I’ve conducted and transcribed 17 interviews so far this summer, 13 with people currently working in India and four with people currently working in the U.S. holding H-1B visas. Since our last meeting, there have been major policy changes to both the H-1B program in the U.S. and the student visa program, with significant implications […]

Hi everyone! I am a rising fourth year PhD Candidate at the Department of Political Science at Penn. I grew up in Bombay, India and moved here to the US in 2017 to start my PhD. My research interests lie at the intersection of gender, urbanization and political participation in India. My dissertation project looks […]

I am a doctoral student in City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. My summer dissertation research is being supported by the CASI summer research grant. As a planner, I am interested in how urban space is constructed. In particular, how informal space is formed by the critical relationship that defines it – […]

I am Neelu Paleti, a rising undergraduate senior studying Health and Societies with a concentration in Health Policy. This summer I will be conducting my senior thesis project, tentatively titled Modern Births?: The Construction of Power, Choice, and Safety of Caesarean Deliveries in South India. This research stems from my broader interests in maternal and […]

I am a doctoral candidate in sociology and demography at the University of Pennsylvania whose research is supported by a 2020 CASI Summer Research Grant. I grew up in Mesa, Arizona and completed my bachelor’s degree at the University of Arizona in 2012 in international studies. As an undergraduate, I spent a year in India […]

I am Tathagat Bhatia, a rising senior in the College of Arts and Sciences from Lucknow, India. I’m majoring in Science, Technology & Society in the Department of History & Sociology of Science, and minoring in Russian. This summer I am working on my senior thesis, tentatively titled “Development Dreams: Exporting U.S. Expertise to Postcolonial […]

Hello! My name is Vikrant Dadawala, and I’m a Ph.D candidate in English and Cinema Studies. My areas of interest include science fiction, the global Cold War, middlebrow cinema, South Asian literature, and South African literature. I’m currently employed as a Summer Instructor and Critical Speaking Fellow at Penn. Before moving to the U.S for […]

I’m a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology, and my research spans the areas of migration, globalization, and immigrant incorporation and centers on the global flows of people, knowledge, and culture. I grew up outside of Philadelphia and I’m finishing up data collection and analysis for my dissertation, titled “Global Gatekeepers: How institutions enable […]

I am Arnav Bhattacharya, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History and Sociology of Science. I just cleared my candidacy exam in the end of May and am gearing up to begin research for my larger dissertation project, tentatively titled, “Making Sex Scientific: A History of Sexology in Modern India (1880-1960).” I am presently […]