Five John Near and four Mitra Family Scholars presented their year-long humanities research projects at the annual John Near and Mitra Family Scholars recognition event on Tuesday in Nichols Auditorium. 

Supported by their Chen Lin Grant mentors, Near Scholars seniors Farhan Ansari, Natalie Barth, Ananya Pradhan, Sofia Shah and Yena Yu, and Mitra Scholars seniors Anoushka Chakravarty, Joy Hu, Linda Zeng and Ariel Zhang gave brief speeches describing their research papers and thanking those who had helped them along the way. Near Scholars studied topics within the U.S., while Mitra Scholars focused on international subjects.

As a prelude to the students’ speeches, history teacher and adviser Donna Gilbert presented the inaugural Legacy Scholar Award to honor a former Near Mitra Scholar who embodies scholarship and curiosity. This year’s award was granted to alum Olivia Zhu (‘11), who delivered a short speech congratulating the current and future Near Mitra Scholars. 

Linda researched the struggle between virtue and vice for Chinese migrants in Baja California capital Mexicali with history teacher Chris Gatto and librarian Connie Hollin and connected her findings about living between boundaries to the broader world. She emphasized the importance of finding one’s identity across borders.

“We should allow ourselves to look at our identities not as one category or the other: we’re not just STEM or humanities people,” Linda said. “We’re not belonging to one activity or hobby that we do, but we’re a combination of many different cultures, and the most meaningful stories come not from looking at one side or the other side of the border, but from looking at the spaces in between them.” 

The Near Mitra program allows seniors to work with history teachers and librarians to explore a research question of their choice relating to the humanities in a project spanning their entire senior year. Students receive small grants that enable them to conduct research at private institutions like museums and libraries. 

Joy investigated both the historical events and modern-day effects of the 1961 mass killing of Algerians living in France during the Algerian War. She commented on the sense of pride she gained from presenting her research.

“We can see historical research as a process that’s very isolating, restrictive and very contained in the past,” Joy said, “But talking to all of the other scholars and engaging with my ideas helped convince me this research has a major purpose. It’s a very welcoming academic community where you would see certain names always pop up on papers and all these other scholars in the field working towards something.”

Yena researched the role of redlining, the discriminatory act of mapping primarily minority communities to deny them home loans in the 2008 financial crisis. She felt that the Near Mitra program expanded her understanding of both her topic itself and the research process.

“When I talked about what parts I found surprising, what parts are meaningful and the advice I wanted to give to juniors next year, I felt this sense of pride and of deep affection for this next generation of scholars who are going to step into my shoes,” Yena said. “I felt this brother or sisterliness in them, and I wanted to help them out so much. So I put so much heart into the thank yous.”

Following the individual presentations, the 2025-26 Near Mitra Scholars passed a plastic torch down a line to the 2026-27 Scholars: juniors Anika Basu, Nikhil Bawa, Riya Bharath, Kayla Chen, Lana Tariq, Tara Prem, Joyce Zhang, Demi Zheng, Sophia Zhu and Elaine Zou. Both groups gave brief words of encouragement and gratitude to each other. To conclude the evening, every current Near Mitra Scholar signed copies of their essays.

Attendees entered Nichols Rotunda following the reception for snacks and a chance to network and chat with one another. 

Planning to explore the New York City Cabaret Card for her upcoming project, Anika highlighted her excitement to work with her fellow scholars.

“We’ve started talking to each other about our projects, listening to each other, hearing about our sources, exchanging feedback,” Anika said. “That community is what I’m really excited for. Research is inherently nonlinear, and that process of iteration and going through it with both the mentors and this community of peers who are just as driven, just as passionate, just as excited to do historical research.” 

Yena reflected on her experience being a Near Scholar and encouraged underclassmen to apply for the opportunity.

“I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do going into this, but coming out of it, I’ve grown so much as a person, as a researcher, as a student,” Yena said. “To everyone interested in applying, you should go for it because almost half of the scholars that I’ve talked to have gotten into this because someone else, a teacher, a friend, recommended it to them. It’s something everyone should think about or should consider applying to.”