Application for Board Members 2014-15

HISG invites applications for Director positions (listed below) for next year’s Board. All members who are full time students during the academic year 2014-15 are eligible to apply. Our goal during the selection process is to maximize representation from the different Harvard schools. 

Positions:

• Director - Operations
• Director - Events
• Director - Speaker Engagement
• Director - Marketing & Communications
• Director - Sponsorships & Partnerships
• Director - Community Initiatives
• Director - Alumni Relations
• Director - Technology

You can apply by clicking this link before 11:59 pm EST, Monday 12th May 2014.

For any questions, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

[HISG]: Newsletter - March 2014

Hey Everyone!

The semester started with plenty of exciting India-focused events, drawing the community from across the Harvard schools into inspired discussion and reflections for the future of the country. The Harvard India Conference may be over, but HISG will continue to provide a platform for deliberation and discussion on various issues related to India through the recently started HISG speaker series.

Highlights:

1. Harvard-wide Holi organized by HISG - March 29th

2. Apply to be an HISG Board Member for 2014-15. Applications due on March 16

3. HISG Mentorship Program. Applications Due on March 10th

4. HISG Speaker Series launch. New launch

5. Thanks for coming out to the HISG Spring Welcome Back mixer. Photos Here

6. HISG feedback survey. Last chance to give feedback.

7. Other India-Related events (Not organized by HISG)

8. Research spotlight 

9. Contribute to the HISG Blog

Continue reading to find out more about Holi, speaker series and other community-building events planned for the next month.

1.  Harvard-wide Holi organized by HISG: Remember and enjoyed the first Harvard-wide Diwali celebrations organized by HISG? This year HISG is organizing Harvard-wide celebrations for the festival of Holi in collaboration with the South Asian Associations at Harvard College, HBS, HKS, HSPH, GSD and HLS . Save the date: Saturday, March 29, 2014. Eventbrite invite to follow soon!

2.  Apply to be an HISG board member for 2014-15: After a fantastic year, the 2013-14 HISG board will be handing over the reins to a new team for the 2014-15 academic year. The board consists of members from all 13 Harvard Schools, including 6 executive positions. Currently, we are requesting applications for the position of Co-Presidents (2 positions) and Secretary (1 position).   

Process

1. Please send an email to hisg.harvardindiastudentgroup@gmail.com with the subject “HISG Application – Your Name”, which position are you applying for and a short paragraph on why you are interested in the position. No need for long/detailed statements of purpose, we just want to know what interests you!
2. Applications due by Sun, Mar 16 by noon EST.
3. We will have short, in-person conversations with the interested candidates in the last week of March (post Spring Break) and finalize the positions that week.
4. In April, the new Co-Presidents and Secretary will call for applications for the remaining board positions.

In case of any questions, please write to <hisg.harvardindiastudentgroup@gmail.com>

 

3. Apply to the HISG mentorship program: Be a mentor to young students in India. Share your own stories and in turn, learn from your mentee's resilience. In partnership with Mentor Together (www.mentortogether.org), HISG will facilitate meaningful one-on-one connections directly between you and economically challenged youth between 14-21 years of age in Pune, who will greatly benefit from your time and expertise. You will be matched to a child with shared interests, and will play an integral part in making a tangible, transformative difference in their lives. These children lack the traditional network of support and guidance and your interaction will be invaluable to them, and we hope, extremely rewarding for you. 

If you are interested in being a part of this effort, please fill out the application form by Monday, March 10^th.

• Estimated start: Early April
• Monthly Time Investment: You will be required to contact your mentee a minimum of twice a month and maintain a detailed record of your conversations. 
• Six-Month Commitment: We ask that you commit to at least 6 months in the program so that a meaningful relationship can be developed between you and your mentee and the support network provided to the child is not negated.
• Consistent Support from HISG:- HISG will train mentors on the structure, frequency and substance of mentoring calls, as well as provide support throughout the program. HISG will be with you every step of the way and will help in making this connection lasting and rewarding to both you and your mentee. 

We hope you will consider sharing the wealth of your knowledge and enthusiasm with today's youth.

DEADLINE: Monday March 10^th. Please submit the application form.

Email mrajagop@fas.harvard.edu with any questions

4. HISG speaker series launch: HISG has launched an exciting speaker series with eminent speakers from various disciplines. The series is targeted toward promoting intellectual discussions on the campus across varied topics. The series was successfully  launched on Monday, February 17, 2014 with a compelling talk by noted activist Aruna Roy who spoke about politics and activism in India. Click here to learn more about this event. Lookout for more such events we will be organizing throughout the spring semester!

5. HISG Spring Welcome Back mixer: Thanks to all those who came out to reconnect with the HISG community on Friday, February 7, 2014 at the Queen's Head Pub. You can access the photos here.

6. HISG feedback survey: Thanks to all those who gave their feedback on what's working and what can be improved at HISG. We are reopening the survey for another fortnight to allow everyone who couldn't fill the survey  the first time around to be heard. Please take 2 minutes to fill out this quick survey before March 17, 2014.

7. Other events: Here are some other upcoming events that might interest you:

• Avoiding an Energy Meltdown - A Tale of Two Countries: India and Pakistan: The Fletcher South Asia Society, Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, FLEC/Fletcher Green and Center for International Environment and Resource Policy invite you to a talk by Mr. Moazzam Alahdad, Former Director of Operations, World Bank on Tuesday, March 4th 2014, 12:30pm-2:00pm at Mugar 200, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Please RSVP here

• Why Study the Brain?
  Venkatesh Murthy, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology Harvard University
  How do you sense the world? How do you remember things? How do you sing, play or even just walk? How do you think? Of course, you do all of this with your brain, which has been called the most complex machine in the world. Who you are as a person is largely a function of the brain, from a scientific point of view. This also means that when something goes wrong with the brain there are devastating consequences to the individual as well as society. Naturally, how the brain works is one of the most exciting questions in the world. Professor Murthy will discuss how the study of neuroscience has implications not just for doctors in the clinic, but also for psychologists, educators, computer scientists, musicians, tennis players and just about everyone. He will discuss how the field is incredibly interdisciplinary, and how a student with almost any background can hope to make meaningful contributions to the field. He will also highlight some of the most exciting research topics in neuroscience.
  Friday, March 14, 2014, 8:30 AM in Cambridge, 5:30 PM in Pakistan, 6 PM in India, 6:30 PM in Sri Lanka, & Bangladesh

• Jhankaar - Yale, Harvard, MIT A Capella showcase: Join Yale Sur et Veritaal, Harvard Mirch, and MIT Ohms for a night of inspiring South Asian fusion a capella music.

• When: Friday, March 7, 2014 at 7 pm
• Where: At MIT Stata Center, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge
• RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/426318484137758/?ref=3&ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular&source=1

• Alumni event in Mumbai: The Harvard Club of Mumbai, in association with the Consulate General of the United States, Mumbai, invites you and your guests to a lecture on: Immigration, international trade and investment by Edward Alden. The speaker is the Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), specializing in U.S. economic competitiveness. This event will be particularly useful to alumni that currently have or are looking to build strong trade and investment ties with the United States.

• When: Tuesday, March 11. 7 PM - Refreshments and networking; 7:15 PM - Speaker Event Begins
• Where: US Consulate, 49, G-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex
• RSVP: hcmumbai@post.harvard.edu, or call Gaargi at 9820498444 or Russell at 9619780847 by March 9, 2014. 
• Please make sure to bring identity proof.

8. Research spotlight:

(March, 2014):  HISG members Apoorv Goyal and Abhinay Sharma are part of a six-member team working on changing the discourse on sustainable architecture through their research on thermodynamics. The predominant discourse on sustainable architecture today focuses primarily on classical steady state thermodynamics which privileges energy quantity over quality. The aim of their research is to refocus this discourse on the concept of the 2nd Law of thermodynamics, entropy, and time as a way to gain a more complete understanding of the dimensions of energy related to the built environment. The built environment is intricately connected to global networks that link places of consumption, production, resource extraction, energy conversion, and waste disposal. Designers are in a position to design for these flows of energy, both in a direct sense as well as in its material incarnation of matter and waste. The ongoing research proposes looking at cities as open living systems. As Architect and Theorist Paolo Portoghesi states “[architects] continue to consider cities as islands divorced from the surrounding countryside.”

NOTE: If you would like your research to be featured in our upcoming newsletters, write to hisg.harvardindiastudentgroup@gmail.com with a brief description of your work.

9. Contribute to the HISG Blog: Starting this month, HISG will be posting content related to India-specific events around the Harvard campus, past newsletters and other exciting information on the new HISG blog. The blog features sections for prospective students and current students. If you would like to contribute to these sections with posts and pictures, or have any suggestions to improve the blog, email us at hisg.harvardindiastudentgroup@gmail.com.

Mid-year progress report
Recap July-December 2013  
In line with the mission of continuity, collaboration and community, HISG programming has reached new heights in its third year. Here is a snapshot of HISG events from Summer and Fall 2013, helped tremendously by support from members and sponsors. We look forward to your continued support in the years ahead! 

One Harvard, Young Harvard: August 2013  

Welcome events were held in Delhi and Mumbai to provide a platform for incoming Harvard students from India to network amongst themselves and with alumni. The two events saw a combined attendance of over 150 people. The Delhi event was hosted in collaboration with the Harvard Club of India and the South Asia Institute, and the Mumbai event was co-hosted by the Harvard Club of Mumbai. 

Mixers: September-October 2013

  
To develop a stronger sense of community among HISG members and others interested in India, various mixers were held throughout the semester. HISG hosted the Welcome Back Mixer in September 2013. This was followed by the MIT-Harvard India Mixer in October 2013, jointly organized with MIT-Sangam. In addition, HISG partnered with the South Asian Students' Organization of the Harvard School of Public Health to organize the India-Mexico mixer in October 2013. 

Academic lectures: October 2013  
HISG collaborated with the Program on Legal Profession at the Harvard Law School to organize a talk on India's Public Interest Litigation (PIL) model by Pravin Parekh, the President of Harvard Club of India and senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India.

This was followed later in the month by a talk by noted innovator and change-maker Dr. Anil Gupta, Professor at IIM-Ahmedabad, who focused on inclusive innovations in India.

HISG also partnered with the South Asia Institute to organize an exclusive coffee chat with renowned photographer Raghu Rai, where students had the opportunity to discuss the photographer's life and work. 

Volunteering at Boston Children's Museum: October 2013  
HISG members collaborated with Hindu Yuva- Boston to volunteer at the Diwali celebrations of the Boston Children's Museum, explaining the festival of lights to children through arts and crafts.  

Harvard-wide Diwali night: November 2013

The Harvard-wide Diwali night was the first ever university-wide celebration of the festival of lights, with an attendance of over 400 students from across schools. Programming for the evening included an elaborate Indian dinner followed by an hour-long cultural performance featuring Indian dance and music by students from Harvard as well as Berklee College of Music. The event, which was hosted in the spacious atrium of the Northwest Building, concluded with a Bollywood dance party.

The event was organized jointly with the South Asia Caucus at Harvard Kennedy School, the South Asian Students Organization at Harvard School of Public Health, India GSD at the Graduate School of Design, and the South Asia Business Association at Harvard Business School. 

HISG is grateful to all the sponsors for the event: 
South Asia Institute
Asia Center
Graduate Commons Program
Harvard Graduate Council
Kennedy School Student Government/South Asia Caucus at HKS
South Asia Business Association at HBS
South Asian Students Organization at HSPH 
India GSD