Study Abroad in India 2012
Exploring Sacred Places
May 15 - June 9, 2012
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 25-day program will include visits to Delhi, 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 undertake a trek in the Himalayan Mountains.
Dr. Maher led a group of 16 people to India's sacred sites in May and
June, 2006. Visit the group's blog at
http://ecu-in-india.blogspot.com/.
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:
In summer 2007, Dr. Maher visited India with another group of students. Please view their blog at [http://ecuinindia2007.blogspot.com/]
"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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