This Week's Top Stories
August 14, 2020
In recognition of 73 years since South Asia's historic event, we're looking back at our podcast series with Harvard faculty, who spoke on various themes of the 1947 Partition of British India — from nationalism and humanitarian consequences to long-term impacts and the development of cities and settlements.
"India needs an infrastructural revolution at the borders for national security, to fortify against external threats, to bring connectivity to unconnected territory, and to maintain peace and prosperity," writes Research Affiliate Raile Rocky Ziipao, amid tensions along the Indo-China border.
Former Visiting Artist Fellow Numair Abbasi is a Pakistani artist whose practice draws on popular culture and anecdotes to challenge how gender is socially constructed and performed. In this video, he discusses the work behind his virtual exhibition, Everyday Encounters, with the Harvard Ed Portal.
Upcoming Events
Thursday–Sunday, August 13–16
The Harvard Pakistan Forum brings together academics, policy experts, businesspeople, students, and politicians from all over the globe to discuss socio-economic issues pertinent to Pakistan. This year, the discussion will delve into the situation of Pakistan in the context of the COVID-19 era.
Please register for this virtual event via the link above.
Saturday, August 22, 11:00 AM EST
Next week, join Equality Labs, the Mittal Institute, and Data and Society for a town hall on caste in tech. Speakers will explore the many dimensions of caste discrimination in tech — from recruitment, hiring, and workplace dynamics to sexual harassment and restrictive human resource policies.
Register through EventBrite via the link above for reminders.
Latest Announcements
Deadline: Monday, August 31, 11:59 PM EST
We've launched the Seed for Change Exploratory Grant Program for Harvard students who have ideas or projects that address intractable problems in India and Pakistan. Applicants can receive up to $5,000 to support their efforts. Applications can be submitted until August 31, as long as funds are still available. All materials can be submitted to Selmon Rafey (srafey@fas.harvard.edu).
Over 5 billion people living in developing nations face seemingly insurmountable institutional voids that the entrepreneur must overcome to be successful. To learn how to solve these issues, the "Contemporary Developing Countries: Entrepreneurial Solutions to Intractable Problems" course is available this fall to students at Harvard College and Harvard graduate schools, meeting Mondays and Wednesdays (3:00–4:15 PM EST) and co-taught by a team of five professors.
Very little research has been done on gender-based violence in the South Asian community, and there is a great lack of statistics to support work in this area. This Harvard-funded study will attempt to shine light on an underserved community and fill the gap in academic research. Click above to take the 5-minute anonymous survey and enter a raffle for a $50 gift card.
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