JGI Volume 13, Number 1 - Full Issue

Abstract

The Year of India marked the 34th anniversary of Kennesaw State University's (KSU) award-winning annual country study program. The program has been a major force for internationalizing our campus introducing thousands of students to the rich diversity of world cultures that make up the human family and helping them to develop a complex understanding of today's interdependent world. The program draws upon the expertise of our faculty to offer special courses, organize lectures and events, engage in collaborative research, partner with Indian universities and community groups, and mentor and assist students interested in learning about India and its place in a global society. Rather than simply continue the program's traditional format, the Year of India witnessed the implementation of several new features including the integration of a new organizational model that seeks to empower academic colleges by providing them with a more active role in program development and more focused intentional curricular connections. The new model also provides enhanced leadership opportunities for faculty with expertise related to the country of study. Finally, the new model provides a very exciting and unique opportunity for students to enroll in an interdisciplinary team-taught course with a very affordable study abroad component. As a way of introducing our campus community to India, I published the following essay on-line making it widely available before the program began. The essay is reprinted here as a way to help readers, especially those unfamiliar with Indian history and society, have a valuable entry point for further learning, inquiry, and understanding of India, as well as to provide a useful introduction to the issues examined in this volume. Unity in Diversity North, South, Central, East, and West across India the winds of change constantly blow. While Indian history, like all great civilizations, is replete with wars and violence, India is remarkable for its emphasis on non-violence and peaceful coexistence across religious and cultural differences. Boundless in its diversity, too big for one deity, it is a land of deep spirituality and mundane inanities, a place where sages abandon worldly possessions seeking liberation and where maharajas erected exquisite pleasure palaces. Home of the Himalayas and lifegiving rivers ̶ the Saraswati, Ganges, Yamuna, Narmada, Brahmaputra, Kshipra, Godavari, and Kaveri, as well as the monsoon seasons of the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, India is a crossroads and fertile land. The world's largest secular democracy and the second most populous country in the world (soon projected to be the most), with more than 400 ethnic groups and languages, India is the birthplace of four major world religions (Buddhism, 2 Journal of Global Initiatives Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism), boasts large numbers of Muslims (2nd largest Muslim population in the world-approximately 170 million) and long-standing Christian communities (approximately 24 million) as well as many other religious groups includi...