Ph.D. Candidates | Second-Years M.A.s | First-Year M.A.s | MIPPs If you are interested in contacting any of our students, please send an email to Jenika Kaul at southasia@jhu.edu and she will provide you with available contact information. Ph.D. Candidates Sai Ma is a Ph.D. candidate in South Asia Studies at SAIS. Originally from China, she earned her M.A. in International Politics and received two B.A.s in both Indian Language and Culture and Economics from Peking University. She worked in the Programme Planning Group at China Central Television prior to beginning joining the Ph.D. program at SAIS. She is researching issues of modernity and identity in Indian political institutions. Anit Mukherjee, a native of New Delhi, is a Ph.D. Candidate at SAIS. His dissertation focuses on civil-military relations in India. He earned his M.A. at SAIS concentrating in South Asia Studies and Strategic Studies. While at school he has conducted research projects at the Institute of Defense and Security Analyses (IDSA) and United Service Institute of India (USI), two of India’s premier security think tanks. Most recently he worked at the Brookings Institute on strategic issues in South Asia. Prior to joining SAIS, he was a Major in the Indian Army and served in numerous command and staff appointments. Commissioned into the elite Armored Corps in 1994, Anit had the distinction of serving in the Rashtriya Rifles, a specialized counter-insurgency force. During the course of his service, he also had tours of duty in Kashmir, Nagaland and left the army after the Border mobilization of 2001/2002, also known as Op Parakram. He has published in the New York Times, Armed Forces Journal and Indian Express, amongst others. He is an alumnus of National Defense Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla.
Second-Year M.A. South Asia Studies Concentrators
Taimur "Tam" Baig is concentrating in South Asia Studies and International Law. Originally from Pakistan, Tam received his B.A. from Hawaii Pacific University in 2003 with a double-major in Computer Information Systems and International Business. Tam was previously enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and is currently commissioned as an officer in the United States Air Force with a total of over eight years of military service. He would like to pursue a career as a Foreign Areas Officer with a concentration on South Asia.
Lauren Hickok is pursuing a M.A. at SAIS, concentrating in South Asia Studies. Originally from Pennsylvania, Lauren received her B.A. in History from Yale University in 2003. As an undergraduate, she became interested in international security and Asian affairs, and during the summer of 2002 worked as an intern at the American Enterprise Institute. Before SAIS, Lauren worked as a biosecurity analyst at Sandia National Laboratories, where she focused on biological threat reduction and contributed to biosecurity projects in India. Lauren maintains a strong interest in international security, and is particularly interested in the rise of India and China. During the summer of 2007, she will be working at the US Department of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. After graduation, Lauren plans to pursue a career related to Asian affairs and international security. A 1999 graduate of the University of California-Berkeley, Sarah Iqbal earned her undergraduate degree with a double-major in English and History. She then went on to earn her J.D. in 2002 from the University of California-Hastings College of the Law with a concentration in International Law. Her interest in international relations first arose from experiences living and studying in the Middle East and Europe. Sarah has previously interned with the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. She has also clerked for the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office and contracted for several law firms in San Francisco. During the summer of 2007, Sarah worked with The Asia Foundation’s San Francisco based Law Unit as a Junior Associate in Asian Affairs. Currently beginning her second year of study at SAIS, Sarah is working towards her M.A. in International Relations with a concentration in South Asia Studies and a specialization on the International Relations of Asia. She hopes to pursue a career in policy research on South Asia. Janak Mayer is concentrating in South Asia Studies and International Finance at SAIS. An Australian of part-Indian and part-American heritage, prior to SAIS, he worked for a boutique consulting firm in Melbourne, advising multinational corporations in the resources sector on sustainable development issues ranging from human rights in the extractive industries, to genetically modified agriculture, to sustainable forestry. He spent his recent summer in New York as an intern at Citi, working on controversial social and environmental risk issues related to project finance and other corporate and investment banking transactions. He is broadly interested in the nexus between finance and sustainable development - including financial sector reform, emerging markets private equity, carbon markets, energy and infrastructure finance - particularly in a South Asian context. Khalid Nadiri is concentrating on South Asia Studies, Development and Transition Economics, and Quantitative Methods at SAIS. He is originally from New York City and attended Johns Hopkins University, where he received a B.A. in Economics and English in 2003. Prior to SAIS, he worked in research at the Council on Foreign Relations and RAND. He is broadly interested in South Asian trade relations, technological absorption, and capital flows in the context of development. He is interested in a career in one of the international financial institutions or in banking and strategy consulting. He is also considering the possibility of further study in a Ph.D. program. Samit Shah, a native of Houston, Texas, graduated from Emory University in 2003 with a double major in Asian Studies and Music. He has worked with the Department of Justice, in the Antitrust Division Networks and Technology Section and the Economic Analysis Group, and interned with the Economic Development Group, a domestic microfinance non-profit. During the 2006 spring semester, he worked in Dharamsala, India as a Teaching Assistant/Program Coordinator helping to manage the Emory-IBD Tibetan Studies study abroad program. Samit plans to pursue a career with investment institutions that support public infrastructure and energy development projects in South and Central Asia. Joshua White started at SAIS in the Fall of 2006 and is concentrating in South Asia Studies. Originally from Oregon, he graduated magna cum laude from Williams College with a double major in History and Mathematics. While at Williams, he interned at Hewlett-Packard and at the U.S. Department of State in Washington. Since graduation, Josh has done work on religious freedom issues and comparative religion law at the Institute for Global Engagement, where he remains a graduate fellow. He spent last year studying the role of religion in politics in northwest Pakistan, where he lived as a guest of the MMA Islamist provincial government. Joshua plans to pursue a Ph.D. on a topic relating to religion and political stability in South Asia.
First-Year M.A. South Asia Studies Concentrators
Ujjal K Basu Roy spent the first twelve years of his life in Kolkata, the next twelve in Mumbai and has been in Indianapolis since August 2002 where he came to pursue his MA in Economics at Indiana University. He received his undergraduate and graduate degree in business and accounting from the University of Mumbai and was a financial journalist covering the Indian banking sector before moving to the US . He was working as an analyst in the Indiana State Budget Agency until recently, where his responsibilities included economic forecasting, fiscal and policy analysis and statistical modeling. Ujjal has worked in bio-ethics, economic development and start-up consulting, and as an instructor of undergraduate economics in Indianapolis prior to working for the state of Indiana. Ujjal will be specializing in South Asia Studies and International Finance at SAIS and is interested in pursuing a career in banking and finance in South Asia. Sarah Martin is pursing a M.A in South Asia Studies. Originally from New York, Sarah received a B.A. in American Studies from Cornell University in 2003. Prior to coming to SAIS, Sarah worked in the Office of Population Research at Princeton University on a project in Thailand examining young people's transitions to adulthood. She later spent two years in Boston working in HIV prevention and reproductive health at Ibis Reproductive Health. Sarah is interested in economic development, gender issues, and HIV in South Asia. John O'Bryan is pursuing a M.A. in South Asia Studies. A native of Kentucky, John received his B.S. in Economics from the University of Kentucky in 1997. Following graduation he moved to San Francisco where he worked for a successful internet startup that was eventually bought by Microsoft. After 4 years working as a web producer for MSN, John left Microsoft to travel internationally for over 2 years, focusing mainly in Africa and Asia. Prior to SAIS he spent a year working as an editor and producer for Microsoft's MSN Branded Entertainment group. He is interested in the growing role of information technology and digital media in economic and social development. Indhu Raghavan, is originally from Chennai, India. She has also lived in Saudi Arabia and came to the US to pursue undergraduate studies where she received her BA in political science from Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Since then she has been a research intern at the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research in Indianapolis and worked as an editor for the market research firm Frost & Sullivan. She is pursuing an MA in South Asia studies at SAIS and hopes to work in political and economic policy making and consulting in the South Asia region. Michael Riley is concentrating in South Asia Studies and Development and Transition Economics. Originally from New Jersey, he has his bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. From 2004 to 2006, Michael worked as an associate producer with Middle East Broadcasting Networks. He is proficient in Arabic and French, and is planning to study Hindi, Urdu and Persian while at SAIS. Jason Shah-Jahan is a first-year South Asia concentrator from New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers University in 2006 with a BA in Economics and Middle Eastern Studies, and was involved in the development of the nascent Rutgers University South Asia Studies Program. In 2005, Jason interned as an analyst with New Jersey state law enforcement and went on to study at the American University in Cairo as a Boren Scholar. He speaks Arabic and Bengali and looks forward to achieving Hindi-Urdu proficiency at SAIS. After graduation, Jason hopes to work in the public sector in a foreign affairs position. Anjali Sharan is pursuing her M.A. at SAIS with a concentration in South Asia Studies. She graduated magna cum laude from American University (Washington, D.C.) in 2002 with a double major in International Studies and Economics. While at AU, Anjali was a Research Assistant at the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and at PWR Market Research Firm (Brussels, Belgium). Prior to SAIS, Anjali was the Assistant to the Chief Mentor at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi, India where she was involved in projects related to US-India relations. After graduation she would like to pursue a career working on development issues in India. Niloufer Siddiqui is concentrating in South Asia Studies and Conflict Management. Originally from Pakistan, Niloufer grew up in Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Egypt and Switzerland. She graduated from Haverford College in 2005, where she majored in English with a minor in Political Science. Prior to SAIS, Niloufer worked for a year at a corporate law firm in New York City and then joined the ACLU’s Human Rights Program as a legal assistant, where she became increasingly interested in issues of national security post-9/11 and the resulting violations of human rights. Niloufer has previously interned with UNDP and Dawn Newspaper, both in Pakistan, and is interested in pursuing a career with an international NGO or in journalism. Anja Wagener is concentrating in both South Asia and Strategic Studies while at SAIS. A native of Germany, she holds a German-French Double Diploma in Political Science from Freie Universität in Berlin and a Masters in International Business from Sciences Po in Paris. Following her interest in foreign and security policy, she interned at the German Bundestag, the German Institute of International and Security Affairs (SWP Berlin), and the Bertelsmann Foundation. Additionally, she further enhanced her interest in economic and policy research in the private sector with internships at Crédit Agricole, S.A., and Deutsche Bank AG, among others. Her academic focus includes regional security in South Asia and Europe, interregional relations between the European Union and Asia, and energy policy. Anja plans to pursue a Ph.D. on a topic related to India, energy security and nonproliferation and a career in the private sector or policy research. Masters of International Public Policy (MIPP) with focus on South Asia Sohail Khan is a Career Officer of the Pakistan Foreign Service and is pursuing an MIPP at SAIS. Originally from Karachi, Sohail joined the Foreign Service in 1987. He has served at the Pakistan embassies in Moscow and Washington. He is a graduate of medical sciences from Tashkent Medical Institute in Uzbekistan. Following his studies at SAIS, he is expected to return to Pakistan for an assignment in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad. Scott M. Sanford is a Major in the United States Army and is pursuing a MIPP at SAIS. Originally from South Carolina, Scott graduated from Francis Marion University with his BA in History and subsequently commissioned into the army in 1997. He has served in various positions in the Field Artillery and has completed two tours of duty in Iraq. After SAIS, he will continue his Foreign Area Officer training and will eventually serve as a South Asian Foreign Area Officer for the army in assignments in both Washington DC and embassies in South Asia. Allyson Slater is a long-time broadcast journalist from New York City who is pursuing an MIPP degree at SAIS, with a focus on South Asia, some Middle East studies and Arabic, while looking at how to reframe religious and ethnic dialogue around Islamic issues. She worked for many years at Bloomberg L.P. covering financial news and politics, including Hillary Clinton’s first campaign for U.S Senate. She also covered City Hall in NYC and the Giuliani administration for many years, including during the events of 9/11. Ms. Slater also covered the U.N. Security Council during the first Persian Gulf War, and anchored briefly in London. She is currently at intermediate level in Arabic, and speaks some Russian and Mandarin. She plans to pursue a career in public diplomacy or work with an International NGO or think-tank upon graduation.
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