Fellowship Awardees

Fellowship Awardees

Subir Chowdhury Fellowship on Quality of Life in Bangladesh 

2019 - Shikha Bhattacharjee, Ph.D. Candidate,Jurisprudence and Social Policy
Project: Construction and gGovernance of Migration Corridors: Within Bangladesh; from Bangladesh to Jordan and Lebanon; and from Ethiopia to Lebanon and Jordan.

The Chowdhury Fellowship is a wonderful opportunity for me to conduct field research in Bangladesh. The fellowship will make it possible for me to document the experiences of migrant women garment and domestic workers, first hand. This support will not only advance my dissertation research, but also provide insight into the challenges migrant women face and pathways to safeguard their rights during their migration journeys - Shikha Bhattacharjee

2018 - Helen Pitchik, Ph.D. Candidate, Epidemiology, UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Project: Pathways to Improved Child Development in Rural Bangladesh

I am extremely grateful to the Chowdhury Center for their generous support. As a Center fellow I have been able to pursue meaningful global health research during my PhD, and I have been welcomed into a unique and vibrant community of students and faculty who work in Bangladesh - Helen Pitchik

2017 - Samira Siddique, MS Candidate, Energy & Resource Group
Project: Studying the social and economic effects of climate change, with a focus on current infrastructure and environmental health vulnerabilities

The Chowdhury fellowship was a great way to tap into the Bangladesh-related research being done on the Berkeley campus and abroad, as well as feel supported in my own work by the Institute’s people and resources. It was amazing to connect with others—students and professors alike— who are working in Bangladesh and in the South Asia region more broadly and work together across disciplines - Samira Siddique

2016 - Sayah Bogor, MPH Candidate, Infectious Diseases
Project: Clinical outcomes of urinary tract infection (UTI) in women who are treated with antibiotics at the ICDDR,B hospital clinic.

2015 - Yoshika Crider, Ph.D Candidate, Energy & Resource Group
Project: Safe water and safe water technolgies, and the potential for adopting these technologies, in rural and low income Bangladesh.

2014 - Caitlin Elizabeth Cook, MPH Candidate, School of Public Health
Project: State of antibiotic resistance in pandemic, multidrug resistant pathogenic bacteria in Bangladesh, with a particular focus on UTI.

Malini Chowdhury Fellowship on Bangladesh Studies

2019 - Patrick DeSutter, Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology
Project: Engineering the Border: Islands of Containment and Mobility in Bangladesh

I am grateful to have the support of the Chowdhury Center through the Malini Chowdhury Fellowship on Bangladesh Studies. This support will allow me to conduct preliminary field research in Bangladesh to understand the connections between projects addressing climate change and those addressing humanitarian emergencies and migration. Through this research I hope to make Bangladesh more visible within anthropology and the social sciences and to make connections with researchers in Bangladesh - Patrick DeSutter

2018 - Elizabeth Herman, Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science
Project: Historical Narratives of the 1971 Liberation War

The Malini Chowdhury Fellowship on Bangladesh Studies has allowed me to pursue and deepen research on the memory of the 1971 Liberation War, a part of history that continues to have great significance in Bangladesh, yet is often overlooked by grant-making organizations. Speaking to people about the ways in which the legacy of the conflict persists, I have seen the importance of continuing to study this important part of history and the ways in which it can impact all facets of Bangladeshi society, and I am deeply grateful to have the support of the Chowdhury Center to do so - Elizabeth Herman

2017 - Kashfia Nehrin, Master of Development Practice (MDP) Candidate
Project: Research-oriented social enterprises to bring sustainable development to Bangladesh

I will be forever grateful to the Chowdhury Center for making my dream come true. The fellowship provided me with the support to conduct research on the ultra poor farming community in North Western Bangladesh. This fellowship greatly supports the inquisitive mindsets of young researchers like me who otherwise wouldn't have been able to conduct research for the development of Bangladesh - Kashfia Nehrin

2016 - Laura Boudreau, Ph.D Candidate, Business & Public Policy
Project: Identifying how interventions in Bangladesh’s RMG sector can improve garment workers’ welfare and the welfare of their families.

2015 - Sheikh Waheed Baksh, Master of Development Practice (MDP) Candidate
Project: Sustainable development that will address challenges such as human rights and extreme poverty faced by Bangladesh today.

2014 - Nafisa Akbar, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science
Project: A study of why political parties use violence as a campaign strategy in Bangladesh when the prevailing theory stipulates that parties use positive incentives to motivate voters.

Subir Chowdhury Undergraduate Scholarship

2018 - Nadia Budiman, BA, Major: South and Southeast Asian Studies (Class of 2019)
Interested in writing and education related initiatives in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.  

2017 - Joshua Dultz, BA, Major: South and Southeast Asian Studies, Minor: Buddhist Studies (Class of 2018)
Interested in learning the Thai language and early Theravada Buddhist thought and history. 

2015 & 2016 - Abhishek Dalal, BA, Public Health, South Asian Studies (Class of 2018)
Interested in medicine, health behavior, and health care administration. Involved with two health-oriented non-profit student organizations, Project RISHI and MedLife. Member of the Student Society for Stem Cell Research.

From left: Chowdhury Center Director Sanchita Saxena, Subir Chowdhury,
Caitlin Elizabeth Cook, Nafisa Akbar, Institute Chair Lawrence Cohen