Cities, Culture, and Citizenship in South Asia
India - Bangalore
August 2 - 30, 2008
Field Trips and Activities- subject to change
During the weekdays of the month of August, field trips will be undertaken to different sites in Bangalore (a city dating back to the sixteenth century, now India's Silicon Valley, famous for its hundred
lakes and gardens) in addition to class meetings:
- Visit to the old bustling fort-city, founded in the 1500s: The urban design of this area includes crowded networked street patterns, dense vegetable, gold, silk, and general goods markets, thriving goddess and Sufi shrines, remains of an old fort, and thousands of people!
- Visit to the British Cantonment on the east side of the city: This was set-up by the British in the 1800s and inludes the famous Basilica of Our Lady of Health; the bustling Russell Market (where anything from a pet dog to antique furniture can be obtained); the swinging Commercial Street; the shopping areas now known as Mahatma Gandhi Road and Brigade Road with its malls, pubs, and cinemas; and gracious Cubbon Park.
- Visit to the Electronic Corridor that has given Bangalore its fame as India's "Silicon Valley": Trips may include Infosys, one of the first Indian software companies to go on the Nasdaq, as well as other high-tech centers.
- We will try and attend a cricket match (you cannot leave India's without witnessing the national sport obsession!) and also performances such as music recitals by well-known artistes, and dramas (Bangalore has a thriving theater and music scene).
- We will also try and visit a non-governmental organization in Bangalore such as the womens group "Vimochana" or the society for spastic children, the ashram/hermitage of Sathya Sai Baba India's most well-known guru) or the ashram of the Art of Living guru Sri Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and a center for alternative healing practices, yoga or ayurveda.
Field trips will also be undertaken to other cities in southern India on the weekends to provide an understanding of other models/cultures of urban space. We will take many walks, sample interesting cuisine, study the urban fabric of diverse cities, and maintain a journal:
- One weekend in August will involve an overnight trip to the princely city of Mysore: Mysore has a beautiful palace, a gracious royal culture, and gentle gardens.
- A second weekend will include an overnight trip by train to the medieval city of Hampi, which is a national historic treasure of countless temples, renovated ruins, rocky terrain, and large lakes.
- A third weekend will cover a trip to the famous temple city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, with its dense streets, temples at every corner, and the large temple of the beautiful goddess Minakshi---itself a city within a city.
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