Cassandra Chambliss
Cassie is a PhD candidate in Folklore & Ethnomusicology and has spent seven years studying and conducting research in Egypt with support from Fulbright IIE, Fulbright-Hays, the Center for Arabic Study Abroad, the Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration, and other grants. She came to IU with a Master’s degree in African Languages & Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she explored herosim and heroines in African and Arabic folktales. Her dissertation on the annual festival of Abul Hajjaj in Luxor, Egypt, is part of a larger examination of the complex traditions of contemporary saint veneration among Muslims and Christians. Her research interests include cultural performance, festival, verbal arts, slaughtering and animal husbandry, Sufism, Coptic culture, and the American South.
Joshua B. Harris
Josh is a M.A. candidate in the Russian and East European Institute. He received his B.A. in Russian and English from the University of the South, where he served as Head Writing Tutor in the Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Program. After graduating from the University of the South in 2007, he received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for his project “Blades and Rails: Ice Hockey and Train Travel in Slavic Europe.” Over the course of his fellowship year, he traveled to fourteen eastern and central European countries, using hockey as a means of deepening his knowledge of Slavic culture and the post-Soviet sphere. His research interests include Slavic languages, Macedonia, the Balkan Conflict, and comparative postmodern literatures. With successful applications for over $50,000 in competitive grants and over five years’ editing, proofreading and tutorial experience, Josh brings skill, experience and enthusiasm to the GradGrants Center.
