2014–2015 Kenneth I. Juster Fellows
The Weatherhead Center is pleased to announce its 2014-2015 class of Juster Fellows. Now in its fourth year, this grant initiative is made possible by the generosity of the Center’s Advisory Committee Chair, the Honorable Kenneth I. Juster, who has devoted much of his education, professional activities, and nonprofit endeavors to international affairs and is deeply engaged in promoting international understanding and advancing international relations. The Center’s Juster grants support undergraduates whose projects may be related to thesis research but may have broader experiential components as well. The newly named Juster Fellows, all of whom will be undertaking their international experiences this January, and their projects are:
Colette Bishogo, a junior African and African American Studies concentrator, will travel to Rwanda to investigate how Rwanda’s government managed to sustain a rapidly growing economy while maintaining political stability.
Hilary Higgins, a senior Government concentrator, will travel to Colombia to complete field research for her thesis entitled, “Counter Narcotics to Counterinsurgency: Assessing the Transformation of US Intervention in Colombia.”
Shatha Hussein, a senior Government concentrator, will travel to the West Bank, Ramallah, and Jerusalem to finish her thesis field research on the evolution of the Israeli settlement policy from 1967 to 2010.
Rahim Mawji, a senior African and African American Studies concentrator, will travel to South Africa and Tanzania to complete field research for his social engagement thesis that will examine and implement a leadership development program in Africa in order to test whether educational interventions focused on leadership development make a positive impact on their participants.
Priyanka Menon, a junior Mathematics concentrator, will be traveling to New Delhi, India, to begin a project in which she will analyze the intellectual histories of violence and human rights during the Indian Independence Movement from 1900 to 1947.
Nirosha Perera, a junior concentrating in History and Science, will travel to Sri Lanka along with several other students from Harvard and Pennsylvania State University to observe and work with the Ministry of Health’s medical relief program to learn about health-care delivery and disease prevention.
Shawheen Rezaei, a sophomore Economics concentrator, will travel to Dhaka, Bangladesh, for an internship at the Grameen Bank, where he plans to learn about development banking’s ability to alleviate extreme poverty.
Graduate Student Associate Awarded Fulbright Grant
Jessica Tollette, PhD candidate in sociology, was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant to Spain in sociology. Tollette is one of over 1,800 US citizens traveling abroad for the 2014–2015 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential.
Weatherhead Graduate Student Associate Receives ASA Award
Asad L. Asad, PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, received the Marvin E. Olsen Student Paper Award from the Section on Environment and Technology of the American Sociological Association (ASA) for his paper, “Contexts of Reception, Post-Disaster Migration, and Socioeconomic Mobility.”
Weatherhead Center Advisory Committee Member Funds Harvard Kennedy School Fellowship
The Pierre Keller Dual Degree Graduate Fellowship Fund was recently created at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) for students admitted to both the Graduate Institute in Geneva and Harvard Kennedy School. The fund is underwritten by a $700,000 gift from Pierre Keller, a member of the Weatherhead Center Advisory Committee and a veteran of the finance industry and proponent of international education.
The fellowship will support qualified applicants who enroll in the Mid-Career Master in Public Administration Program (MC/MPA) at HKS after completing one year in pursuit of either the Master in International Affairs or the Master in Development Studies at the Graduate Institute.
Photo Caption
Center Advisory Committee Chair Kenneth I. Juster.