|
Gail F. Shay and Dr. Anneliese Harper, both faculty with the Maricopa Community Colleges, recently completed a Fulbright-Hays Summer Abroad Program in India. The purpose of the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, is to provide opportunities for educators and administrators with responsibilities for curriculum development in fields related to humanities, languages, and area studies. All seminars are in non-Western European countries. Seminars are designed to provide a broad and introductory cultural orientation to a particular country (ies). The program supports educators that demonstrate the need to develop and enhance their curriculum through short-term study and travel abroad. Seminars take place from late June to mid-August and last four to six weeks. This article recaps the journeys of Shay and Harper and provides brief insight into their experiences.
When we both applied for the Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad Program, "Cultural Heritage, Contemporary Concerns and Challenges for the New Millennium in India and Nepal," in October of 2002, neither of us had any idea that we would be embarking on an adventure that would prove to be one of the most fascinating learning experiences available.
Before we recount our experience, the question must be answered, "Why India?" Ironically, we both teach an intercultural communication class in the same discipline. To help students to become effective intercultural communicators, it is very helpful to have firsthand knowledge of a variety of cultures. Although both of us had traveled fairly extensively prior to this trip, neither of us had much familiarity with South Asia. Unbeknownst to each other, we each chose the seminar with a destination of India and Nepal, hoping to fill in some gaps in our knowledge and experience of cultures quite distinct from our own.
The program, sponsored by the United States Department of Education, consisted of four distinct components. In late June, we flew to Raleigh, North Carolina, where a three-day pre-departure orientation was held at North Carolina State University. There we met the other twelve participants from community colleges in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington, representing disciplines from art, English, geography, history, religion, and psychology. With the exception of one college president, all participants were faculty. During orientation, we became acquainted with other participants and attended many lectures on India and Nepal. Next we flew to New Delhi, India, experienced a brief day of orientation there, then left for Kathmandu, Nepal. There we spent a busy week (often 12 hours per day) visiting historic sites, schools, and temples. Upon our return to New Delhi, we began the third phase of the trip, in which we spent another week attending a series of seminars on India, mixed with visits to local historic monuments, temples, museums, and other sites. This was our formal introduction to Indian customs, food, street life, and more. Our discussions focused on the impact of religion on development, the role of caste, gender and ethnicity in communication, and other issues relevant to modern India.
Our final three weeks were spent traveling throughout India in just about every direction, giving us a representative slice of life in a very diverse country. Our travels immersed us in such a rich culture. Communication skills were very important, as India has 18 official languages. We also received a taste of the enormous religious diversity of this unique democratic country. There are more temples than schools, colleges, and hospitals combined, and our activities and observations reflected that reality. Some of our highlights included the Taj Mahal in Agra, riding elephants in Jaipur, climbing a fort near Hyderabad, and exploring caves carved in rock by Buddhists, Jains, and Hindus near Aurangabad. We were fortunate to visit a community college in Chennai (formerly Madras). We examined tantric figures on a temple near Puri, and watched people pray, bathe, meditate, and wash clothes from our vantage point on a boat on the holy Ganges River in Varanasi. We attended lectures, meetings and presentations on local history and culture. These are just some of the amazing experiences provided to us by our guides and local scholars that accompanied us along the way.
The primary obligation of the recipients of the Fulbright-Hays awards is to create curriculum projects that may be shared with other instructors throughout the United States. Currently, Gail is working on a PowerPoint presentation called "The Spice of Life" which will examine social and religious customs and mores as they relate to food; while Anneliese is using some of her over 400 photographs to create a digital documentary of India. We look forward to completing our projects, and to sharing our incredible educational journey through India so other faculty and students can learn about this magnificent land.
| 
