AIIS has been partnering with the Council of American Overseas Research Centers to hold intensive capacity-building and curriculum development seminars called “Exploring Urban Sustainability through India’s Cities” in India. The seminars are designed for faculty at minority-serving institutions and community colleges, in order to promote the development of “internationalized” learning environments that both broaden their students’ and larger publics’ cultural horizons, especially through comparison with their local communities, while fostering critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills for an increasingly interconnected world.
Three seminars have been held so far: in December-January 2019, December-January 2020 and December-January 2023. The first seminar included comparisons ofthe cities of Jaipur, Mysore and Bangalore to study the various economic, cultural, social and environmental pressures confronting some of India’s most important emerging cities as more and more Indians migrate to urban areas in search of work and opportunity. The more recent two seminars featured exploration of the cities of New Delhi, Jaipur and Lucknow, with special emphasis on livelihood and water quality as focal points for understanding sustainability and resilience.
In addition to exploring the challenges and opportunities created by India’s urban development, participants have been able to gain first-hand experience of the country’s fascinating history, society, and culture, while also engaging in productive partnerships and exchanges with local university faculty and activists. The seminars have been led by Professor Sandria B. Freitag of North Carolina State University.
AIIS has begun developing follow-up opportunities of various kinds to help deepen the impact of these seminars. Post-pandemic opportunities offered to alumnae of the first two seminars has resulted in follow-up projects for five faculty members in 2022-23. We hope to make this opportunity available again; we are also exploring with fellows various forms of collaboration amongst fellow participants’ campuses and with institutions in India, designed to amplify the realizations of the seminars for broad and diverse audiences of students, academics and their wider publics.
AIIS FDS 2023: Exploring Urban Sustainability & Resilience through India’s Cities (Delhi – Lucknow – Jaipur)
To support community colleges and minority-serving institutions, the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) offers fully-funded overseas seminars that help faculty and administrators gain the requisite first-hand experience needed to improve courses connecting international issues with domestic concerns, thereby underscoring global interconnections through the creation of new and innovative curricular and teaching materials.
This program, administered by CAORC in collaboration with the American Institute of Indian Studies, funds participation in a two-week capacity-building workshop in India that will include stays in the cities of Delhi, Jaipur, and Lucknow.
Funding for this program is provided to CAORC through a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, with additional financial assistance from the following U.S. National Resource Centers in South Asian Studies: Columbia University, Cornell University, Syracuse University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Washington, and University of Wisconsin, Madison.
