India Post News Service NEW YORK: Harvard University on Nov 14, unveiled the most ambitious expansion of research and education related to South Asia in the University’s history.

The project entails a host of new programs related to South Asia and will be pursued with an unprecedented degree of collaboration and coordination across the entire University, including Harvard College and Harvard’s 10 academic units. Harvard’s plans for expanded engagement with South Asia were developed by senior scholars and administrators from across the University and leaders from the public and private sectors around the world.

Coming a month after Drew Gilpin Faust was officially installed as the 28th President in Harvard’s history, this announcement marks the first region-wide international initiative of the Faust Presidency. Reiterating points made in her inaugural speech in October, President Faust said that accountability to the future requires that Harvard increasingly leap geographic as well as intellectual boundaries. "One of my priorities as president is the University’s engagement with societies throughout the world," she said.

"Our unprecedented expansion of scholarly engagement with the people, cultures, institutions, and economies of South Asia will enable us to contribute to the continued development of this critically important region while simultaneously learning from its rich past." During the consultative process, Harvard received a number of major gifts of $1 million or more specifically targeted to support its expansion of activity related to South Asia.

These include a gift from Sanjeev K. and Karen Petersen Mehra to endow the "Mehra Family Professorship of South Asian Studies," and gifts from Arvind Raghunathan, Anand Mahindra, Mala Gaonkar Haarmann, Victor J. Menezes, Vikram Gandhi, and Eshwar Das to support the South Asia Initiative. Each of these individuals has been appointed by President Faust as a member of what is known as the Harvard University South Asia Founders Club, a select group of volunteers who are taking a leadership position in the pursuit of the University’s vision for South Asia.

The South Asia endeavor is an effort to achieve better coordination among research scholars, fund more scholarships for South Asian students who would like to attend Harvard, and facilitate travel to and from. Rather than build a campus or install a study abroad program, Harvard is trying to achieve a reciprocal relationship that can be used as a template for other areas of the world. This is the largest expansion of academic and research activity related to this region in Harvard’s history.

The vision for this venture is informed by a group of eight interdisciplinary scholars from across the University and the Vice Provost for International Affairs, Jorge Dominguez, who will all work directly with President Faust. Interestingly, Faust was criticized that she would not be an international president, and in the weeks since she’s taken the reins, the University has announced the establishment of the largest Brazil studies program in the world; a $10 million gift for fellowships from Egypt, the largest program focused on Egypt in the University’s history; and now the South Asia endeavor. "Today we embark on a multi-year undertaking to increase Harvard’s research and learning related to South Asia," said Professor Jorge I. Dominguez, Vice Provost for International Affairs and one of the architects of the South Asia project. "Harvard’s approach to South Asia is one of mutual respect and collaboration. We have built and continue to build partnerships and relationships with students and scholars from organizations in South Asia. Harvard has much to learn from South Asia and we hope we can reciprocate." The initial objectives of Harvard’s approach to South Asia are to: * Increase the number of professors whose focus includes research related to the region; Expand financial support and scholarships for students from South Asia accepted at Harvard; *

Accelerate research related to South Asia by Harvard scholars; * Facilitate travel to and from South Asia for students and scholars from Harvard; * Increase the number of researchers, scholars, and students from South Asia who come to study, teach, and learn at Harvard; * Further partnerships with universities and other organizations in South Asia with whom Harvard may partner; and * Strengthen the South Asian community on the Harvard campus.

"The approach to South Asia is the most fully developed plan related to any geographic region outside the United States and will provide important lessons to help inform Harvard’s approach globally," said Dominguez. "The systematic collaboration inherent in our approach to South Asia holds the potential to serve as a template for the University in other geographic regions of the world. South Asia is very much a model for us." The implementation of Harvard’s plans related to South Asia will be guided by a steering committee comprised of eight senior scholars from across the University. Working with Vice Provost Dominguez, this University-wide group will set the academic agenda related to South Asia, facilitate multidisciplinary engagement in research relevant to the region, and expressly knit diverse elements of the University’s South Asia focused academic and research programs into a more cohesive whole.

The steering committee members are: * Professor Sugata Bose, Director of the South Asia Initiative and the Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at the Faculty of Arts & Sciences;

* Professor Homi K. Bhabha, Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities and Director of the Humanities Center at the Faculty of Arts & Sciences; * Professor Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School; * Professor Jennifer Leaning, professor of the Practice of International Health at the School of Public Health; * Professor Krishna G. Palepu, Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for International Development at the Harvard Business School;

* Professor Rohini Pande, Mohamed Kamal Professor of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government; * Professor Amartya Sen, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor; and * Professor Leonard van der Kuijp, professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. This bold new initiative recognizes the important role that India is now playing in the world as the largest democracy as well as for its record economic growth. "India may well be seen, in today’s public discussion, merely as China’s alter-ego, but South Asia’s long history and rich traditions deserve serious study, for which Harvard can be a wonderful base," said Amartya Sen, Lamont University Professor. Informing the decision to launch the South Asia project are a number of factors, including a dramatic increase in the number of Harvard students and scholars studying in South Asia, the opportunity for Harvard to collaborate with the region to positively impact its continued growth and evolution, and the University’s commitment to active engagement throughout the world.

"I am pleased that Harvard was able to benefit from the expertise and input from so many of our faculty, alumni, and friends during our planning process," added Dominguez. "I am particularly appreciative of the early investments made by a number of specific individuals and organizations which will help launch and support these efforts." Students from South Asia represent one of the largest groups who come to Harvard from outside of the United States; the numbers from India alone already exceed those from Germany, France, and Japan or the United Kingdom.

Today, Harvard matriculates twice the number of students from South Asia, than it did in the early 1990s. Harvard University, founded in 1636 is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. The University has grown from nine students with a single master to an enrollment of more than 18,000 degree candidates, including undergraduates and students in 10 principal academic units. An additional 13,000 students are enrolled in one or more courses in the Harvard Extension School. Over 14,000 people work at Harvard, including more than 2,000 faculty members. There are also 7,000 faculty appointments in affiliated teaching hospitals.