Join us in welcoming our 2019-2021 India Fellows
Please join us in welcoming our 2019-2021 India Fellows Kate Little '19 (December) going to Lady Doak College in Madurai and Kiran Melnyk '17 going to Jagori Grameen in Himachal Pradesh. They'll begin their 2-year fellowships this summer with language training. Look out for our posts about our Indonesia and Japan fellows next week.
Kate Little graduated in December 2018 with a double major in English and Environmental Studies. She grew up in the sleepy beach town of Indianola, Washington, where she enjoys kayaking and hiking while home. Kate spent her summers interning at Humanities Washington, a Seattle-based nonprofit, where she edited Spark magazine and wrote articles on events around the state about civil rights, homelessness, philosophy, and politics. Over her time at Oberlin, Kate’s interests were focused on the relationship between places and the stories that we tell about them. Her research projects included creative writing on landscape, a capstone on Native American Literature, and a literary mapping of the American Southwest. She became interested in education through her collaboration with local teachers on Environmental Dashboard projects and tutoring of elementary school students through the DuBois Project. Kate is now working as a substitute teacher in Central Kitsap School District and is looking forward to applying her interests and experience to her work at Lady Doak College.
Kiran Melnyk graduated in May 2017 with a major in Environmental Studies and a concentration in Peace and Conflict Studies. At Oberlin, Kiran was a co-organizer and float builder with the Big Parade for three years. Kiran has worked with environmental architects and natural builders, and with non-profits supporting working class Oakland tenants and incarcerated communities in California. Since graduating, Kiran has worked as a youth educator in public schools, private schools, and in city parks.
As the 2019-2021 Shansi Fellow to Jagori Grameen, he is interested in exploring the intersections of sustainable agriculture and the challenges and strains of development on existing communities. He has worked on documentary projects covering struggles for housing in Oakland, California, the relationship between French winemakers and their farmland, and has carried out field research on land tenure and agricultural practices in the face of mining company land grabs in Madagascar. Kiran is interested in learning about the role of land and agriculture in shaping community identities. He hopes to continue to engage in fieldwork regarding land management practices and family histories. Kiran looks forward to connecting to his family and cultural heritage as an Indian American living abroad.