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Harvard University Honours Sikh-American Human Rights Scholar

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

The Harvard Committee on General Scholarships has awarded Mallika Kaur, M.P.P. '10 the 2010-11 Sheldon Traveling Fellowship.

The competitive fellowship is awarded to one graduate from across Harvard. First nominated by Harvard Kennedy School for this award, Mallika Kaur was then selected by the Harvard-wide committee from a pool of applicants from the various graduate schools.

Mallika focuses on South Asian human rights and security issues. Her perspectives have been informed by growing up in Punjab and having worked on advocacy efforts in the United States since 2001. She holds a Master's in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.

She has worked with underrepresented communities in South Asia as well as in the diaspora.

The Sheldon Fellowship will support her travel, study, and writing on gender issues in Indian-administered Kashmir. With heightened international involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan, South Asian security issues are at the forefront today. Understanding how women are affected by and effect the situation in Kashmir will help deepen an understanding of this crucial region.

Mallika concentrated in international and global affairs at Harvard Kennedy School and in international law at Berkley Law School. Under Rory Stewart's leadership, she helped co-found and serves as the coordinator of the Kashmir Initiative at Harvard Carr Center.

The purpose of the initiative is to create an interdisciplinary dialogue around this vital region by involving students, academics, policy makers, Kashmiris and non-Kashmiris. Multilingual and with a commitment to building bridges between disparate ethnic groups, NGOs, and state actors, Mallika Kaur continues to work toward promoting inclusive security and democracy.

[Courtesy: Harvard Gazette]

September 16, 2010

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