COURSE INFORMATION:

Students will be enrolled in the following courses:

INTL 290/RELS 298: Encountering Religions and Globalization in the Indian Himalaya - 3 credits

This course introduces students to the religious diversity present in Ladakh and Dharamsala, where Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and Jews all encounter each other. We will examine how globalization affects this encounter, and explore various responses to
globalization including the clash of civilizations, interreligious dialogue, and how religious institutions have responded to global tourism and
cosmopolitanism. We will learn how various agents—tourists, missionaries, immigrants—carry religious ideas and practices, and how
macro-processes such as economic development, militarization, and religious modernization, impact the local religious landscape in the Himalayas.

INTL 390/ENVT 352: International Development and Environmental Justice in the Indian Himalaya - 3 credits

This course provides an overview of the key concepts, major drivers, and practical workings of international development, and introduces students to specific
environmental rights issues in the Himalaya region. We’ll investigate how globalization, volontourism, and infrastructure projects impact local communities, including refugees and marginalized groups. We’ll examine responses to natural disasters and ongoing water and land use issues, and develop strategies to analyse and critique the systems and power relationships of “international development.” This course is built around two case studies: in Ladakh (post-2010 cloudburst and resulting humanitarian response), and in Dharamsala (daily life water and land for Tibetan refugees, Indian residents, and Western tourists).


PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

This study abroad program immerses students in the culture, environmental changes, local and refugee political communities, and religious diversity of the Indian Himalayan region of Ladakh and Dharasmsala. Although Ladakh and Dharamsala. Although Ladakh's rugged high desert landscape is so sparsely populated that it is often described in travel literature as "isolated," it has actually been a crossroads for the transmission of religions (including Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Christianity) and goods for at least a thousand years. Today Ladakh is undergoing rapid social change and a "renaissance" of sorts, due in part to the rapid influx of western adventure and spiritual tourists, and to Tibetan political refugees who are recreating their Buddhist traditions in their adopted homeland.

The first part of the program will take place in Leh, the political, religious, and tourist hub of Ladakh, which is an exciting laboratory for examining the cross-cultural encounter of western travelers, Indian tourists, Tibetan exiles, and local Ladakhis. After acclimatizing we will travel into rural villages, to Alchi (a UNESCO world heritage site), to Lamayuru monastery, to Phokar Dzong, a sacred Buddhist pilgrimage and meditation site, and to Nubra valley, the historical gateway for many caravans that traveled on the Silk Route across Central Asia.

We then travel to Dharamsala, the current home of the Dalai Lama and the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, where we will meet with Tibetan refugees and community leaders. Finally, we spend the last few days in India's capital of Delhi, where we will visit some of India's largest modern religious institutions, including the Bahai Lotus Temple, the Hare Krishna (ISKCON) Temple, and India's largest mosque.

This course will entail a high altitude tour in a rugged Trans-Himalayan region. Field trips, site visits, and guesthouse accommodations range between 11,500-14,500 feet in elevation, with high pass crossings up to 18,300 feet. There is ample time built into the itinerary to acclimatize, but participants must be in good health and willing to study in and hike to high altitude field sites.


PROGRAM DIRECTORS:

Dr. Zeff Bjerken
Department of Religious Studies
bjerken@cofc.edu
843-953-7156

Dr. Bjerken has over 25 years experience in study and travel throughout the Indian Himalayas, where he has lived in monasteries for his research on Himalayan religions. During those years he has gained extensive experience with Indian study abroad programs, both as a participant and as a lecturer. Thrice he as served as a guide for summer cultural and trekking tours to the Himalayan regions of North India and Pakistan.

Amberjade Taylor
amberjade@gwmail.gwu.edu

Ms. Taylor spent from January 2012-June 2014 living in Dharamsala, where she worked full-time in an international human rights organization and collaborated closely with students and academic leaders for CofC, Emory University, and the School for International Training. She is an adjunct instructor for the Department of International Studies.