Curriculum

The summer curriculum consists of two required courses: Contemporary India and Internship.

SOCI 360: Contemporary India [pdf] (4 credits)

This seminar provides an introduction to the study of contemporary India and lays the foundation for the internship experience. It will be taught intensively for the first two weeks of the program, and then run concurrently with the intership for the remaining six weeks.  Students are expected to engage seriously with readings and associated activities, to take an ethnohraphic approach to exploring the India in which you find yourselves, and to learn from each other as colleagues. 

The class will include a mix of lecture, discussion, film viewing, and field visits, which will often extend into the afternoon.  We will also take advantage of the wealth of scholars and experts on all aspects of India’s contemporary politics, society, economy, and culture in and around Pune through guest lectures.  Interactions with many of these professionals and academics will also open up vistas of possibility as you plan for the internship component of this study abroad program.

INTS 380: Internship (4 credits)

Internships are to have a specific academic focus, corresponding reading list, and intensive levels of writing, analysis, and contact hours. In other words, internships should be conceived of as structured student research projects that take place within the context of an organization.

An internship faculty member will have the overall responsibility of guiding, supervising, and evaluating student internships, and students will also be assigned Faculty Guides whose areas of specialization match their areas of interest. The development of the research plan and the execution of the research will be conducted in consultation with and under the guidance of both the internship faculty and the assigned Faculty Guide.

Whereas the Faculty Guide is a specialist in the field of the student’s research interest, the internship faculty oversees the quality and the integrity of the student’s research projects both in design and execution, consistency in attendance and diligence in carrying out the research, and overall academic rigor.

Evaluation will thus be carried out according to the following structure:

• 30% - Fieldwork Journal (students are required to keep a journal of their internship and fieldwork experiences, with a minimum of 400 words a week)
• 30% - Final Presentation (this will be about 20 minutes and should include the research design, implementation, problems/issues encountered along the way, and final results/analysis/conclusion
• 30% - Final Paper (10-12 pages, incorporating secondary sources and critical analysis)
• 10% - Attendance

Meetings during the Internship Period will be once weekly with the internship faculty, and as needed with the Faculty Guide.

A total of 8 U.S. credit hours is granted for successful completion of the summer program.