06/08/2026
🌍 The Fox International Fellowship Impact Challenge — Spring 2026 Winners
During the spring semester, incoming and outgoing fellows were invited to share how their fellowship experience has shaped their research, perspectives, and community engagement through a photo and short reflection. Thank you to all who participated in the contest. The Impact Challenge highlighted powerful moments across borders and disciplines.
We are pleased to announce the winners:
⭐ Community Engagement & Cultural Connection ⭐
Basil Bastaki, 2025–26 outgoing fellow to Jawaharlal Nehru University: From archival searches in Assam to conversations at the Brahmaputra Literature Festival, and experiences spanning Delhi to Northeast India, Basil’s fellowship highlights the power of both community engagement and cross-cultural exchange. Through interactions with scholars, historians, and local communities, his journey reflects how intellectual collaboration and lived experience open unexpected doors, foster meaningful relationships, and deepen understanding of shared histories across borders.
⭐ Research Impact ⭐
Zeba Khan, 2025–26 outgoing fellow to the University of Cambridge: Presenting at Cambridge, Zeba’s research reimagines border cities as living archives. Drawing on fieldwork in eastern Turkey, her work challenges dominant narratives of borders by foregrounding coexistence, lived experience, and alternative histories through both academic and creative expression.
Changran Liu, 2025–26 outgoing fellow to the National University of Singapore: From paddy fields in Southeast China to global academic forums, Changran’s work traces the historical transformation of sugarcane agriculture through fieldwork across Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi, and engagement with international scholarly communities. His experience reflects how local lifeworlds and global networks intersect to shape research and understanding.
Orly Shapira, 2025–26 incoming fellow from Tel Aviv University | אוניברסיטת תל-אביב to the Yale MacMillan Center: A pivotal moment at Yale University led Orly to new methodological ground in discourse analysis. Through mentorship, collaboration, and participation in the LANSI research group, she gained both practical tools and a vibrant intellectual community that transformed her confidence and research trajectory.
These submissions reflect the depth of inquiry, collaboration, and cross-cultural exchange at the heart of the Fox International Fellowship community.
✨ Scroll through the photo gallery to read each submission.