The 2025–2026 Hajji Baba Club Research Fellowship has been awarded

August 28, 2025

The Hajji Baba Club in New York City has announced that Kristen Pearson has been awarded the 2025–2026 Hajji Baba Club Research Fellowship. Since it was established in 2018, the programme has promoted original scholarship in the field of carpet studies and provides support and visibility for emerging scholars and independent researchers.

Chosen from an exceptional group of applicants, Pearson is an advanced PhD candidate in Anthropology and Inner Asian Studies at Harvard University. Her research explores how contemporary Kazakh pastoralists in Western Mongolia engage with felt carpets (syrmaq) as living treasuries of tradition, identity and evolving social relationships.

The programme supports Pearson’s dissertation research and her outreach collaborations with Mongolian heritage institutions. She previously directed the Nomadic Material Heritage project through the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme, which documented craft traditions among Kazakh and Uriankhai communities. From 2022 to 2024, Pearson also held the role of Textile Archaeology Fellow for a U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation project.

Tags

Anthropology, asian studies, carpet magazine, carpet news, carpet studies, Craft techniques, Dissertation research, Emerging scholars, fellowship, felt carpets, grant, Hajji Baba Club, Hajji Baba Club Research Fellowship, hali magazine, Harvard University, Independent researchers, Inner Asian Studies, Kazakh pastoralists, Kristen Pearson, Mongolian heritage, Mongolian heritage institutions, New York, Nomadic Material Heritage, PhD candidate, Scholarship support, Social relationships, Syrmaq, textile art magazine, textile news, U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, Western Mongolia