The UVM Humanities Center has awarded Professor Abigail McGowan $24,500 through the Roberta Pfeufer Kahn Research Award in the Humanities to support her spring 2027 sabbatical research. The Kahn Research Award in the Humanities supports substantive research and creative projects in the humanities or humanistic social sciences conducted by tenured, tenure-track or library faculty across UVM.

McGowan’s project examines India’s embrace of modern design through the work of the mid-century Mumbai interiors firm Kamdar. The grant will support the completion of a monograph, a museum exhibition, and a digital archive exploring how Kamdar’s designs reflected the emergence of new styles and domestic ideals in postcolonial India.

This work builds on McGowan’s extensive research analyzing Kamdar’s archives, documenting surviving interiors and furniture, and interviewing clients. Her work has been presented internationally (including at a November 2025 Art Deco symposium in Mumbai) and was featured in the January 2025 Indian edition of Architectural Digest. The archive portion of the project is part of a broader initiative McGowan is leading to establish a digital design archive showcasing India’s diverse design heritage, developed in partnership with museums and archives across the country.

A leading scholar of Indian design and material culture, McGowan’s work has reshaped understandings of how private practice and interior spaces shaped India’s modern aesthetic.

The Department of History congratulates Professor McGowan on this well-deserved award.