JMI Faculty gets George Greenia Research Fellowship of USA for study on Amarnath Yatra

Dr Adfer Rashid Shah of Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women’s Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has been awarded with George Greenia Research Fellowship in Pilgrimage Studies from USA’s William & Mary University for a qualitative study of Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir Valley.
The fellowship by George Greenia, the second-oldest university in the US after Harvard, provides funding for faculty to support original scholarship on pilgrimage.
Dr Shah’s project titled, ‘Understanding a Perpetual Pilgrimage in a Conflict Zone from Stakeholders’ Views and Experiences: A Qualitative Study of Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir Valley’ has been accepted for the fellowship.
Dr Shah has been researching Muslim Endowments (Auqaf), peace building and pilgrimages in India, especially Amarnath Pilgrimage in Kashmir valley for many years, this fellowship is the recognition of his years of work in this field.
He was chosen for this award during the Annual Symposium hosted by William and Mary’s Institute for Pilgrimage Studies in November this year.
The award also contains a cash prize of one thousand US dollars. Dr Shah also presented a paper (in absentia) titled ‘pilgrimage and peace building in conflict zones: Notes on Amarnath pilgrimage in India’s Kashmir Valley’ in the symposium.
Dr Shah earned his doctorate in Sociology from JMI in 2015 and has authored three books and about 40 research papers in prestigious journals. He also edits Eurasia Review as Associate Editor and also served Women’s Link Journal as Associate Editor besides writing columns for leading newspapers.