AIIS Announces its 2019-2020 Fellowship Recipients

The American Institute of Indian Studies is Pleased to Announce that the Following Scholars have been Awarded Fellowships to Carry Out their Projects in India in 2019-2020:

Tariq Ali, an associate professor in the Department of History at Georgetown University, was awarded a senior short-term fellowship to carry out his project, “Building National Economies: State, Capital and Economic Lives in Post-Partition Bengal, 1947-1965.” Professor Ali’s fellowship is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Lisa Bjorkman, an assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Louisville, was awarded a senior fellowship to carry out her project, “Theatre of Democracy: Political Communication in Mumbai.” Professor Bjorkman’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) through the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC).

Kriti Budhiraja, a graduate student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out her project, “Beyond Contested Entry and Tragic Exit: A Study of Equity in Indian Higher Education.” Ms Budhiraja is the recipient of the Joe Elder College Year in India Junior Fellowship.

Keith Cantu, a graduate student in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out his project, “Sri Sabhapati Swami and the Translocalization of Siva’s Rajayoga.” Mr. Cantu is the recipient of the Ludo and Rosane Rocher Research Fellowship in Sanskrit Studies. Mr. Cantu’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Mikaela Chase, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out her project, “Confronting Asceticism: Law, Ethics, and the Right to Life in the Jain Fast Until Death.” Ms Chase is the recipient of the Rachel F. and Scott McDermott Fellowship. Ms Chase’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Antoinette DeNapoli, an associate professor in the Department of Religion at Texas Christian University, was awarded a senior short-term fellowship to carry out her project, “The Satis are Rising: Women Gurus’ Quest for Equality in India.” Professor DeNapoli’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Edward (Ned) Dostaler, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out his project, “City of Sand: Urban Ecologies and Uncertain Life in Chennai.” Mr. Dostaler’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Jennifer Dubrow, an associate professor in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington, was awarded a senior short-term fellowship to carry out her project, “Voicing Dissent: Literary Modernism and the Progressive Writers.” Professor Dubrow’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Samyak Ghosh, a graduate student in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies at Columbia University, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out his project, “Vernacular Kingship: Political Culture in Early Modern Northeast India.” Mr. Ghosh is the recipient of the Kumkum Chatterjee Memorial Fellowship in Indian History.

Harjant Gill, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Towson University, was awarded a performing and creative arts fellowship to carry out his project, “Tales from Macholand: An Immersive 360 VR Web Series on Indian Masculinities.” Professor Gill’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Andrew Halladay, a graduate student in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out his project, “Mughal Memories and the Nascent Nation: Representing the Recent Past in Late-Colonial India.” Mr. Halladay is the recipient of the Metcalf Fellowship in Indian History. Mr. Halladay’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Nafis Hasan, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out his project, “Techno-Politics of ICTs: Investigating Bureaucracy in the Digital Age.”

Justin Henry, an instructor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Loyola University Chicago, was awarded a senior short-term fellowship to carry out his project, “Ravana’s Kingdom: Cultural Interface, Religious Identity and Historiography in Sri Lanka.” Professor Henry’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Indivar Jonnalagadda, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out his project, “Legal Titles, Illegal Practices: Land, Legitimacy, and Life in Slum Settlements of Urban India.” Mr. Jonnalagadda is the recipient of the Joseph W. Elder Fellowship in the Social Sciences.

Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner, an assistant professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia, was awarded a senior short-term fellowship to carry out her project, “Building Better Brokers: Journalists, Advocates and Intermediaries in Rural India.” Professor Kruks-Wisner’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Harini Kumar, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out her project, “Formations of Tamil Islam: Negotiations and Contestations in Contemporary South India.”

Michael Levien, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University, was awarded a senior fellowship to carry out his project, “Rural Land Markets in Liberalizing India.” Professor Levien’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Amulya Mandava, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out her project, “Unruly Desires: Marriage and the Contestation of Caste-Based Inequality in Tamil Nadu.” Ms Mandava’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Christopher McGuinness, a graduate student in the Department of Music at the City University of New York, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out his project, “Electronic Dance Music Production in Mumbai.” Mr. McGuinness’ fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Benita Menezes, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out her project, “Politics of Dispossession: Land Transactions, Brokers and Families in Maharashtra.” Ms Menezes is the recipient of the Rajendra Vora Fellowship for the Study of Society and Culture in Maharashtra.

Darshana Mini, a graduate student in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out her project, “The Transnational Journeys of Malayalam Soft Porn: Obscenity, Censorship, and the Mediation of Desire.” Ms Mini is the recipient of the Thomas W. Simons Fellowship.

Laura Murray, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at New York University, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out her project, “Sacred Cows: Science, Politics and Ecology in Developmental North India.” Ms Murray is the recipient of the Vina Sanyal Research Award.

Brent Otto, a graduate student in the Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out his project, “Anglo-Indians, South Indian Christianity, and the Politics of Caste.” Mr. Otto is the recipient of the Thomas R. Trautmann Fellowship. Mr. Otto’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Gita Pai, an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, was awarded a senior short-term fellowship to carry out her project, “In Pursuit of Dancing Siva: The History of India’s Iconic Cultural Treasure.” Professor Pai’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Joshua Pien, a graduate student in the Department of South Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out his project, “Tracing Dehlavi: 1200-1700.” Mr. Pien is the recipient of the Daniel H.H. Ingalls Memorial Fellowship. Mr. Pien’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Haimanti Roy, an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Dayton, was awarded a senior fellowship to carry out her project, “Paper Trails: Mobility, Identity, and the Making of the Indian Citizen, 1920-2015.” Professor Roy’s fellowship is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Sasha Sabherwal, a graduate student in the Department of American Studies at Yale University was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out her project, “Racializing Religion: Transnational South Asian Religion, Gender and Caste in the Punjabi Diaspora, 1947-present.” Ms Sabherwal’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Sharvari Sastry, a graduate student in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, was awarded a junior fellowship to carry out her project, “The Performance of Posterity: Archiving Theatre Practice in Modern and Contemporary India, 1960-2018.” Ms Sastry is the recipient of the Asher Family Fellowship.

Martha Selby, a professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Texas, was awarded a senior fellowship to carry out her project, “A Complete Translation of Kuruntokai, an Early Old Tamil Anthology.” Professor Selby’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Mark Steinberg, a professor in the Department of History at the University of Illinois, was awarded a senior short-term fellowship to carry out his project, “The Crooked and the Straight in the City: Urban Disorders in Bombay, Odessa, and New York City, 1919-1939.” Professor Steinberg’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Ajay Verghese, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Riverside, was awarded a senior short-term fellowship to carry out his project, “Secularization in the Hindu Tradition.” Professor Verghese’s fellowship is funded by a grant from the ECA through CAORC.

Rashmi Viswanathan, a post-doctoral fellow at the Parsons School of Design at New School University, was awarded a senior short-term fellowship to carry out her project, “Receiving the Global Modern: Private Politics of Interest in Post-War United States.” Dr. Viswanathan’s fellowship is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.