Welcome to my blog!
Here are some frequently (and not so frequently) asked
questions that are useful in better understanding what I will be doing in India
and why I’m doing it.
Q: Why India?
Surprisingly this question doesn’t come up a lot, but I
think it’s important. There are multiple answers to this question…
I want to go somewhere totally different from the United
States.
The social justice component and the classes fit my
interests.
I want to go somewhere where I never thought I’d have the
opportunity to go.
I want to go somewhere where I might not otherwise have the
opportunity (or the courage) to go outside of study abroad.
The more I looked into India, the more fascinated I
became—the diversity in people, languages, religions; the festivals; the development—I
want to experience it all.
Q: Where will you be
in India?
Our “home base” is Visthar, Karnataka, India which outside
of Bangalore (in southern India).
We will be traveling around the country throughout the
semester in several cities including:
Koppal
Wayanad
Zahirabad
Hyderabad
New Delhi
Varanasi
Bhopal
Shravanabelegola.
In October we have a 9-day mid-semester break. This time
allows us to break into smaller groups and visit any other desired spots in
India not already on the itinerary. More to come!
Q: What will you be
doing?
As a Social Justice, Peace, and Development program, we will
be taking four classes during this semester—one each month, rather than four at
the same time. These classes are based on lectures, field experiences,
interpersonal interactions, and the like.
Classes include:
Globalization and the Ethics of Development
Identity, Resistance and Liberation
Religion, Culture, and Society in India
We each got to choose our fourth class:
Environment, Ecology, and Livelihood (my choice)
Or
Media and Society in India
Q: Are you going
alone?
I am not going alone. We are a group of 15 students from
Gustavus and Concordia. A Gustavus professor (Martin) will also be with us.
Q: When will you be
back?
December 20th – assuming everything goes as
planned.
Q: How will you be in
contact with the U.S.?
I will be taking my laptop along. When I have access to
Internet I will be checking and posting on this blog as well as the official
SJPD blog: http://sjpd2013.wordpress.com/
You can also reach me by email at emorin@gustavus.edu. I
will probably check Facebook every once in a while, but I’m hoping to keep that
at a minimum.
That's all for my first post! I'm leaving for orientation in Minneapolis tomorrow and then our flight leaves August 31st which will get us to India September 1st.
Stay tuned!
