The Office of Grants and Contracts congratulates Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, Takiyah Harper-Shipman, on a Centennial Center Research Grant from the American Political Science Association (APSA).

The $4,500 collaborative grant will fund the project entitled “Overcoming Barriers: Transnational Black Womxn Scholars of African Politics Network.” Collaborating with Professor Harper-Shipman are Professors Kira Tait, University of Massachusetts; Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, University of California at Irvine; and Robin Turner of Butler University. The US-based scholars aim to build a transnational network co-led by Africa-based womxn scholars to identify and challenge shared and distinct barriers that Black womxn scholars face in writing on African politics.

With Centennial Center funding, the collaborators will establish and host four pre-conference events at the 2021 National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS), to facilitate networking and mentoring for Black womxn African politics scholars at various points in their careers.  At the conclusion of the pre-conference, participants will be invited to join the Transnational Black Womxn Scholars of African Politics network and to participate in subsequent virtual gatherings and pre-conferences in the US and Africa that build strong ties among Black womxn scholars, support scholarship, and identify and challenge the barriers faced.

Professor Harper-Shipman’s additional grants include the collaborative “Sapelo Island Summer Fellowship” and “Farming as Resistance: Reading and Service Collective” projects, engaging student research and community experience, both funded by the Justice, Equality and Community – Davidson College initiative.

The Fulbright Program has opportunities to match varying goals and availability. There are over 450 awards in more than 125 countries, and many are open to all disciplines. The complete list of opportunities can be found in the Catalog of Awards. Opportunities range from 2 to 12 months in length and include flexible options for multiple shorter visits to many host countries. Additionally, some awards provide dependent support for scholars wishing to bring family members. U.S. citizenship is required.

For more information, visit cies.org or contact scholars@iie.org.

The Office of Grants and Contracts congratulates Assistant Professor of History and Director of Davidson in India, Sarah Waheed, on a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award.

The Fulbright fellowship in India funds six months of research for the project “Chand Bibi Sultan: Why a Medieval Muslim Queen from Southern India Matters Today.”  In researching the life of a 16^th century queen, Professor Waheed intends to highlight the prominent role of women leaders “challenging the narratives of an India long characterized by perpetual Hindu-Muslim conflict, where Muslim women, if they figure in them at all, largely exist on the margins or ‘behind the veil’ as oppressed victims of enduring patriarchy.”

In addition to the Fulbright fellowship, Professor Waheed has also been awarded an American Institute of Pakistan Studies fellowship in support of her research on the impact of the coronavirus on women, workers, and religious minorities in Pakistani cities.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Nicole Snyder will lead twelve Davidson College students to engage in high-impact research opportunities in Düsseldorf, Germany in collaboration with the research group of Prof. Dr. Laura Hartmann at the Heinrich-Heine-University (HHU), thanks to a three-year, $299,915 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Awarded in March, Davidson in Düsseldorf: Glycopolymer Research in Düsseldorf, Germany, provides undergraduate students “training in carbohydrate chemistry, polymer chemistry, molecular spectroscopy, and biochemical and biophysical techniques that will enhance their education and prepare them for a competitive international workforce.”

Professor Snyder enjoys “involving undergraduate students in my research, I have mentored nearly 50 over the past eight years. Three quarters of those students have gone on to pursue graduate work and/or medical training at some of the top institutions in the U.S.” 

The National Science Foundation’s Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) programs award projects that “engage a group of undergraduate students in active, high quality collaborative research, to develop world-class research skills in an international cohort experience.”

Professor Snyder also serves as Assistant Dean for Research and Creative Works.