2003 Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad

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2003 Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad

• Exploring the Cultures and Social Issues of
  Contemporary South India
• Center for South Asia,
• University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Our project took fifteen teachers to South India
for five weeks of structured curriculum
development work from June 19 July 24, 2003.
Photo by Denise Roseland
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The mission of the project was to improve and
extend the integration of South India-specific
knowledge and materials into classrooms in
multi-levels, and across state standards.
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Exploring the Cultures and Social Issues of
Contemporary South India was designed to
accomplish three major goals

• to increase teachers knowledge of South India,
  and especially of Tamilnadu
• to enhance teachers ability to create new
  teaching materials and to integrate learning
  about India into the curricula of American
  schools and
• to deepen teachers understanding of educational
  thought and practice in India, as it exists in
  urban and rural settings.

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South Asia
The South Asian subcontinent is a region as vast
in size as Europe. South Asia has 40 percent of
the region's population and one of the highest
rates of population growth. However, South Asia
remains underrepresented in the curricula of
schools in the United States. The major nations
of the region include Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tibet. The
region has many diverse physical variations which
greatly influence the way people live and the
society they create.
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India
Many important facets of South Asia can be
understood by focusing on India, which is the
largest democracy in the world, and is often in
the news in connection with global economic,
political, and security issues. In recent years,
India has also played a key role in the world
market, highlighting the necessity of building
understanding between our two nations. These
reasons make it a powerful learning context for
American educators and students today.
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South India

• The southern Indian state of Tamilnadu was chosen
  as the site for this project because it provides
  a necessary antithesis to the dominant K-12
  textbook presentation of India, which tend to be
  largely one-dimensional and oriented to a
  classical view of India, with an emphasis on
  North India.

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Tamil Nadu
Tamilnadu situated in the south eastern side of
the Indian peninsula, is bounded on the east by
the Bay of Bengal, in the South by the Indian
ocean, in the west by the Arabian sea, the States
of Kerala Karnataka and in the north by
Karnataka Andhra Pradesh. Tamilnadu is the 11th
largest state in India.
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Chennai

• Chennai is the largest city in southern India. It
  is the center of the Tamil Nadu government. Up
  until several years ago it was called Madras.
  This city was one of the earliest cities set up
  by  the British. The city has marvelous buildings
  - many of which are along its beautiful sea front
  - The Marina Beach, famous holy sites, and
  growing businesses especially in the technology
  sector.

Photo by Denise Roseland
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First Impressions
The teachers were ready for their first
excursions in Chennai, sightseeing and shopping.
Here they are waiting to go!!
Eating Indian food was a new experience for some
of the teachers but learning to eat with their
right hand was a new experience for all!
Photos by Kathy Kozub
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Childrens Literature Seminar

• Organized by, Tulika Publishers,
  Chennaihttp//www.tulikabooks.com/home.htm
• Topics Included
• Overview of Childrens Literature in India
• Influences on Indian Writing in English
• Role of Childrens Books in the Classroom
• Social Organizations Creating Interactive,
  Child-centered Curriculum
• Impact of Technology in Rural Education
• Exchange between local school teachers and
  writers
• Other publishers
• http//www.tarabooks.com/

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Madurai
Madurai is another of Tamil Nadu's ancient
cities, situated on the Vaigai River. Two
thousand years ago, Madurai was the capital of
the Pandyan kings and a center of Tamil Culture
and Learning. Today, it is a lively bustling city
and a commercial center surrounded by suburbs and
villages. Many of the outerlying areas are
agricultural.
Photo by Kathy Kozub
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CESCI
The Center for Experiencing Socio-Cultural
Interaction center was our home, 20 kilo from
Madurai, surrounded by paddy fields, mango groves
and rolling hills. This is where we stayed, held
lectures, and had tutorials. CESCI is a retreat
center where social activist come together for
trainings and share their experiences from social
movements all over the country.
www.solothurn.ch/cesci
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Tutorials
Kalamkari Resist Dying
Pottery
Mridangam Drumming
Teachers were exposed to various art forms,
first-hand, during group tutorials.
South Indian Cooking
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Social Issues
Visit to CCD The Covenant Centre of Development
is a decade-old development organization active
in the drought-prone areas of four southern
districts of the state of Tamil Nadu in Southern
India. CCD focuses on promoting Community Based
Organizations (CBO), for addressing the issues of
urban migration and the evils attached to it by
capitalizing on local resources and traditional
skills. CCD aims at utilizing local resources and
traditional skills for income generation by
promoting enterprises for sustainable
development. http//www.ccd.org.in/
Visit to CRIFThe Centre for Research and
Rehabilitation of Infants and Females is a Non
Government Organization whose volunteers are
undertaking projects on HIV/AIDS prevention and
awareness, nutrition and treatment counseling for
people living with HIV/AIDS in Madurai District,
South India.  CRIF has been working to combat the
discrimination of HIV/AIDS by raising awareness
on the facts of the disease, by dispelling myths
about the disease, and by speaking out on social
tolerance, human rights and government
responsibilities. http//www.crifindia.org/about.
html
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Gandhi Seminar
Photos by Judy Freund
The teachers attended an all-day seminar on
Teaching Non-Violence The Legacy of Mahatma
Gandhi at the Gandhi Museum in Madurai. The
session was led by Dr. Jeyapragasam and several
other imminent Gandhian scholars and educators.
http//www.gandhimmm.org/
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Team-Teaching
The teachers spent time at local schools, in
Madurai, sharing and exchanging ideas about
children and education.
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Womens Studies Seminar
Lady Doak College Madurai Hosted a 2-day
residential seminar with their women's studies
faculty and students, allowing the teachers an
opportunity to experience a college campus in
India. The teachers were exposed to many
different subjects including Women and
Employment, Contemporary Social Issues, and
Higher Education and Women.
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Performing and Traditional Arts
Childrens Theater
Bharatanatayam Dance
Silk Weaving
Kolam Design
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Impact
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Exploring South India A Teachers
Guide Lesson Plans for your
Classroom
The Guide will be available May 15, 2004 Complete
with video, and online resources!

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Lesson Plans Joel Anderson (Jefferson Elementary
School, Wausau) Geography of India Brenda
Betz-Stoltz (Menomonie Middle School,
Menomonie) Market Simulation Nonviolent
Leaders Randall Randy Colton (Weston
Elementary, Schofield) Human Power or Machine
Power? Water Access and Use Sara Cujak (The
Glenholme School, Washington, CT) The Sounds of
India A Hindu Temple Marjorie Fendt
(Kindergarten, Appleton School District) Indian
Motifs and Kalamkari Money in India/Comparison
Shopping Judith A. Freund (Global Educator
Consultant, River Falls) Mapping India Jean
Hoffmann (Wauwatosa East High School,
Wauwatosa) Peace and Non-violence The teachings
of Gandhi Women in IndiaTradition vs.
Modernity Jacqueline "Jackie" Kaplan (SL
Clinician, Kennedy Elementary, Madison) Trash!
How Cities Work Dealing with Garbage in the U.S.
and India Lesson Plans for your Classroom
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Lesson PLans Sandra Kowalczyk (Reading
Specialist, Patrick Marsh Middle, Sun
Prairie) Kolam A Living Art of South
India Kathleen Kozub (Westside Elementary School,
River Falls) Introduction to South India for
your Kindergarten Class Scott Miles (Wausau West
High School, Wausau) A Potters Story Stone
Quarry Workers A Case Study of Non-governmental
Organization Amy Morgan (Belmont Community
Schools, Belmont) Democratic Government
Comparison India Power Point Presentation Ideals
of the Constitution A Comparison Folktales of
India Indian Time Capsule Stacy Ohnesorge
(Verona Elementary, Verona) Yoga Tamil Nadu
and Wisconsin Weather Forecast Butterflies
Wisconsin and Tamilnadu Denise Roseland (Kettle
Moraine High School, Kettle Moraine)
Microfinancing Works for Local Citizens and
Foreign Business Organizing a Business Trip A
Technology-integrated project Lori Woitalla
(Westside Elementary, River Falls) What Makes a
House a House? How Many Languages Do You
Speak? What is Democracy? Lesson Plans for your
Classroom
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www.wisc.edu/southasiaoutreach
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Appreciation
The Center for South Asia would like to thank the
U.S. Department of Educations Fulbright Hays
Group Project Abroad for the generous grant,
without which none of this would be possible! We
would like to express our sincere gratitude to
all of the teachers who participated in the
year-long project, sacrificing much time to
collaborate on a very exciting project. The
support from many associates in India helped to
make this project not only successful, but
memorable for all Dr. Eveline Masilamani-Meyer
for her guidance, Dr. Jeyapragasam for his
wisdom, the CESCI staff for their hospitality and
care, to all of the tutorial gurus, to all of the
performers, to all of the institutions that
arranged seminars Tulika Publications, Lady Doak
College, Gandhi Museum, Dakshina Chitra, and
lastly to all those unnamed people we came across
and interacted with if even so briefly whose
faces have not gone unforgotten and whose
spirit lives on. We hope that this project
reflects some of what we learned and experienced
and will encourage others to look beyond.
Rachel Weiss, Project Director
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