Fireflies, South India

RAMAPO SPRING SEMESTER in SOUTH INDIA
Early January – mid April

Students will enroll in a fifteen-week-long Fireflies Semester on “Culture, Development and Social Justice” (equivalent to sixteen credits) with the guidance of Siddhartha and professors from several universities across India. The four courses are sequential: Indian Life and Culture; Development Issues; Media, Justice, and Social Movements; and Independent Study.

India Curriculum

India Course Schedule

As a student you will “live your courses.” Lectures are held in the mornings followed by lunch. Afternoons are usually reserved for discussion sessions, and field trips, or time to read and write.

The courses include a wide range of experiential learning opportunities like frequent trips to temples, markets, urban and rural development projects, and cultural sites. Students watch and respond to a series of Indian films. There is a non-credit bearing program to learn the local language, Kannada.

Leisure activities include pottery, volleyball, scrabble, swimming in an outdoor pool, and exploring sites in and around Bangalore, like the Banerghatta tiger reserve.

Students will be hosted at the Fireflies Ashram, thirty kilometers from Bangalore, in a beautiful grove of exotic trees and flowers on a hill that slopes down to a lake. Students will also study and travel throughout South India.

Fireflies Ashram is a secular intercultural center concerned with sustainability, earth spirituality, the resolution of communal violence, and the deepening of democracy and civil society in India.

Pipal Tree, the citizen’s organization located in Fireflies, conducts local workshops for cultural revitalization of religion, myth, folk traditions, dance, art, and crafts as well as conflict resolution, water and agricultural sustainability. The center hosts international events and seminars on the cultural dimensions of social transformation.

The course begins in early January and ends in mid April. Many students choose to stay longer and travel around India.

Bangalore
Bangalore is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. With an estimated metropolitan population of 6.1 million (2006), it is India’s third-largest city. Bangalore is referred to as the Silicon Valley of India and accounts for 35 percent of India’s software exports. Home to prestigious colleges and research institutions, the city has the second-highest literacy rate in the nation. Bangalore is located in the heart of the Deccan Plateau at an average elevation of 920m. Due to its elevation, Bangalore enjoys a pleasant and temperate climate throughout the year; winter months are filled with days of crystal blue skies and sparkling sunshine.

Accommodations
Comfortable double rooms, each with bath, are available at Fireflies. Fireflies has conference halls, outdoor meditation centers, walking paths, computers with wireless internet service, a library and documentation center that are at the disposal of the students. During field trips accommodations will include educational institutions and hotels with equivalent facilities. Delicious south Indian meals with some western food options are served in a patio attached to the dining hall.

COURSES COUNT FOR

International Studies Major
Sociology
Anthropology minor
Environmental Studies
General Education Topics: Social Sciences

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Location and Contact Information
The Office of Study Abroad is located in the Anisfield School of Business, room ASB-123. Our phone number is (201) 684-7533. E-mail - goabroad@ramapo.edu

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