Study Abroad in Urban India: A Multicultural Interdisciplinary Approach to Education

This talk is inspired by the first Study Abroad course offered by CUNY’s City College of New York to India. The course objectives examined education and multiculturalism in their broadest forms as a group of CUNY students from multiple campuses, representing diverse academic degree levels, diverse disciplines, and diverse ethnic origins, made its way to the largest and most diverse democracies in the world.

The group explored aspects of Education within the context of urban India from an interdisciplinary perspective. Through site visits and lectures by experts in various fields, the students were introduced to the postcolonial intersectionalities of educational policy and practice, and the influences of history, sociology, economics, cultural beliefs, and spirituality on education.

The presentation will focus upon the learnings that students experienced when they came face to face with the realities of India’s rich diversities and the unfathomable complexities of the densely populated urban environment of New Delhi.

 

Author Bio

Amita Gupta is Professor of Early Childhood Education and former Department Chair in the School of Education at the City College of New York/CUNY. She has been in the field of early childhood education for more than thirty years with extensive cross-cultural experience.