Center sponsors India trip for K-12 educators

UW–Madison’s Center for South Asia, with support from the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program, will take 13 Wisconsin K-12 educators to India this summer on a curriculum development mission.

“A Passage to India,” which runs from June 24 to July 28, will give teacher participants a rich, first-hand and focused experience of India. The trip will enable participants to develop a complex view of the intersections of urban and rural lifestyles, coastal and agricultural economies, multiple religious communities and the traditional and modern landscapes of India.

One participating teacher, Mika Oriedo of Sennett Middle School in Madison, says there are many reasons educators and students should be learning more about South Asia, and India in particular.

“It is the second largest nation with over a billion people,” Oriedo says. “With this large number of people comes an amazing amount of diversity in both physical appearance and cultures. Studying different peoples, especially a place where there are so many, is an excellent way to open up the minds of students and teachers to the fact that this is a large planet and that we cannot avoid thinking about how we affect others and how they affect us.”

Oriedo believes that when students learn about India in American schools, they do so from a “western” perspective. “The reality is that India is currently and will be even more influential in the world and in the United States,” Oriedo says.

Other teachers from the Madison area are: David Piovanetti of Middleton High School; Rebecca Rosenberg of Lincoln Elementary School; Joan Shahrani of Sennett Middle School; Judith Torres of Kennedy Elementary School; and Don Vincent of West High School.

The trip will be led by Rachel Weiss, associate outreach specialist for the center. Participating teachers will:

• Attend seminars and field trips with Indian professionals from universities and colleges, government programs, and private and public schools;
• Share resources and promote exchanges with Indian teachers;
• Develop interdisciplinary curriculum materials based on Wisconsin teaching standards for use in their classrooms;
• Enhance their knowledge about Indian arts and architecture, folklore and literature, economic and sociopolitical issues to enhance their teaching.

In 2003, the center received a Fulbright Hays Group Projects Abroad grant. This new award will allow the Center to continue its work as the leading Title IV outreach program in this area in the U.S.

“The 2005 summer grant will allow the center to build upon the existing online teacher’s guide, and develop an even more dynamic network of educators across the state with an interest in South Asia,” says center Director J. Mark Kenoyer. “By providing exceptional professional development to educators, the center will be able to further deepen student learning, internationalize statewide curriculum, and provide leadership in school districts statewide,” he says.

Other teachers include: Kathleen Crowley, Ashwaubenon High School, Ashwaubenon; Marcia Egeland, Corpus Christi School, Sturgeon Bay; Amanda Griggs, Morgan L. Martin Elementary, Green Bay; Cindy Johnson, Memorial High School, Eau Claire; Susan Loewenstein, Alexander Hamilton High School, Milwaukee; Sarah Olson, Port Washington High School, Port Washington; and Barbara Prendergast, Urban Waldorf School, Milwaukee.

For more information about the trip, go to: http://www.wisc.edu/southasiaoutreach