A doctoral student at Harvard University will undertake research work in Pakistan under a fellowship recently established to honour the memory of a scholar of Pakistani origin, the University announced in Boston on Monday. The announcement made by the University's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilisations said that Daniel Majchrowicz, the student, was awarded the inaugural Momina Cheema Travel and Research Fellowship.
Cheema, daughter of Nawa-i-Waqt columnist Tyeba Zia who graduated from Harvard with a master's degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilisations in 2008, died in a road accident in June last. Her family set up the fellowship in her name. The announcement said Majchrowicz will travel to Lahore this summer to "research the literary, cultural and historical significance of Urdu safarname (travelogues), a subject which has heretofore received scant academic attention."
The fellowship is part of the Momina Cheema Foundation-Pakistan, which has also set up educational scholarships aimed at empowering girl students and to providing financial assistance to deserving students in Pakistan. In addition, the foundation has also started scholarship programme at University of Virginia Law School for students interested in Islamic law and culture.