BERNARD SCHWARTZ FELLOWS

About the Bernard Schwartz Fellowship
2009 Fellows
2008 Fellows
2007 Fellows

Philip Shishkin is currently a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society. Philip spent 10 years as a staff reporter of The Wall Street Journal, most of it as a foreign correspondent, running their Baghdad bureau through the height of Iraq's sectarian war in 2006 and 2007. His reporting on tensions between secular and religious forces in Turkey earned him a 2008 Wilbur award from the Religion Communicators Council. His articles on the Balkans and the Ukraine were chosen by the German Marshall Fund of the United States for its 2006 award for outstanding coverage of Europe by a journalist under 35.

Philip has written extensively about Central Asia, chronicling the turbulent nation-building process in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan as the two countries' acquired renewed strategic importance for the US, Russia, and China. In his reporting from Afghanistan, Philip has detailed the mechanics of heroin production and smuggling, a robust industry that is among the West's most intractable challenges. His recent writing on Central Asia, backed by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, appeared in Foreign Policy magazine.

At the Asia Society, his work focuses on the turbulent dynamics of Central Asia, where years of dictatorial rule, ethnic tensions, and bewildering corruption pose significant policy riddles for the US and other regional powers. Philip's research interests include democracy promotion, human rights, and the conduct of Western companies in the resource-rich region.

Recent publications and appearances on AsiaSociety.org

Other publications:

World Affairs Journal
Foreign Policy
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Dr. Hassan Abbas is currently a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society’s New York headquarters. Hassan joined Columbia University's South Asia Institute as Quaid-i-Azam Chair Professor in January 2010 and is also a Senior Advisor at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, after having been a Research Fellow at the Belfer Center from 2005 to August 2009. He is also a non-resident Fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), Michigan, and an Associate of the Pakistan Security Research Unit (PSRU), University of Bradford, in the United Kingdom. He received his Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and an LL.M. in International Law from Nottingham University, UK, where he was a Britannia Chevening Scholar (1999). Hassan also remained a visiting fellow at the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School (2002–2003) and as a visiting scholar at the Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiation (2003–2004).

His research interests are nuclear proliferation, religious extremism in South and Central Asia, and relations between Muslims and the West.

Hassan is a former Pakistani government official who served in the administrations of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1995–1996) and President Pervez Musharraf (1999–2000). His latest book, Pakistan's Drift into Extremism: Allah, the Army and America's War on Terror (M.E. Sharpe) has been on bestseller lists in India and Pakistan and was widely reviewed internationally, including by the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Far Eastern Economic Review, The Hindu, and Dawn. He has also appeared as an analyst on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, Al-jazeera, and PBS, and as a political commentator on VOA and BBC. His forthcoming book is Letters to Young Muslims on Science, Sovereignty and Sufis. Another book manuscript he is working on deals with Pakistan's nuclear program and its genesis. He runs WATANDOST, which is a blog on Pakistan and its neighbors' related affairs.

At the Asia Society, his work focuses on US-Central and -South Asia relations, especially in the context of political dynamics in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His research and writings also look at India-Pakistan relations and the potential US role in facilitating peaceful and friendly relations between the two South Asian rivals.

Recent publications and appearances on AsiaSociety.org
WATANDOST: Inside News About Pakistan and its Neighborhood
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs page on Hassan Abbas

Dr. Verónica Boix Mansilla is a Bernard Schwartz Associate Fellow in Asia Society's Education department, focusing on global competency and the educational demands of our changing world.

She has an Ed.D. in Human Development and Psychology and a Master's in Education from Harvard University, and is the Principal Investigator of the Interdisciplinary Studies Project at Project Zero. Her research and publications focus on how students, teachers, and experts develop expertise in disciplines such as history, biology, and the arts, and how they integrate such perspectives to examine interdisciplinary problems of global significance (e.g., globalization, genocide, global health, climate change, or bioethics). Her research brings together theories and methods in cognitive psychology, epistemology, pedagogy, and sociology of knowledge.

Verónica has defined "global consciousness" and argued for its significance as an aim for contemporary education. She is examining this construct empirically in collaboration with the International Baccalaureate. As a member of the Asia Society-Council of Chief State School Officers working group, she has also contributed to the definition of global competency.

The Bernard Schwartz Resident Fellows Program

The Bernard Schwartz Fellows Program seeks to contribute to a better understanding of policy challenges related to the growing importance of Asia in the international political arena and global economy. The program selects highly qualified professionals to serve as resident Fellows at Asia Society’s headquarters in New York City or its office in Washington, D.C. for up to one year. During the course of their residencies, Fellows direct a policy initiative, such as a Task Force, Study Group, or policy research project.

Additionally, the Asia Society relies on Fellows to provide in-house expertise via the media. Opportunities for Fellows to present their work and/or participate in panel discussions, conferences, and other events at the Society’s Centers in the United States and Asia are also arranged. In these ways, Fellows play an important role in the Society’s mission of advancing policy research and public education on Asia.

The application process is highly competitive. Candidates are drawn from the fields of government, academia, journalism, business, and civil society. Nominations are by invitation or by application. The defining qualifications for Bernard Schwartz Fellows are a solid record of distinction, a soundly conceived project proposal with clear policy relevance, and a commitment to engaging the policy community and the broader public. The Program does not fund pre- or postdoctoral research or work toward a degree.

The call for applications for the 2011-2012 Bernard Schwartz Fellows Program is now closed. We will be accepting applications and nominations for the 2012-2013 period in Spring 2012.