The Center for International Studies (CIS), which administers fellowships for social science doctoral students at MIT through a variety of CIS grant programs, has announced the following recipients for 1998-99.
Under the Macarthur Program in Transnational Security, a joint MIT-Harvard program funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, CIS provides year-round and summer funds to doctoral students engaged in research on intergroup conflict and economic security.
Summer research grants were awarded to the following political science graduate students: Erin Flynn, "Compete Globally, Act Locally: Reinventing Economic Development Policy in the United States"; Ram Manikkalingam, "Political Liberalism and Cultural Pluralism"; David Mendeloff, "Making History: Truth-Telling, Mythmaking and National Self-Image in Post-Soviet Russian Education"; Daryl Press, "The Roots of Reputation: How Decisionmakers Predict Their Adversaries' Actions During Crises"; and Jessica Wattman, "Political Impacts of Humanitarian Assistance." CIS research fellow Agustin Fallas-Santana ("Safety Nets and Structural Adjustment in Electoral Democracies") also received a grant.
Academic year research fellowships were awarded to graduate students David Burbach, "Marketing Intervention: The Impact of Advocacy on Post-Cold War Humanitarian Intervention," and Apichai Shipper, "Foreign Workers and the Role of Secondary Associations in Japan."
International Energy and Environment Policy Grants are awarded to students working in the area of international energy, environment and related technology policy. The grants are provided by the Japan Endowment Fund, established in 1980 by a gift to CIS from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The following MIT doctoral students were awarded grants for 1998-99: Aniruddha Dasgupta (Department of Urban Studies and Planning), "User Payment, Service Options and Community Management: Three Myths about Sustainable Sanitation Services for the Urban Poor," and Eva T. Thorne (political science), "The Politics of Policy Compliance: The World Bank and the Social Dimensions of Development."
Six doctoral students working on development issues received summer field research grants through the Ford Development Grant Program. Five of them are in the Department of Political Science: Daniel Metz, "Feasibility Study for Future Dissertation Work on Ethnic Conflict in Syria"; Marcela Natalicchio, "The Restructuring of the Garment Industry in the Northeast of Brazil and its Effects on Workers"; Bela Prasad, "Comparative Research of Microcredit Institutions"; Rodrigo Serrano-Berthet, "Reforming Training Policies in Favor of the Poor: The Case of Brazil"; and Cory Welt, "Postponing Democracy: The Case of Azerbaijan." Brett Ballard of DUSP, "Governing Transitions in Property Relations: Upland Communities in the Lao PDR," also received a grant.
The Luce Scholars Program places young scholars from a wide variety of intellectual fields in 10-month internships throughout Asia. CIS administers the competition for the program, which is open to MIT seniors, graduate students, alumni/ae from recent classes and junior faculty.
Karin Monsler, a graduate student in the Department of Economics, was chosen as a Luce Scholar for 1998-99. She hopes to investigate the Pacific Rim as a critical contributor and market for technology advances while exploring technology partnerships and transfer agreements.
SOCIAL SCIENCE FELLOWSHIPS
The International Predissertation Fellowship Program (IPFP) adminstered by the Social Science Research Council/American Council of Learned Societies, provides 12 months of support to doctoral students in the social sciences who are considering careers in teaching and research on the developing world. The IPFP award supports students engaged in overseas or domestic language training and in area studies course work at the home university or at a university in the region of interest.
Doctoral candidate recipients for 1998-99 are Shanti Rabindran (economics), to research collective action in environmental issues in South Asia and pursue training at Harvard; Sonny Vu (linguistics), to study Chinese in Beijing and do linguistic research in Vietnam on the formal and typological connections between Chinese and Vietnamese; and Cory Welt (economics), to gain language training and conduct research in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan to analyze the relationship between state-building and nationalism, and to determine what motivates people to protest or not to protest "anti-nationalist" state policies.
The Mellon-MIT Inter-University Program on Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) and Forced Migrations awarded fellowships to Brett Ballard, "Repatriating Hmong Refugees in Laos: Developing New Institutions of Cooperation"; Sarah Lischer (political science), "Causes and Management of Ethnic Conflict Involving Refugees"; and Robinanne J. Stancavage (political science), "The Use of Statistical Analysis in Examining Refugee Repatriation Rates."
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on June 3, 1998.
