Graduate Student
Parijat Jha
Graduate Student
Parijat Jha is a doctoral candidate in sociocultural anthropology, with graduate minors in Science and Technology Studies and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. He is a cultural and environmental anthropologist whose research examines agrarian and ecological transformation in the Western Himalayas. His dissertation focuses on apple cultivation and climate change within a rapidly shifting landscape of industrial monoculture, analyzing how environmental stress, market pressures, and technological interventions reshape agricultural livelihoods.
Additional Information
Juliana Fagua Arias
Graduate Student
Degree Pursued: PhD
Anticipated Degree Year: 2029
Committee Chair/Advisor: Ananda Cohen Aponte
Discipline: History of Art and Visual Studies
Primary Language: Spanish, Portuguese
Research Countries: Philippines
Additional Information
Jessie Taieun Yoon
Graduate Student
Degree Pursued: PhD
Anticipated Degree Year: 2027
Committee Chair: Nick Salvato
Discipline: Performing and Media Arts
Research Interests: Cultural Studies focusing on Asian racialization and its relationship with Asian geopolitics, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Queer/Trans of color critique
Pronouns: they/them
Additional Information
Cecilia Zajac
Graduate Student
Degree: Master of Regional Planning
Language: Nepali
Building on her past research on informal urbanism in Nepal, Cecilia is interested in questions surrounding rural-urban migration and the reconciliation between rural and urban land use practices within informal settlement contexts.
Additional Information
SEAP Summer Language Fellowship
Details
SEAP offers funding for graduate students to intensively study a Southeast Asian language during the summer.
If applicable, all applicants are required to also apply for the Graduate School Summer Foreign Language Grant due April 15, which provides up to $1,000 in international travel support.
Amount
For summer language study at any level: Tuition and fees allowance of up to $5,000, paid directly to the institution offering the language program.
Eligibility
Applicants must be PhD or master's students affiliated with SEAP.
How to Apply
In your application, you will be asked to provide information on your proposed study location. You must identify your own preferred program. Please indicate the language level you intend to study during the award period.
Your program must be at least six weeks in duration and offer at least 120 student contact hours at the advanced level or 140 contact hours at the beginning or intermediate level. Pre-assessment and post-assessment tests are required.
We strongly encourage applicants to contact the appropriate Cornell Southeast Asian Language Senior Lecturer to discuss individual language learning goals and explore potential intensive language programs.
Questions?
Please direct any questions to SEAP Program Manager Colin Peterson (crp88@cornell.edu).
Additional Information
Sepehra Azami
Graduate Student
Sepehra is a graduate student at Cornell’s Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy with interests in environmental sustainability, climate change, and agricultural policy. She is also an Environmental Finance and Impact Investing (EFII) Fellow. Sepehra currently serves as the Public Relations Chair for the graduate student–led Women in Public Policy (WIPP) organization. A big nature enthusiast, she loves hiking and running in her free time.
Language: Farsi/Dari
Additional Information
Yakin Kinger
Graduate Student
Yakin Kinger is pursuing his PhD in the History of Architecture and Urban Development (HAUD) at Cornell University. His research examines power-place relations in colonial India to decolonize architectural history writing by critically unpacking questions of land occupation, violence, and cultural domination. He reads transformations of landscapes, with a focus on baghs, to understand the complexity of their agents, processes, and histories. His research has been supported by the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) and the Graham Foundation, among others.
Additional Information
Khadija Monis
Graduate Student
Khadija Monis is an MPH candidate in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. She is deeply committed to advancing maternal and child health, with a particular focus on women’s reproductive health in Afghanistan. Her current work centers on menstrual health education and postpartum survival. Through her nonprofit, One Woman’s Education (OWE), she works to amplify Afghan women’s stories and expand access to reproductive knowledge and lifesaving care.
Additional Information
Yinka Adetu
Graduate Student
Yinka Adetu is an English Language and Literature PhD candidate exploring the afterlives of colonialism, and how histories of displacement shape contemporary identities and political experiences.
Additional Information
Dinesh Ghimire
Graduate Student
Dinesh Ghimire is a PhD Candidate in the field of plant breeding and genetics at the Robbins lab. His research focuses on using drone-based phenotyping and statistical modeling to understand plant–environment interactions and support breeding programs in developing climate-resilient, high-yielding varieties.
Languages: Nepali, Hindi, English