Associate Dean Leads Interterm Class to India
AHSS Associate Dean Ginni Ishimatsu is a specialist in Asian religions so it was no surprise that she was selected to lead a 2011 winter interterm service-learning project to Dharamsala, home to the Tibetan community in exile, in northern India. Ishimatsu led eight undergraduate and four graduate students on the four-week program, Nov. 24-Dec. 22, 2011, to live among and learn from the Tibetan and Indian people.
During fall quarter, the students engaged in coursework at DU that focused on the Tibetan community in exile. "We discussed readings on recent Indian history, religions and the political status of Tibet, and discussed travel and other practical matters," said Ishimatsu. "We also did an overnight retreat in a cabin at DU's Mt. Evans field station, where students presented their research on various aspects of Indian and Tibetan politics, religions and cultures. We made Indian food and got to know one another outside the classroom setting."
Ishimatsu relied on the expertise of an assistant, Glynnis Cox, an AHSS alumna (BA English, '11), who had gone on the program in 2010. "Since I had never been to Dharamsala—my area of research centers on southern India—Glynnis provided important continuity; she also organized most of the lectures and the students' service placements."
During winter interterm, the group traveled to India where they worked on service projects to gain insight into the cultural nuances and complex issues they had been studying. Several of the students taught English to first through third graders at an Indian elementary school; others worked at a Tibet newspaper, interviewing local Tibetans and non-profit organizations such as Students for a Free Tibet. In addition, they attended daily lectures by guest speakers from various Tibetan and Indian organizations.
"I love introducing students to India and being able to see their minds expand every day through service-learning and critical self-reflection," said Ishimatsu. "At its best, such a program can transform a student's life. In these kinds of DU programs, students actively compare and contrast what they learn in the classroom at DU and from lectures in the host country with their day-to-day experiences. In addition, by providing needed service to organizations such as NGOs and schools, students are able to relate to people in-country in a meaningful way."
Ishimatsu, who has a PhD in South Asian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley, joined the DU faculty in 1994. She has served as undergraduate advisor and graduate program director in the religious studies department and helped create the Asian studies major. Ishimatsu has published on the history of Shaiva Siddhanta and on Hinduism and temple politics in southern India. As associate professor, she teaches a variety of courses on Hinduism as well as an honors course on religions of China and Japan.
