India Initiative
Fellowship Support
The India Initiative provides invaluable financial support for our students to take intensive Indian languages courses in India during the summer and to carry out field research or intern in India. The India Initiative has made a significant difference in the academic and personal lives of numerous GW students. Since the Initiative was launched in 2007, the Sigur Center has allocated $18,000 to five undergraduate, masters, and PhD students to help finance intensive language study in the summer, carry out field research, or complete internships.
The Sigur Center and the India Initiative have disbursed five grants to three field research fellows, one language grant to study Urdu, and one internship grant to intern at New Delhi's Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. The field research fellows' projects have included: "Rethinking Economic Reforms: Power & Development in the Indian Countryside;" "The Historical Roots of Caste and Tribal Conflict in Contemporary India;" and "The Dual Legacies of the British Raj: Colonialism and Contemporary Governance in India."
Three students have been awarded a total of $14,000 to carry out field research in India this summer and to intern. The summer 2011 fellows include:
- Ivan Lidarev, MA candidate, International Affairs
- Varun Piplani, PhD candidate, Political Science
- Ajay Verghese, PhD candidate, Political Science
The India Initiative makes an enormous difference in our student's lives. In the words of one 2011 fellow:
"I'm so glad that the Sigur Center recently expanded their grants to include research on South Asia," said Ajay Verghese. My work focuses on the Maoist conflict in Eastern India and I know the Sigur Center's support will make my dissertation that much better."
Sigur Center Associate Director Deepa Ollapally accepts a Community Service Award on January 22, 2011 from Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett on behalf of the National Council of Asian Indian Associations for contributions to the study of important aspects of US-India relations.
