Integrating Teaching and Learning about India in the Curriculum through the Humanities and the Liberal Arts

FAIN: AB-50109-12

Winston-Salem State University (Winston-Salem, NC 27110-0001)
Joti Sekhon (Project Director: July 2011 to August 2016)
Robert N. Anderson (Co Project Director: December 2011 to August 2016)

A three-year series of faculty study workshops, guest lectures, and seminars providing an overview of India from historical and contemporary perspectives.

"Integrating India into the Liberal Arts Curriculum" is a three-year series of faculty study workshops, guest lectures, and follow-up seminars at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) providing an overview of India from historical and contemporary perspectives. As a part of the project, an interdisciplinary group of twelve WSSU faculty members (consisting of a core group of five humanities faculty, one faculty member each from the School of Business and Economics and the School of Health Sciences, and five faculty members chosen at large from across the campus) undertake an overview of India from historical and contemporary perspectives. The study group's focus is on classical and modern Indian literature, the country's diverse religious traditions, mainstream and subaltern perspectives on Indian history, Indian art and musical traditions, language diversity in India, and Indian women. In addition to the core group, eleven invited scholars participate in a kick-off workshop, deliver lectures, and lead seminars over three semesters. They are: South Asian studies scholars Afroz Taj, Pamela Lothspeich, and John Caldwell (all University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); Neil DeVotta (Wake Forest University); anthropologists Lisa Mitchell (University of Pennsylvania) and Sandya Hewamanne (Wake Forest University); historian Ramnarayan Rawat (University of Delaware); religious studies scholar Christian Lee Novetzke (University of Washington); English and communications studies professor Sheila Nayar (Greensboro College); art historian Rebecca M. Brown (Johns Hopkins University); international business professor Jacobus Boers (Georgia State University); women's studies scholar Anita Nahal (Howard University); and social work professor Murali Nair (Cleveland State University). The aim of the project is to develop new courses focusing on India and to infuse existing courses with knowledge about Indian culture and society in a global context to enrich the Humanities and Liberal Arts foundation of the WSSU curriculum.