Doctoral Students Receive Harvard Traveling Fellowship

Four HGSE doctoral students recently received the Harvard Traveling Fellowship from the university's Committee on General Scholarship.

The fellowship can total as much as $24,000, depending upon the candidate's proposed research budget. In the coming year, this award will provide opportunities for HGSE doctoral students Bilal Malik, Ed.M.'06, Anna Rosefsky Saavedra, Ed.M.'06, Robert Lindsley, Ed.M.'05, and Carol da Silva, Ed.M.'03, to continue their research in Pakistan, Brazil, Burma, and Colombia.

"It is quite exciting to have such a large number of HGSE students receiving these prestigious fellowships. I believe it is the most we've ever had with winning proposals," says Financial Aid Director Patty White. "It is really a testament to the caliber of our doctoral students."

Although the doctoral students are humbled and surprised by their awards, many admit that they are not surprised to see so many HGSE students receiving the fellowships.

"Like HGSE students in general, those of us who conduct research internationally are extremely passionate about our work and many of the internationally-focused students I know are researching cutting-edge topics," da Silva says. "Their results have the potential to make a real impact on children's lives all around the world."

Saavedra, who recently won a Fulbright Scholarship, agrees. "These awards are evidence of a stronger focus on international education programs at HGSE," she says. "I'm really happy for the other three recipients. I know all of their work. It's truly exciting to be spending a year off campus."

The fellowship provides chances for these doctoral students to continue research that has long been close in their hearts and minds. For Malik, the fellowship will make possible his unique research in Pakistan without the stress or anxiety about finding funding. "I was ecstatic about receiving this fellowship, especially because of my research being in Pakistan — typically there is not a lot of funding available for research in Pakistan," he says.

Malik is also pleased knowing that his good friend, Robert Lindsley, won the fellowship as well. "I was shocked to find out that I got it. It is not one of those things that you count on, but really hope for. When I found out he got it [as well], I was the happiest person in the world."

Lindsley says a sense of validation comes with competing and winning a university-wide competition, but he is mostly relieved that he can now focus on the importance of his research.

While all the students are heading in different directions around the globe, they will bring part of HGSE with them.

"My experience at HGSE has been extremely positive. I owe a tremendous debt to Professor [Fernando] Reimers, my advisor, the person who has most shaped my understanding of education in Latin America and has been a constant support for me throughout my years as a doctoral student," da Silva says. "Sometimes I wonder how I managed to get from growing up in a village of 500 people in Michigan to living in one of most populous cities in the world! It certainly wouldn't have happened without HGSE."

Although their journeys are just beginning, the fellows are already anticipating their return to campus next year.

"I will say, after being over here and wading through my own project for a month already, I am pretty grateful to know that I am not yet finished being helped by HGSE," Lindsley says. "Committee members and writing group partners take note -- we have much still to learn together about analysis! Is it too early to book office hours for next fall?"

The following is a brief description of each fellow's research:

• Carol da Silva's research takes her to Minas Gerais, Brazil, where she will complete data collection and analysis on school factors that support or constrain reading instruction for struggling readers in a sample of primary schools.
• Robert Lindsley is already living in Burma, where he is conducting a cultural developmental psychology study of displaced Burmese young adults participating in a leadership development program on the Thai-Burma border. His study will look at the program's success, in particular whether, and how, development happens.
• In August, Bilal Malik will begin a yearlong ethnographic case study of a prominent Islamic seminary in Pakistan. Among other things, Malik's interests include looking at the sociocultural processes through which seminary students acquire their ideas about tradition, religion, secularism, and modernity.
• Anna Rosefsky Saavedra's dissertation includes research on Colombia's National Citizenship Competencies (CNCC) Program called Aulas de Paz or Classrooms for Peace. Part of Saavedra's work will be to evaluate the student, teacher, and parent roles in the program and provide feedback evaluations to date.