Zhiyu Gong (linguistics) will travel to China to record some of the last remaining speakers of the critically endangered Daur language. Kara Fikrig (entomology) will go to Colombia to study the feeding habits of mosquitoes that carry dengue fever and other diseases. Ali Abbas (applied economics and management) will spend time in Pakistan exploring collusion between citizens and the state in the property tax market.
They are three of 100 Cornell graduate students who have been awarded travel grants from the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies for the 2018-19 academic year.
The grants, which range from $400 to $2,000, will allow the students to conduct research, fieldwork and other academic activities in 41 countries. The top destinations are India, with 14 grantees; China (including Hong Kong), with eight; and Kenya, with six.
Of the 100 students, 42 will travel to Asia, 30 to Europe, 14 to Latin America, eight to Africa, three to Turkey, two to Australia and New Zealand and one to Canada.
More than 40 graduate fields are represented among the 2018-19 awardees. The highest numbers come from history (7), anthropology (6), city and regional planning (6), comparative politics (5), ecology and evolutionary biology (5), government (5), nutrition (5), applied economics and management (4), development sociology (4) and linguistics (4).
Applications were reviewed by the Comparative Muslim Societies Program, Cornell Institute for European Studies, Cornell Institute for Public Affairs, Cornell East Asia Program, Einaudi Center, Institute for African Development, International Programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, International Studies in Planning Program, Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, Latin American Studies Program, South Asia Program and Southeast Asia Program.
The Einaudi Center’s International Travel Grant Program is supported by internationalization funds from the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs. All recipients are required to register with the Cornell University International Travel Registry, which provides information on insurance and registration with U.S. embassies abroad.
