Study Abroad in India 2013
Exploring Sacred Places
May 20 - June 14, 2013
This program will be directed by Dr. Derek F. Maher, Co-Director of the Religious Studies Program. Students will register for 6 semester hours of RELI 2500. Graduate credit is possible. Mandatory orientation meetings will take place during March and April. Program costs include tuition, application fee, hotels, intercity transportation within India, all tours, entry fees, performances, health insurance, course readings, and some group meals. The course satisfies General Education: Humanities foundations credit.
The 26-day program will include visits to Delhi, Rajastan, Agra, Varanasi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, and Dharamsala. Participants will visit monuments, temples, monasteries, and other sacred sites, including the Taj Mahal, Muslim Mughal locations, Hindu temples, the River Ganges, significant Buddhist locations, and sites important to the history of India. Students will learn both yoga and meditation in traditional contexts, and they will hike in the Himalayan Mountains.
When Dr. Maher led a group of 16 students to India's sacred sites in May and June, 2006, a reporter, Erica Lazure, joined the group. As a consequence, there was significant media coverage:
[ECU "Pieces of Eight" article May 12, 2006]
"India is, simply put, the single most fascinating place on the face of the earth," Maher said. "This country that values contemplative silence in its religious traditions is also rife with great busyness and delightful chaos." In addition to the information students will learn about different cultures and countries, Maher hopes a study abroad experience will help students learn a thing or two about themselves and the world in which they live. "I hope and anticipate each student will come back with a much broader view of what is on the menu of possibilities for being human," Maher said. "That's one lesson I hope they learn."
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