Spring 2012 Newsletter

South India Term Abroad
!
Spring 2012
Above: Students, host families, staff members, & the broader SITA community celebrate a
very successful spring 2012 program at the Farewell Tea! Read more about students’
experiences and meet the incoming students and program assistants in this issue.
EDUCATIONAL TOURS ARE A GREAT
WAY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SOUTH
INDIA’S DIVERSE CULTURAL,
RELIGIOUS, AND NATURAL LANDSCAPES.
Above: Ann and Aviva in Bylakuppe
Below: Group photo in Hampi
Each semester, South India Term Abroad students depart
on two weeklong educational tours, one of which has
traditionally been to Karnataka, the state to the
northwest of Tamil Nadu. This semester's first stop was
Mysore, the former capital of a powerful princely state
that allied itself with the British during their rule of
India. The city's centerpiece is an opulently decorated
domed palace. The students especially enjoyed watching
the palace lit up with 100,000 white bulbs! While in the
Mysore area, the group also visited the Somnathpur
'Star' temple, Shravanabelagola—a world famous Jain
pilgrimage site—and the largest Tibetan settlement in
South India at Bylakuppe.
The next destination was Hampi, the former capital of
the Vijayanagar Empire. The students spent three days
exploring the impressive 26 square km of ruins that
surround the area and shopping in the main bazaar for
handicrafts. Many of them went on a hike to a local
sunset viewpoint (complete with lots of monkeys), and
on a coracle boat adventure to Hanuman Hill, the
birthplace of the monkey god Hanuman in the epic
Ramayana.
The last stop on tour was Bangalore, a modern
metropolis famous for its IT and fashion industries. After
a day of enjoying some refreshing western amenities
(multiplexes and sushi among them), the group took one
last night train home to Madurai.
Expressive Culture Training
Liza (Smith College) does batik
Clara (Grinnell College) with mehendi
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MADURAI’S RICH CULTURAL LIFE AND RESOURCES
WITH ONE-ON-ONE OR GROUP LESSONS IN ART, DANCE, OR MUSIC.
Every Sunday morning, when my host family is already at church across the river, I am getting funky to
Tamil hits with five other SITA students. On those mornings, I wake up to the repetitively rollicking
Tamil Pentecostal service wailing away across the street. Knowing it’s a Sunday, I quickly take a bucket
bath, and get into my loose-legged ali-baba pants and a tee-shirt (the most scandalously American outfit
of my week). Next, I eat the iddli sambar breakfast my host mom left for me, and latch and padlock the
front door, grill and gate behind me, using six different keys, per usual for Madurai homes, and bicycle
to the SITA center, to meet up with five other SITA girls as psyched as I am about the day’s activities.
!
Together, we take a twisty-turny bicycle ride with the mid-day sun pounding down on us from above,
and also glinting up from the asphalt below. When I’m not dodging cars, potholes, goats, men with live
chickens strapped to their motorcycles, and the like, and ringing my bell to avoid crashes, I am able to
squint out at my surroundings. We pass dignified metal matriculation school gates, supermarkets,
wedding halls, shrines giving puja, and women selling vegetables spread on sheets of newspaper by the
side of the road. This is the exterior of Madurai, and it’s all frying in the sun.
Finally, drenched in sweat, and red in the face, we arrive at the epitome of cool- D’s Charac dance
studio, for what is in my opinion the sweetest Expressive Culture class in Madurai; Bollywood Dance.
The dance studio is decorated with pictures of white girls in too-toos, and a long line of dance
competition trophies, one with a small figurine at the top that looks a whole lot like Michael Jackson.
For the next hour and a half, this is our haven, as we are lead by our wonderful dance master, or
sometimes our younger, sillier assistant teacher, in a series of moves that range from invisible sariswishing, and miming rolling a bidi, to all out arm-rolls and shimmying.
Both these dance moves and the Tamil pop hits that accompany them hint at a variety of cultural
influences. I’m not entirely sure how the form of “Bollywood dance” came to be, or what it means to the
average person in Madurai (note: future SITA students, this would make a great research project!). But,
by the time we leave class, reentering the Madurai of dust, heat, no-bare-ankles, and certainly no
shimmying, I know, without a doubt, that I like it.
Adah Hetko, Oberlin College
Spring 2012 South India Term Abroad Student
Directed Field Research
Thinking about what you could study in Madurai? This semester, students have
combined academic interests from their home colleges with their experiences in
Madurai to create a diverse range of directed field research topics.
WHAT IS A GOSHALA ANYWAY?
My SITA research project is focused on
motivations behind creating the Shri
Meenakshi Goushala located outside of
Madurai. The word goshala literally
translates to cow place, but it means cow
home. So, what is a cow home? Actually,
that is what my project is trying to find out.
Different people have different ideas of what
it should be.
The first cow homes are thought to have
been created in the modern North Indian
states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, possibly as
early as the 4th century BCE. An early
treatise on statecraft, the Arthasastra,
written around this time, describes the
bureaucratic position of the Godyaksa
(Superintendent of Cows) who was given
Spring 2012 Research Topics:
• birthing practices among middle class
women
• transgender citizens’ relationship with
the police
• Jainism and cow goshalas
• sex education
• perceptions of nutrition
• kolam competitions
• women’s hair styles
• street temples and shrines
• English language learning at SUDAR
• Sri Lankan refugees
• sacred groves
• friendship in a college women’s hostel
• Hindu students in Christian schools
• English newspaper reporting on
poverty
the role of maintaining “useless” and abandoned
cows. Since this early period, the goshala has
evolved into several different forms. Some are
designed for economic ends such as providing
milk for a temple or even turning a profit, while
others are strictly oriented towards protecting
cows, which humans no longer have any use for
and who would otherwise be abandoned or sold
to a slaughterhouse. These traditionalists
maintain that the cow should be treated like a
member of the family. You wouldn’t throw your
mother out on the street as soon as she became
too old to work, would you? Why would you do
the same once your cow can no longer produce
milk? For those who don’t want to be involved
with harming the family cow but also won’t or
can’t keep her, the goshala serves as the old-folks
home for cows.
Brett Evans, Elon University
Spring 2012 South India Term Abroad Student
THE INTERSECTION OF
CRIMINALITY & TRANSGENDER
IDENTITY IN SOUTH INDIA
In the United States, the fact that many of the
stories we hear about India involve child
marriages, criminalized homosexuality, and
inhumane prison conditions allows us to remain
in the comfortable position of imaging that we
are far more “progressive” and “developed” than
our Indian counterparts. While LGBTQ rights in
the U.S. surpass those in India when judged by
certain criteria such as the legalization of samesex marriage in certain states, India has far
exceeded the U.S. with respect to the inclusion of
male-to-female transgender individuals in the
public sphere. Transwomen in India (hijras in
Hindi or thirunangai in Tamil) have held public
website: sitaprogram.org
office as members of state and local legislatures,
started their own political parties, and run for
mayor of major cities--including Madurai. With
respect to criminal justice, the numbers speak for
themselves. An American citizen is more than
twenty times more likely than an Indian to be
imprisoned by their government. Despite all that
India and the U.S. share as two of the world’s
largest and most influential democracies, the
story is clearly more complicated than the simple
third and first world dichotomy we often
imagine.
!
Negative interactions with and harassment from
the police are some of the few near-universal
experiences among LGBTQ people in the United
States, so learning about how transgender
individuals are relatively included by Indian
society surprised me and led me to wonder about
the nature of the relationship between these
marginalized communities and the larger
criminal justice system. In conducting my
research over the course of this semester, I found
that although the police can be a source of
oppression for transgender South Indians, all the
more dangerous because of their governmentsanctioned point of origin, the full picture is
much more complicated. A variety of factors
including the historical and media visibility of
transgender individuals in certain religious and
cultural roles and a range of sensitivity training
efforts funded by both governmental
organizations and NGOs contribute to
transgender people in India also experiencing the
police as a social safety net capable of protecting
them from violence at the hands of their families
and communities. The visibility and inclusion of
transgender individuals remains one of the many
ways in which life in South India is rapidly
changing.
Clara Montague, Grinnell College
Spring 2012 South India Term Abroad Student
email: [email protected]
Facebook: South India Term Abroad
Academic Year Program
NOT ALL STUDENTS STAY IN MADURAI FOR JUST FOUR MONTHS!
SITA offers an academic year program. Second semester yearlong students deepen
their cultural immersion experience through living independently, continuing Tamil
and anthropology coursework, and conducting further research. Hear from our
2011-2012 Academic Year Program student, Liz (pictured above), about the challenges
and rewards of living on her own in Madurai and how it has increased her awareness
of her own energy consumption practices.
Lately, the most difficult aspect of living in Madurai has been the extensive power cuts that have been
plaguing all of Tamil Nadu (unless, of course, you live in the state capital). From 9-12AM, 3-6PM,
7-8PM, 10-11PM, 1-2PM, and sometimes 4-5PM, the daily power cuts have made completing daily
tasks an intricate ballet of planning when to cook, bathe, and write papers. As a year-long, I live in my
own apartment on my own and plan my entire day around when there will be electricity and when it will
be unavailable. For example, if I have to go grocery shopping I will choose a time when there is a power
cut so that I'm not sitting alone in my apartment in the dark. There is constant complaining about the
government's inability to provide enough electricity to the state, especially when foreign companies in
special economic zones receive unlimited power and the state capitol where the Chief Minister lives has
only 2 hours worth of cuts every day. Essentially, it sucks when you're in the middle of completing an
assignment and the lights go out; even worse when you are trying to sleep and the fan turns off in the
middle of the night, resulting in an uncomfortably sweaty morning. Yet, these power cuts that make life
so inconvenient have actually taught me some important lessons.
First of all, I have learned to appreciate electricity. At home in the US, I treated it as an inexpensive,
unlimited resource and frequently left lights on or computers plugged in. However, even then I
considered myself more energy conscious than my family who would leave the TV on during the day in
order to console our pet dog, Dorie. When I first came to India, my host family had to constantly remind
me to not only unplug my electronic devices but also to switch off the power source completely in order
to conserve; I realized that here they try to save every little bit of electricity possible (with the exception
of weddings) and that I have wasted so much power over the course of my life, power that mostly came
from the use of fossil fuels. And then the power cuts began.
During my first semester, the power cuts were only 2-3 hours a day and I was living with a host family
that owned a battery that could power parts of the house during that time. However, now I'm living in
an apartment by myself and the power cuts range from 8-10 hours a day. As I have learned to live
around the absence of electricity, I have also noticed how fully I depend on my computer, lights, fan,
fridge, AC, and electric stove. That's right, I have an air conditioner, a luxury in most Tamil homes. 1.6
billion people in the world live without electricity on a daily basis and here I was complaining about
losing 8 hours, with the knowledge that I will be going back to the US in a few months. Can you
imagine if this happened in the United States of America? There would be riots.
Now that I have become so used to the power cuts, I worry about my transition back home. I fear that I
will see myself and everyone around me as selfish. I will be unable to go back to the days of wasting so
much electricity; will I actually miss the power cuts? I was put on a diet that limited my intake of
electricity interrupting the constant consumption I had grown accustomed to back home. Don't fear the
power cuts. Fear the mentality that results from the unlimited access to, what is right now, a limited
resource.
Liz Mincer, Smith College
2011-2012 South India Term Abroad Student
left: traffic
drawing by
Clare Yaghjian
Smith College
Spring 2012
South India
Term Abroad
student
Meet the Program Assistants
passionate advisors regarding the cheapest and best lunch
confident bicycle guides
untiring advocates for Madurai’s cultural riches
Bill Mogavero
B.A., Grinnell College
Hi everyone! I'm Bill Mogavero, a graduate of Grinnell College,
and I will be one of your program assistants this fall. I studied
abroad with South India Term Abroad in the fall of 2011, and
I'm excited to be returning this August! While studying with
SITA, for my directed field research project I researched male
perceptions of skin color and some of the effects of these
perceptions. Some of the highlights of my semester abroad (and
some things you can definitely look forward to) were exploring
the many food options in Madurai, celebrating Deepavali with
my host family, and getting surprise visits from the local
blessing elephant at the SITA center. These experiences along
with many others made studying abroad with South India Term
Abroad a high point in my college career, and I look forward to
being a part of each of your adventures in Madurai.
Reann Gibson
B.A., Bates College
Hello (or Vanakkam as they say in Madurai!). I
am Reann Gibson, one of the fall program
assistants. I was born and raised in Boston and
graduated from Bates College with a BA in
Psychology and concentrations in Public Health
and Racism. I really enjoyed my experience
with South India Term Abroad during the winter
2011 semester. I particularly recall the leisurely
(and not so leisurely) bike rides through the city,
stops for tender coconut and fresh watermelon
and the delightfully sweet coffee breaks. Tamil
food, culture and language are unique and
fascinating to learn about. During my directed
field research I focused on modernity in nearby
upper class fitness centers. I look forward to
meeting you all and sharing the wonders of
Madurai with you!
Meet the Fall 2012 Students
Sahil
International Relations, Syracuse University
Hi, my name is Sahil Jain and I will be a Junior at Syracuse University. I was
born and raised in Sacramento, California and have been in London this past
semester (looking for my long lost love Emma Watson, of course). I have been
studying abroad and working at a non-profit organization called AsiaHouse. I am
majoring in International Relations with an interest in South Asia, Globalization,
and Diplomacy. I have been to India at least once every other year since preschool, but only North India. I'm sure Madurai will be an entirely new world.
On my free time I love to travel, play basketball, and practice my photography.
I'm really excited to be living in Madurai and learning more about India!
Simone
Computer Science and Chemistry, Oberlin College
Hi everyone, my name is Simone Brodner. I’m a rising junior at Oberlin College,
where I major in Computer Science and Chemistry with a minor in Gender,
Sexuality and Feminist Studies. I am deeply interested in gaining new
perspective on my study of feminism throughout the upcoming semester.
Beyond the classroom, I enjoy painting portraits, baking bread, blues dancing
and being outdoors whenever I get the chance. I am also a member of Oberlin’s
women’s lacrosse team. The trek from my hometown of Portland, Oregon to the
great state of Ohio is about the extent of my travel experience, and I am
extremely excited (and more than a little nervous) for the journey and the incredible opportunities ahead. Can’t
wait to meet you all and smell the Indian air!
Rachel
Psychology and Dance, Sarah Lawrence College
Rachel Sander is finishing up her junior year at Sarah Lawrence College where
she is studying psychology and dance. She currently is an intern at Psychology
Today Magazine. Rachel also runs weekly writing workshops for male inmates
ages 18-24 at Valhalla Correctional Facility. Rachel is also a writer and is
Managing Editor of the Sarah Lawrence College newspaper. She worked for a
community news organizations in the Bronx, mainly the Norwood News and the
Bronx News Network for most of 2011. However, for most of her life, Rachel
thought she would be a dancer. She first discovered her interest in the field of
psychology when she was hired to teach dance classes for teens in crisis at
Linden Hill Psychiatric Center. Rachel is excited to be spending her senior year abroad in India where she plans
to further investigate issues of mental health, psychology, and prisons. Afterwards, she plans on attending
graduate school for social work.
Anya
Anthropology, Scripps College
Hello from the warm and sunny Scripps College! I am so excited to be in
Madurai in the Fall of 2012 to continue my studies in anthropology, art, dance,
linguistics and languages. I'm especially interested in Indian dance, textiles,
religion and of course, food! I cannot wait to explore such a vibrant place and
immerse myself in the culture.
Moira
Anthropology, Grinnell College
I'm Moira, a current second-year Anthropology major at Grinnell College,
originally from Columbus, OH. I work for the Concerts Committee, which
entails setting up speakers, running the soundboard, making posters, and buying
food and brightly colored dress socks for the bands. This summer, I'll be doing
research on a captive population of Japanese Macaques, so I hope I get to see
some non-human primates in India. I'm also interested in postcolonial feminism,
religion, and I'm looking forward to learning Tamil, since I'm pretty sure that's
the only language my rabbit knows.
Heather
Anthropology, Bates College
Hi everyone! My name is Heather Monty and I am originally from New
Hampshire. Currently, I am studying Anthropology and Women & Gender
Studies at Bates College in Maine. I am interested in material cultural and am
eager to explore this interest and others while in India. Issues of class and
gender, perceptions of beauty, and motherhood/childbirth are a few things I
would love to gain a cross-cultural perspective on while abroad. On campus, I
am a varsity rower and love the team dynamic as well as the time that I get to
spend outside. I am excited to have this opportunity and look forward to meeting
you all in the fall.
Ali
Psychology, Bates College
Hello! My name is Ali Millard and I am a sophomore at Bates College in
Lewiston Maine. I am a cultural psychology major and a double minor in
anthropology and music. I love singing, writing songs, playing instruments, and
especially being a part of my a cappella group here at Bates. I also play ice
hockey just to mix things up a bit. (I’m rather abysmal but it’s a blast
nonetheless). I am from Far Hills, NJ and have lived all over the state throughout
my life. I am enthralled by Indian culture and am very excited to spend an entire
semester over in India getting to soak in the experiences and getting to meet all
of you! Cheers!
Rachel
English, The George Washington University
Hello! I’m Rachel, and I’m studying English at George Washington. I’m originally
from Chicago, sorry in advance about my accent. At school, I started “GW Tea
Club”, which is a club where students come together to drink tea and chat. In D.C.,
I volunteer at an organization called Little Friends for Peace teaching non-violence
and peace education to inner-city youth. This spring, I participated in an
Alternative Spring Break to support homeless LGBT youth, as well as HIV positive
members of the community in New York City. I recently ran a 5K which was a
miracle, but mostly I like to practice yoga. To relax, I love to play guitar, listen to
music, read National Geographic, and go to concerts. I’m excited to meet you all
this Fall!
Marissa
English, Oberlin College
Hello! My name is Marissa Clardy and I am a junior English major at Oberlin
College. I am really excited about being a part of the SITA program this semester
and I cannot wait to travel throughout South Asia. Having spent four years living
with my aunt, who was born in Kerala, I became interested in learning more about
the place that she grew up. Being an English major at Oberlin exposed me to a lot
of great literature, including Irish, British, American, Victorian, Shakespearean,
and Romantic literature, and I feel extremely grateful to have had the opportunity
to study at Oberlin College. But these experiences made me realize that studying
modern Indian literature is also something that I am very interested in, especially
comparing and contrasting the literary world with the world that I am going to experience. When I am not
thinking about books, I run on the cross country and track and field teams at Oberlin and occasionally write for
the Oberlin Review. I have two places that I call home, Cincinnati, OH, where I was born and lived until I was
fourteen, and Kittanning, PA (our claim to fame is that the Mothman Prophesies with Richard Gere was filmed in
our town). When I am at home I like to go for long runs in the forest behind my grandparents house (always with
a cell phone, per my grandmother's orders), to learn to cook amazing spaghetti and to make delicious lemon
desserts from my grandmother, one of the best cooks I know (besides my mother, aunt and sister, hopefully
I inherit the gift!), and to hang out with my sister, dad and brother-in-law and go to the amazing places around
Cincinnati. I cannot wait to become a part of the SITA program!
Devika
Asian Studies, Bowdoin College
My name is Devika Gurung and I currently reside in Brunswick, Maine where I
study at Bowdoin College though I’m originally from New York City. I have been
lucky enough to travel a lot over the years to Asia and my love for the area and
refusal to learn about it in just one discipline has led me to becoming an Asian
Studies major with a focus on South Asia. I also have an interest in cultural
anthropology and am excited to learn about South India on the ground and to be a
participant observer as one might say. Outside of class, I enjoy soccer, reading,
travel, and photography among other things so be prepared for copious amounts of
photos this semester. I can’t wait to begin my study abroad experience and to truly
immerse myself in a different culture and context, challenges and all.
Hillary
Neuroscience and Biology, Oberlin College
Hi! I am Hillary Mullan. I am currently a sophomore at Oberlin College in Ohio
and am majoring in Neuroscience and Biology. For the past year and half I have
had the opportunity to do a lot of scientific research relating to genetics and
neurology. While I absolutely loved the work I did, I am so excited to learn
about people from a cultural and social perspective rather than a biological one.
Part of my motivation for wanting to live in South Asia for a semester stems
from a fantastic class I took on the history of ancient South Asia during my
sophomore year. In my spare time I enjoy scrapbooking, being outside and
taking dance lessons. I took Bharata Natyam classes for a summer during high school and hope to learn more
about the art form while abroad!
Elena
Gender, Women’s & Sexuality Studies, Grinnell College
I am a Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies major at Grinnell College in
Iowa. Through interdisciplinary studies ranging from film to dance and history,
I’ve become
fascinated with the
performance and
representations of
identities. Outside of
the classroom, this
curiosity intersects
with my involvement
in performance-oriented student groups and
activities, like Grinnell’s improvisational comedy
troupe and dance ensemble. I’m originally from the
Chicago suburb of Berwyn, IL and find traveling
of all sorts to be a true passion. I’m looking forward
to discovering new ideas about home and away
while also developing invaluable relationships and
experiences with all facets of the SITA program.
Right: ammaa drawing by
Clare Yaghjian, Smith College
Spring 2012 South India Term Abroad student
South India Term Abroad
Application Deadlines
SITA Application
Spring 2013 Semester Program: Monday, October 1
Fall 2013 Semester Program: Monday, March 4
Academic Year 2013-2014 Program: Monday, March 4
Facebook
facebook.com/sitaprogram
Website
Hanna Bernard (Bowdoin), SITA Spring 2012
sitaprogram.org
Find information about Madurai, SITA courses, tours, expressive culture lessons, staff members, the SITA
Center, volunteer & directed field research opportunities, host families, and more.
Contact Connie Etter, SITA’s executive director, for a list of South India Term Abroad alumni and outreach
events on your campus or for general questions about the program. Her email is [email protected]
and her cell phone number is 202-355-5964.
Please feel free to contact the following South India Term Abroad faculty
representatives or your study abroad office for more information.
George Washington Univ.
Alfred Hiltebeitel (religion)
[email protected]
Bates College
Steve Kemper (anthropology)
[email protected]
Bowdoin College
Sara Dickey (anthropology)
[email protected]
Smith College
Nalini Bhushan (philosophy)
[email protected]
Grinnell College
Tim Dobe (religion)
[email protected]
Whittier College
Jason Carbine (religion)
[email protected]
Sarah Lawrence College
Sandra Robinson (Asian studies)
[email protected]
Scripps College
Mona Mehta (politics & int’l relations)
[email protected]
website: sitaprogram.org
email: [email protected]
Facebook: South India Term Abroad