Graduate Student Awarded Study Grant

The Department of Religious Studies would like to congratulate David Flaherty, a Master’s student studying South Asian religions, cultures, and histories, on being awarded the “Meyer-White Study Away Grant.” This grant, as sponosored and funded by William and Barbara Branch, helps to fund student research that takes them outside of North Carolina and is named after the late Drs. Jeffrey Meyer and J. Daniel White, two influential scholars who made profound impacts on student research and collaboration within this department.

“I am so honored and privileged to receive this generous award from William and Barbara Branch, and I am excited to continue my research that focuses on the intersections of South Asia, digital media, performance theories, and gender and sexuality studies. I also want to thank the faculty within this department for pushing my intellectual boundaries and being such wonderful mentors in my process as a graduate student. I especially look forward to continuing to open up spaces for critical engagement and discourse within and about India. I vividly remember taking courses with Dr. White, such as Readings from The Ramayana and Indian Art and Architecture, and diving deep within the literatures and arts within South Asia. I remember thinking: “This is exactly the place I need to be.” And ever since then, I have developed and nuanced my interests and engagements with South Asian scholarship, and I am thrilled to continue these dialogues as I progress into PhD work after completing my thesis.” –David Flaherty (dflaher1@charlotte.edu)