Winter and Spring 2023 Fellows


APARAJITHA ANANTHARAMAN ‘24

Concentration: Comparative Literature and Religious Studies

Travel Location: Chennai, India

Project Overview: Every year, the city of Chennai erupts into the festive "Margazhi Season," abounding with traditional music and dance performances. To unite identities as a Bharatanatyam dancer and as a scholar she will spend three weeks in Chennai this Winter break attending cultural performances, and writing artistic pieces about them. The immersions will accompany textual dives into the Abhinaya Darpana, a theoretical text on Indian dance. 


SOPHIE BLUMENSTEIN ‘ 23

Concentration: Urban Studies; Certificate in Data Fluency

Travel Location: Jerusalem, Israel

Project Overview: Sophie plans to conduct an analysis and research on the Jerusalem Light Rail, visiting stations along the Red Line to understand how the 2011 infrastructure project intersects with the largely separate transportation systems of disparate communities.


TEVAH GEVELBAR ‘24

Concentration: International and Public Affairs

Travel Location: Amman, Jordan

Project Overview: For this project, Tevah will be traveling to Amman, Jordan to produce a podcast that will interview everyday citizens of Jordan at coffee shops. Her podcast will provide outsiders a glimpse into Jordanian daily life and will use this art form as a medium to build global community and understanding through storytelling. 


AYAN RAHMAN ‘24

Concentration: Urban Studies

Travel Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh

Project Overview: Research project in which Ayan will collect qualitative data in the form of video interviews and oral narratives of rural populations of Bangladesh facing issues of environmental degradation induced by climate change forcing mass migration to urban areas. Furthermore, he will be studying slum developments as a result of mass migrations and understanding urban resiliency measures that exist or could be implemented via advocacy toward municipal support structures.


INGRID REN ‘23

Concentration: English (nonfiction)

Travel Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Project Overview: Ingrid will travel to Stockholm, Sweden for a week in the spring 2023 semester to explore eurocentric beauty standards. Her project will result in an article about how race, racism, beauty, and beauty standards interact in America vs. Sweden / Europe at large. 


ASENETTE RUIZ ‘23

Concentration: Mechanical Engineering

Travel Location: Loma Bonita, Oaxaca, Mexico

Project Overview: Through a multi-week project with Neil Rupani ‘23, Asenette plans to improve health outcomes among socially isolated elderly populations that are vulnerable to extreme heat events in Loma Bonita, Mexico. They plan to accomplish this through a community health program that brings together multiple sources of support, including student volunteers and local health workers, for the elderly population in Loma Bonita. To address the need for this program this upcoming warm weather season we plan to execute a small-scale pilot of the full initiative to build on the execution plan during the following summer. 


NEIL RUPANI ‘23

Concentration: Public Health

Travel Location: Loma Bonita, Oaxaca, Mexico

Project Overview: Through a multi-week project with Asentte Ruiz ‘23, Neil plans to improve health outcomes among socially isolated elderly populations that are vulnerable to extreme heat events in Loma Bonita, Mexico. They plan to accomplish this through a community health program that brings together multiple sources of support, including student volunteers and local health workers, for the elderly population in Loma Bonita. To address the need for this program this upcoming warm weather season we plan to execute a small-scale pilot of the full initiative to build on the execution plan during the following summer. 


NICHOLAS SANZI ‘24

Concentration: Economics and International and Public Affairs

Travel Location: Paris, Angoulême, and Aix-en-Provence, France

Project Overview: Nicholas' project is to form an analysis and documentary of street art culture, practice, and community in French urban spaces, specifically in the cities of Paris, Angouleme, and Aix-en-Provence. The film will focus on the neighborhoods and communities these works inhabit and represent, and the histories they and their creators share.


ROSHAN SAPKOTA ‘23

Concentration: Biology (Physical Sciences Track: Computer Science)

Travel Location: Achham, Nepal 

Project Overview: Along with Dr. Ramu Kharel and Dr. Derek Lubetkin, Roshan aims to take conscious actions to address the glaring health disparity in trauma-based injuries and deaths faced by the citizens of Achham, Nepal. His project will help deliver and train community-responder trauma courses based on the World Health Organization’s Basic Emergency Care Course.