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The India China Institute (ICI) was recently awarded a $722,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to support the development of a new, multi-year project called the China-India Scholar-Leaders Initiative. The initiative will support up to 18 promising young scholar-leaders who are using interdisciplinary research methods to grapple with complex questions related to prosperity and inequality in India and China, and want to expand their knowledge and research capacities in this area.

The Scholar-Leaders Initiative breaks new ground with scholars in India, China and the United States,” said ICI Senior Director Ashok Gurung. “We are developing a one-of-a-kind fellowship experience focused on supporting critical, interdisciplinary approaches to studying prosperity and inequality in the world today involving both young and established scholars worldwide.

This project builds on several successful project of the India China Institute, including the India China Fellows program, the India China Knowledge and Capacity Building Initiative, and the Emerging Scholars Initiative. It also seeks to foster the emerging field of India China Studies by supporting a new generation of Scholar-Leaders who are committed to producing critical new research, teaching and course development. The initiative will build strategic partnerships among select universities and research institutes in India and China, such as Peking University and Jawaharlal Nehru University that are well positioned to sustain and advance India China studies. These efforts will be linked through the creation of new courses built around a common research and teaching agenda of Prosperity and Inequality in India and China. ICI will partner with The New School’s Global Studies program to host some of these courses, and a group of former ICI Fellows from India and China will be important partners in helping ICI to develop this new curriculum.

The initiative focuses on supporting scholars from underrepresented backgrounds (e.g., first-generation college graduates, women, ethnic minorities) and aims to ensure they have equal access and opportunities to participate in global academic networks. By focusing on the theme of prosperity and inequality in India and China, ICI aims to further advance its commitment to research, teaching, and policy engagement that advances a focus on social justice and sustainable development. ICI is well positioned to focus on the development of young scholars through the issue of prosperity and inequality. By building on this work, ICI aims to strengthen these new scholarly networks and support interdisciplinary research that can promote better critical scholarship on inequality and prosperity.

To learn more about this new initiative visit the China-India Scholar-Leaders Initiative.