The Mittal Institute, Harvard University: Recent Episodes
The Mittal Institute, Harvard University
The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University (The Mittal Institute) engages in interdisciplinary research to advance and deepen the understanding of critical issues of South Asia and its relationship to the world.
India In Focus: Hemakshi Meghani on the Indian School of Democracy by The Mittal Institute, Harvard University
India In Focus: The Union Budget 2022 with Atanu Chakraborty by The Mittal Institute, Harvard University
In this episode, we are in conversation with Professor S.V. Subramanian, professor of Population Health and Geography at Harvard University. Professor Subramanian discusses his ongoing research project India Policy Insights for which he has been awarded a 2.2million-dollar grant by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. His current research interests include developing and applying data science approaches for precision public policy in the context of health, nutrition, and development with a focus on India; and understanding individual and population inequalities in health from a multilevel and cross-comparative perspective.
This panel discusses the development of British diplomatic efforts in Pakistan from 1947 through the “War on Terror,” as chronicled in the new book by Ian Talbot, Director of the Centre for Imperial and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Southampton and Research Affiliate at the Mittal Institute.
In the fifth episode of The COVID Chronicles podcast, Dr. Satchit Balsari speaks with Anup Malani, as they explore India's initial response to the pandemic, the involvement of private sector in scaling up the testing strategies, and innovations in collecting COVID-19 data in India.
The Future of Green India: Energy and Climate Change by The Mittal Institute, Harvard University
India’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been characterized by a pro-active public sector leadership and centralization of decision-making. The private sector and academics stepped up to the play in the early days in myriad ways, from wanting to boost testing capacity to providing models to forecast the spread of the disease. Few of these measures were effected in controlling the epidemic, many of the models did not have the data or the correct expertise truly to be helpful. One of the critiques of the response has been the lack of trained infectious disease epidemiologists at the decision-making table. With India beginning its vaccination drives, there were again attempts by thinktanks to propose strategies for prioritizing allocation.
In the fourth episode of The COVID Chronicles podcast, Dr. Satchit Balsari speaks with Dr. Sanjay Mehendale, Director of Research at PD Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre, as they discuss the importance of domain expertise in preparing to combat the epidemic.
A panel from the second day of our Bangladesh at 50 conference.
Shameran Abed, BRAC Faisal Ahmed, IMF Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Yale University Umama Zillur, Kotha Moderator: Tarun Khanna, Harvard Business School; the Mittal Institute
A panel from the second day of our Bangladesh at 50 conference.
Shameran Abed, BRAC Zafrullah Chowdhry, Gonoshasthaya Kendra Umama Zillur, Kotha Moderator: Borje Ljunggren, Formerly with Swedish Foreign Ministry
A panel from the second day of our Bangladesh at 50 conference.
Hameeda Hossain, Ain o Salish Kendra, Forum Magazine Shireen Huq, Naripokkho Naila Kabeer, London School of Economics Khushi Kabir, Nijera Kori Moderator: Marty Chen, Harvard Kennedy School; WIEGO
The Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System is an ambitious, cross-sectoral initiative to lay out the path to universal health coverage in India. Its guiding principle is that structural change toward universal health coverage can only be achieved through consultative and participatory engagement with the diverse sectors involved in healthcare and, most importantly, with India’s citizenry. This event aims to introduce the Commission to the Harvard community and invite students, researchers, faculty, and alumni to participate in the initiative. It will consist of a panel discussion featuring several of the Commission’s co-chairs and commissioners, who are leading voices from across India’s healthcare landscape. They will discuss the Commission’s five work streams (citizens’ engagement, financing, governance, human resources, and technology) and ways to get involved.
A panel from the first day of our Bangladesh at 50 conference.
Wahiduddin Mahmud, University of Dhaka Imran Matin, BRAC University Khairul Islam, Water Aid Moderator: Richard Cash, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
A panel from the first day of our Bangladesh at 50 conference.
Hossain Zillur Rahman, Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) Faisal Ahmed, IMF Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, Yale University Sajeda Amin, Population Council Moderator: Lincoln Chen, formerly China Medical Board
A panel from the first day of our Bangladesh at 50 conference.
Rounaq Jahan, Centre for Policy Dialogue Rehman Sobhan, Centre for Policy Dialogue Moderator: Gary Bass, Princeton University
In the third episode of The COVID Chronicles podcast, Dr. Satchit Balsari speaks with Manoj Mohanan, Associate Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. His team’s paper published in the Lancet Global Health reports that seroprevalence (the number of individuals in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology specimens) in Mumbai varies from 55 to 61% in the slums in Mumbai to 12 to 19% in non-slum settings. The discussion focuses on the findings and implications of this report. Mohanan takes a step back and evaluates the administrative response to the pandemic and how testing could have been conducted more effectively. He observes that the pandemic has shown to light the existing socio-economic disparities. Discussing how best the government can fight misinformation and allay the apprehension of the public regarding the vaccines, Mohanan highlights the importance of clear communication from all levels of government and civil society.
In the second episode of The COVID Chronicles podcast, in collaboration with the Times of India, Dr. Satchit Balsari speaks with Enakshi Ganguly, child rights activist and the co-founder of HAQ: Centre for Child Rights. In July 2020, Ganguly was part of the 11-member expert committee set up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on human rights; especially those of marginalized and vulnerable sections of the society. Ganguly led the discussion related to the advisory on the rights of children.
Discussing the impact of COVID-19 on children, education, and the families of migrant workers, Ganguly says that the pandemic has unfolded as a child right’s crisis. She touches on the importance of mid-day meals in addressing the food insecurity and unemployment engendered by the pandemic. She observes that the marginalized children are paying the heaviest price as millions of young people are not able to access remote learning during school shutdowns. Highlighting the spike in domestic abuse, school dropouts, and child labor because of the change in norms during the pandemic, she stresses on the need to strengthen child protection mechanisms at the local level. The children and young people will be living with the long-term secondary impacts of the pandemic unless we choose to address this issue with effective policy interventions, she concludes.
The Mittal Institute’s podcast series, “India In-Focus,” in collaboration with The Times of India, brings one-on-one discussions between faculty and experts from Harvard right into your home. Listen to prominent speakers discuss the latest transformative research and pivotal breakthroughs that have the potential to change how India conducts business, creates new ideas, and tackles pressing social, technological, and environmental challenges.
With a variety of topics ranging from science, education, politics, economics, arts and culture, to social entrepreneurship, this podcast offers a deep dive into both broad and niche subjects for anyone with a curiosity and desire to learn more about cutting-edge research across numerous disciplines.
The Mittal Institute’s podcast series, “India In-Focus,” in collaboration with The Times of India, brings one-on-one discussions between faculty and experts from Harvard right into your home. Listen to prominent speakers discuss the latest transformative research and pivotal breakthroughs that have the potential to change how India conducts business, creates new ideas, and tackles pressing social, technological, and environmental challenges.
With a variety of topics ranging from science, education, politics, economics, arts and culture, to social entrepreneurship, this podcast offers a deep dive into both broad and niche subjects for anyone with a curiosity and desire to learn more about cutting-edge research across numerous disciplines.
The Mittal Institute’s podcast series, “India In-Focus,” in collaboration with The Times of India, brings one-on-one discussions between faculty and experts from Harvard right into your home. Listen to prominent speakers discuss the latest transformative research and pivotal breakthroughs that have the potential to change how India conducts business, creates new ideas, and tackles pressing social, technological, and environmental challenges.
With a variety of topics ranging from science, education, politics, economics, arts and culture, to social entrepreneurship, this podcast offers a deep dive into both broad and niche subjects for anyone with a curiosity and desire to learn more about cutting-edge research across numerous disciplines.
The Mittal Institute’s podcast series, “India In-Focus,” in collaboration with The Times of India, brings one-on-one discussions between faculty and experts from Harvard right into your home. Listen to prominent speakers discuss the latest transformative research and pivotal breakthroughs that have the potential to change how India conducts business, creates new ideas, and tackles pressing social, technological, and environmental challenges.
With a variety of topics ranging from science, education, politics, economics, arts and culture, to social entrepreneurship, this podcast offers a deep dive into both broad and niche subjects for anyone with a curiosity and desire to learn more about cutting-edge research across numerous disciplines.
The Mittal Institute’s podcast series, “India In-Focus,” in collaboration with The Times of India, brings one-on-one discussions between faculty and experts from Harvard right into your home. Listen to prominent speakers discuss the latest transformative research and pivotal breakthroughs that have the potential to change how India conducts business, creates new ideas, and tackles pressing social, technological, and environmental challenges.
With a variety of topics ranging from science, education, politics, economics, arts and culture, to social entrepreneurship, this podcast offers a deep dive into both broad and niche subjects for anyone with a curiosity and desire to learn more about cutting-edge research across numerous disciplines.
The India In-Focus podcast is back with a special mini-series that recaps the societal response to COVID-19 in India. Over the course of this seven-part series counting down to the one-year mark of the nationwide lockdown in India, our host Satchit Balsari talks with experts across industry. Each episode gives a narrative exploration of issues key to India’s response to the pandemic and the challenges that lie ahead.
Ronak Desai, Research Associate at the Mittal Institute, moderates a discussion between Nirupama Rao, Former Foreign Secretary of India, and Vipin Narang, Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT, as they explore how the potential outcomes of the 2020 US presidential election may impact the region of South Asia.
Afghanistan was omnipresent in global news for the past two decades for all of the wrong reasons. In this podcast, the panelists explore modern and contemporary architecture and urbanism in Afghanistan to provide an updated, informed view of the country.
Discussants: Rahul Mehrotra, Professor of Urban Design and Planning, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Ajmal Maiwandi, Director, Aga Khan Trust for Culture
Anne Feenstra, Founder and Principal, Sustainable Mountain Architecture, Kathmandu; Former Dean of Architecture, CEPT University, Ahmedabad
Koukaba Mojadidi, Architect and Founder, Wingspan Architects
Ramin Sadiq, Head of Urban Planning and Design Department, Kabul University
JOIN US FOR SESSION 3 ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2020: https://bit.ly/2FceeMQ
Until recently, Afghanistan was omnipresent in global news for the past two decades for all of the wrong reasons. Addressing primarily architectural, urban, and territorial aspects of Afghanistan, the second discussion in this series focuses on the history and traditions of architecture and urbanism in Afghanistan.
Speakers: Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Assistant Professor of Urban Design, Harvard Graduate School of Design Ayaz Hosham, Faculty, Architecture Department, Kabul University Sofia Sahab, Former Lecturer, Urban Design and Planning Department, Kabul University Abdul Wasay Najimi, Architect and Conservator, Aga Khan Trust for Culture
JOIN US FOR SESSION 2 ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2020: https://bit.ly/2HuPaS9
Addressing primarily architectural, urban, and territorial aspects of Afghanistan, this discussion explores varied topics ranging from vernacular architecture and building traditions to infrastructure and cultural specificities in conjunction with issues related to historic settlements and contemporary planning in Afghanistan.
Speakers: Rahul Mehrotra, Professor of Urban Design and Planning, Harvard Graduate School of Design Onno Rühl, General Manager, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat Dennis Pieprz, Principal, Sasaki Research Victor Eskinazi, Senior Associate, Urban Designer, Sasaki Research Alykhan Mohamed, Associate, Planner, Sasaki Research Thomas Nideorest, Professional Staff, Landscape Designer, Sasaki Research Einat Rosenkrantz, Senior Associate, Urban Designer, Sasaki Research
The impact of the 1947 Partition still ripples throughout South Asia, 73 years later. However, our knowledge of this historic event is constantly being reevaluated by academics and researchers who have continued to illuminate the details of what occurred. Moderated by Jennifer Leaning, Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, this panel explores how new research efforts help us understand the full depth of the history and legacy of Partition.
Ian Talbot, Professor of History and Director of the Centre for Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies at the University of Southampton, and Yaqoob Bangash, Assistant Professor at Information Technology University in Lahore, join the discussion to provide their insights on this historic event.
In our latest podcast created with the Times of India, Shubhangi Bhadada, Mittal Institute Research Fellow, and Nadhra Khan, Associate Professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, discuss the pre-Partition architecture of Lahore, how it has been forgotten or ignored, and the importance of remembering such buildings.
Sven Beckert (Laird Bell Professor of History, Harvard University) and Dinyar Patel (Assistant Professor, S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research)discuss Dadabhai Naoroji and his five decade political career.
The global apparel industry is currently facing an unprecedented crisis resulting from the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Major fashion retailers in the Global North are closing their stores and laying off workers. This discussion addresses how we can engage in dialogues and organize across borders to simultaneously hold the global retailers, governments, and factory owners accountable for ensuring workers’ safety and wellbeing.
Moderators - Dr. Elora Chowdhury, Professor, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Massachusetts, Boston - Dr. Durba Mitra, Assistant Professor, Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University
Discussants - Taslima Akhter, Photographer and Organizer, Bangladesh Garments Sramik Shanghati - Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh - Dr. Seuty Sabur, Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, BRAC University, Bangladesh - Dr. Dina M. Siddiqi, Clinical Associate Professor, Liberal Studies, New York University - Dr. Nafisa Tanjeem, Assistant Professor, Global Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Lesley University
The global apparel industry is currently facing an unprecedented crisis resulting from the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, as major fashion retailers in the Global North close their stores and lay off workers. In this clip, Dina M. Siddiqi — Clinical Associate Professor at New York University — discusses how the pandemic has forced us to think about inequality, and the unequal system between international brands and the local manufacturers and workers who provide their products.
COVID-19 has shut down traditional education programs throughout South Asia, from primary education to higher education. This podcast delves into the unique challenges that the region is facing in the education sector, such as access to technology and the potential long-term effects of distance learning.
Discussants: - Zainab Qureshi, LEAPS Director, Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD), Harvard Kennedy School - Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Director, Center for International Development; Sumitomo-Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development Professor of International Finance and Development, Harvard Kennedy School - Fernando Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of Practice in International Education; Faculty Director, International Education Policy
A recent panel discussion at the Mittal Institute, “Rethinking the Museum Experience During and Post-COVID-19" — moderated by Jinah Kim, Professor of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University — explores how art institutions can remain nimble enough to respond to uncertainties, such as COVID-19, adapting their approach to tackle similar situations in the future. How can art institutions engage their patrons as partners in the sustainability of museums?
Martha Tedeschi, Director of the Harvard Art Museums, and Naman Ahuja, Professor of Indian Art and Architecture and Dean of the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, join Professor Kim to delve into the changes that have taken place at museums during COVID-19. Together, they explore the need for more virtual accessibility of museum exhibitions, and the critical importance of partnerships between academic institutions and museums to establish centers for research and teaching.
Enterprises have found themselves caught in the COVID-19 maelstrom across South Asia. This podcast explores the extent to which entrepreneurs have been able to work with both the state and civil society to limit the damage and distress caused by the pandemic, but also to begin exploring new opportunities that a possible “global reset” has opened up to the developing world. Speakers include:
- Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School; Director, The Mittal Institute
- Rajeeb Samdani, Co-Founder and Trustee, Samdani Art Foundation; Managing Director, Golden Harvest Group
- Osman Khalid Waheed, CEO, Ferozsons Laboratories Limited; Founder and Chair, Lahore Biennale Foundation
In this clip from our "Science, Business, and Vaccine Development to Combat the Pandemic" podcast, Umang Vohra — Managing Director and Global Chief Executive Officer of Cipla Ltd — discusses the balance between equitable access and vaccine nationalism, as well as the availability and affordability of the vaccine, with a focus on South Asia.
How has COVID-19 impacted South Asia? In this podcast, a panel of experts share the geo-politics of how vaccines are developed, the funding and distribution methods that are critical to the effort, and the global alliances that facilitate this in the world today.
- Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School & Director, Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University
- Gagandeep Kang, Executive Director, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute & Vice Chairperson of The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations
- Umang Vohra, Managing Director & Global Chief Executive Officer, Cipla Ltd.
- David E. Bloom, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics & Demography, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
How has COVID-19 impacted South Asia? Throughout the spring and summer, the Mittal Institute is bringing together Harvard faculty and in-region experts to discuss the various interdisciplinary issues that have arisen in South Asia in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the science of the virus to the impact on education, you can learn how COVID-19 will change South Asia's societies. Both full-length podcasts and clips will be available here.
How has COVID-19 impacted South Asia? Throughout the spring and summer, the Mittal Institute is bringing together Harvard faculty and in-region experts to discuss the various interdisciplinary issues that have arisen in South Asia in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the science of the virus to the impact on education, you can learn how COVID-19 will change South Asia's societies. Both full-length podcasts and clips will be available here.
How has COVID-19 impacted South Asia? Throughout the spring and summer, the Mittal Institute is bringing together Harvard faculty and in-region experts to discuss the various interdisciplinary issues that have arisen in South Asia in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the science of the virus to the impact on education, you can learn how COVID-19 will change South Asia's societies. Both full-length podcasts and clips will be available here.
How has COVID-19 impacted South Asia? Throughout the spring and summer, the Mittal Institute is bringing together Harvard faculty and in-region experts to discuss the various interdisciplinary issues that have arisen in South Asia in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the science of the virus to the impact on education, you can learn how COVID-19 will change South Asia's societies. Both full-length podcasts and clips will be available here.
We recently sat down with Alex Beaudette, Sapna Shah, and Ankur Goel: three members of Professor Conor Walsh’s research team who are working on the research and development of the Soft Robotics Toolkit. This project has grown out of research conducted at Harvard University, University College Dublin, and Trinity College Dublin to become a comprehensive resource that will teach students how to design, fabricate, model, and test their own soft robotic devices — eventually making its way to Indian classrooms. This month, the team was in Delhi to conduct workshops with a group of educators and students, testing the kit with its main audience to inform continued development of its parts and instructions.
In case you missed it: Raj Rewal and Rahul Mehrotra recently stopped by the Mittal Institute to discuss Rewal's past architectural work in India and around the world. This podcast — an excerpt from their discussion — delves into the theme of the "Timeless Rasa."
Around the world, numerous nations have witnessed a resurgence of strongman politics — and with it, many governments have bypassed democratic norms and embraced populist ideals. Focusing on President Bolsonaro of Brazil and Prime Minister Modi of India, Professors Patrick Heller, Bruno Carvalho, and Rachel Brulé discuss what nationalist and populist leadership means for Brazil, India, and the global political system at large.
Who will benefit from big health data in India? And who will be harmed? Whom will the data leave behind?
We're at an extraordinarily important time in India where digital health is concerned, and given the infrastructure, internet connectivity, and the sheer number of computer and data scientists available, India is positioned to change the way healthcare delivery has been imagined anywhere in the world.
In this podcast, Dr. Satchit Balsari, Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Fellow at Harvard FXB, and Rahul Matthan, Partner with Trilegal in India, discuss the digitization of the health ecosystem in India.
Our latest podcast on Hinduism in Nepal features Gautama Vajracharya from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in a lecture on the ceremonial purposes of the lunar calendar, entitled “Newar Ritual Calendar — New Methodology, New Discovery.”
Over 80% of Nepal's population identifies as Hindu — a religion that been practiced in the nation for hundreds of years. In this podcast, Axel Michaels from Heidelberg University gives a fascinating lecture on Hindu ritual in Nepal, entitled "The Meaning of the Meaninglessness of Rituals."
We sat down with Sneha Shrestha, Arts Program Manager at the Mittal Institute, to learn more about the meaning behind her Nepali-inspired work, the most exciting art piece she's ever worked on, and the Visiting Artist Fellowship, which brings artists from South Asia to the Mittal Institute to perform research and utilize Harvard's resources.
The deadline to apply for the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 Visiting Artist Fellowships is July 1, 2019! Click here to learn more and apply: http://bit.ly/MittalArtistFellowship
See more of Sneha's amazing work on her Instagram: @Imagine876
Devaki Jain is an Indian economist and writer, whose long and distinguished career has been dedicated to the economic empowerment of women.
Here, introduced by Harvard Professors Tarun Khanna and Diana Eck, Devaki Jain delivers the 2018/19 Mahindra Lecture, an annual event in honor of the late Harish C. Mahindra, a distinguished alumnus of Harvard College and a visionary leader of business and industry in India.
Pakistani musician and author Ali Sethi, AB '06, returned to Harvard to talk to his longtime friend and mentor Ali Asani, Professor of Indo-Muslim Religion and Cultures, about sufi poetry, his own artistic journey and life as a perpetual student of the arts, and his days as a Harvard undergraduate.
In the last episode, we heard a rousing talk by UC Berkeley's Professor Ashok Gadgil, from the Mittal Institute’s annual symposium in May, 2018. Here’s the subsequent, fascinating conversation between Professor Gadgil, Professor Tarun Khanna (Director, The Mittal Institute; Harvard Business School)and Professor Asim Khwaja (Harvard Kennedy School) - they talk about how difficult it is to solve large-scale life or death problems, even with great resources, and the kinds of things you have to do in order to get things done.
Professor Ashok Gadgil (UC Berkeley)was originally a theoretical physicist, but during his distinguished career he has had a huge impact on thousands of lives with inventions that supply clean water to the poorest people in South Asia. At our Annual Symposium in May 2018, he explained how he has moved from abstract theory to such impressive and important practice.
Image credit: Lawrence Berkeley Nat'l Lab - Roy Kaltschmidt, photographer
In the developing world, 95% of people with a clinically significant mental illness receive no treatment at all, and it costs the global economy an estimated trillion dollars a year.
Vikram Patel is a distinguished Indian psychiatrist and The Pershing Square Professor of Global Health at Harvard Medical School. The Mittal Institute's Hasit Shah caught up with him a few days before our 2018 Symposium, where Professor Patel is one of the key speakers.
Dr Emmerich Davies is a political scientist who has a long-term academic interest in India. He is now based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and with funding from SAI, he's studying the current New delhi government’s attempts to reform education in the city.
Harvard doctoral student Cresa Pugh has devoted much of her academic career to understanding Myanmar’s complex, unstable social dynamics, and has personally witnessed the destruction and impacts of the recent violence in Rakhine, home of the Rohingya.
Extracts from a talk given by prominent Indian student activist Shehla Rashid Shora at Harvard last Fall, followed by the fascinating perspectives of three Harvard College freshmen, also from India.
Sugata Bose is the Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at Harvard University. He’s also a member of India’s Parliament. On behalf of SAI, he’s speaking at the Dhaka Art Summit, a huge South Asian cultural event that takes place from Feb 2-10.
There aren’t many people who combine two distinct careers, both at the very highest level. But Rahul Mehrotra manages to runs a successful architecture firm in India and is also senior faculty at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
In this episode, the first in our series of short interviews with South Asia-focused Harvard faculty, Professor Mehrotra talks about an exhibition of his architectural work, his future plans and also India’s severe housing problems.
For this latest podcast, we dip into a fascinating conversation between three of the faculty who are leading Harvard's research into Partition.
Arun Jaitley, India’s Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, delivers the annual Mahindra Lecture for 2017/18, in honor of the late Harish C. Mahindra, a distinguished alumnus of Harvard College and a major industrialist in India.
On the 70th anniversary of the Partition of British India, here is the final podcast in our special series. Here is Part II of DR Martha Chen's extraordinary story - she was a child in India in 1947 but as an adult, she also happened to be based in the city of Dhaka as it became the capital of Bangladesh, following South Asia’s second Partition in 1971.
In Part 1 of her extraordinary and unusual story, the Harvard Kennedy School lecturer Martha Chen - who was in India in 1947 and later, witnessed the creation of Bangladesh from Dhaka in 1971 - explains her family’s deep and continuing connections to South Asia and reads from letters written by her grandmother in the months leading up to Partition.
In part 2 of Dr Lucy Chester’s compelling lecture about cartography and conflict, we hear about the Radcliffe Boundary Commission's deeply politicised role in drafting the map of India and Pakistan - 70 years later, the border remains an unresolved issue and source of violent tension.
We hear from Lucy Chester, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs at the University of Colorado and the author of 'Borders and Conflict in South Asia'. Here's the first part of her fascinating lecture from Spring, 2017.
Nearly 70 years ago, British India was partitioned along mostly religious lines - Muslims in the newly-created East and West Pakistan; Hindus, Sikhs and others in what remained of India. But, of course, it was never that simple. Here, Professor Ali Asani talks about the distinctiveness of South Asian Islam and the way in which political narratives emerged in the period leading up to Partition.
Tens of thousands of women were abducted, raped and killed during Partition. Catherine Warner, who is a College Fellow in the Department of South Asian Studies and the Department of History at Harvard, talks about what happened to many of them during - and long after - the intense violence they experienced.
Jennifer Leaning is the François-Xavier Bagnoud Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. In this extract, Professor Leaning talks about the violence that erupted during the traumatic migration caused by Partition.