Integrating India into the Liberal Arts Curriculum
Winston-Salem State University
PROJECT SUMMARY
The aim of this project is to enhance the cross-cultural and global competence of students at
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) by incorporating knowledge about India across the curriculum
and through co-curricular activities. Humanities faculty at WSSU, a constituent campus within the
University of North Carolina, will work with colleagues in the School of Business and Economics
(SBE), the School of Health Sciences (SOHS) and other university programs to develop a faculty
seminar focusing on Indian literature, culture, history, art, and religion. The objective is to develop new
courses focusing on India and infusing existing courses with knowledge about Indian culture and society
in a global context to enrich the Humanities and Liberal Arts foundation of the WSSU curriculum.
An inter-disciplinary group of 14 faculty members will participate in the seminar and will focus on
the study of a variety of themes and issues related to teaching and learning about India to provide
insights into key dimensions of Indian history, culture and society, as well as issues of curriculum
development and globalization within the context of a historically Black university such as WSSU. A
key component of the project is to develop creative strategies to incorporate cultural content on India to
strengthen the global dimension of courses in the School of Business and Economics, the School of
Health Sciences, and other professional and academic programs.
A distinguished group of scholars and experts on India have committed to serve as workshop
leaders, guest speakers and resource persons. They have been selected for their distinguished
scholarship, diversity of perspectives, and relevance for curriculum development in the fields of interest
at WSSU. Four scholars will participate in a kick-off workshop on May 7 and 8, 2012. Dr. Neil
DeVotta, Dr. Afroz Taj, Dr. Anita Nahal and Dr. Murali Nair have been selected for the opening
workshop because of their wide-ranging scholarship and inter-disciplinary expertise in developing
India-related and internationalization programs at a variety of academic institutions in the United States,
including HBCUs. Nine other scholars will collaborate with WSSU faculty participants to lead
workshops and deliver lectures during Fall 2012, Spring 2013 and Fall 2013, with three seminar
workshops each semester.
The themes and topics covered during the seminar include: an overview of India in historical and
contemporary perspective; insights into the diversity of classical and contemporary Indian literature; its
connections with myths, religions, politics, economy and culture; and its expression through various
forms of media such as film, art, music, and the new information technologies; understanding of India’s
diverse religious traditions, and their contemporary expressions; mainstream and subaltern perspectives
on Indian history, including the history of the untouchables and Dalits in India compared with AfricanAmerican history; the history of Indian art and musical traditions; the diversity of languages in India and
language politics; gender, sexuality and the status of women in India; comparative perspectives on the
history of South Asian women and African American women; Intersections of the South Asian and
African diasporas; strategies for integration of global issues and knowledge of India into the curriculum,
including study abroad for students and faculty research, and co-curricular programs on campus;
Humanities as the bridge to cultural knowledge and understanding of India in a global context in the
fields of business and economics, health sciences, education and human performance, and the social and
natural sciences.
The key outcomes of the faculty development include: development or restructuring of a course or
courses to infuse knowledge about India; creating materials to share or disseminate this knowledge for
the benefit of the faculty and students in both the Humanities and other program areas, as well as in the
campus at large such as power-point and video modules, information sharing, combined class lectures,
guest presentations, cultural activities; creating a web page on the WSSU International Programs
website with links to academic and cultural resources on India.