareilly: Shared Religious Authority and Collective Action in Pre-Communal Hindustan, History PhD Program

Emma Stein, Indian Temple Architecture, History of Art PhD Program

Uday Chandra, Negotiating Leviathan: The origins and Social Bases of Maoist Rebellions in India, Political Science PhD Program

Aniket Aga, BT Brinjal in India: The science and politics of Transgenic Agriculture, Anthropology PhD Program

Lynna Dhanani, Sanskrit study at SASLI, Wisconsin, Religious Studies PhD Program

Hayley Johnson, Sanskrit study at SASLI, Wisconsin, Religious Studies PhD Program

Gareth Nellis, AIIS Program for the Summer Hindi Program, Political Science PhD Program

For more information on grants and awards offered through the South Asian Studies Council, please refer to: