New York State Independent College Consortium for Study in India
Spend a semester studying in one of the largest democracies in the world, India. Hamilton College is proud to offer students the opportunity to live and study in this stimulating, yet challenging environment. The India program melds direct fieldwork experience and personal reflection with a comprehensive academic program consisting of studies in history, culture, language, art, religion, politics, sociology, and economics.
The India program is lead by a faculty member from Hamilton College who oversees the curriculum. The program starts in Delhi where students will spend the first week orientating themselves to their new surroundings. Over the course program students will also visit the cities of Mussoorie, Jaipur, and Varanasi. During this time students will be immersed in Indian culture with plenty of opportunities to practice Hindi, the national language.
This is a tremendous opportunity for students to live and study abroad in India for a semester. To learn more, and start the application process, please visit the Hamilton study abroad website.
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This program proved to be very challenging academically and culturally, yet left me an experience of a lifetime. One of the big strengths of this program is that it mixes scheduled with unscheduled time. I was able to get a lot more out of my experience in Varanasi because our program arranged for one of the top Hindu University scholars to guide us around the city and teach us about its cultural and geographical history. In other places, such as Jaipur, we stayed with families and therefore had 6 weeks where we could explore and discover India on our own. The scheduling of the semester was also very helpful- our traveling itinerary allowed us to visit Vandana Shiva's amazing seed bank and farm at Navdanya and allowed us to experience traditional block printing in Bagru.
In terms of academics and staff support, professors and staff change every year, so my experience will be different from past and future groups. This being said, the program is dedicated to a rigorous academic course load, which actually helped me better interact with my surroundings because I was more knowledgeable about the culture. I wish our Hindi time had been structured differently- it was confusing to switch teaching methodology between Mussoorie and Jaipur, and I felt like my grammar was stellar but I couldn't speak much Hindi at all. The Independent Fieldwork Projects everyone completes during their time in India are one of the most rewarding and interesting parts of the program- and the aspect that I think make it very unique. Other programs to India feature a research component, but this program allows you to do research the entire semester instead for just one month at the end.
Overall, this was an amazing program and truly life changing.
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About Hamilton College
Many students will agree that studying in a foreign country is the spark that allows them to came into their own. Others gain new perspectives while studying abroad. It's no surprise then, that nearly half of Hamilton students study off-campus at least one semester. Hamilton currently offers its own study abroad programs in France, Spain and China and also offers programs through the NYSICCSI consortium in India. In addition to these programs, Hamilton College also has over 180 programs for students to choose from which qualify for academic credit.
Hamilton's highly regarded programs are distinguished by their thorough preparation and total immersion of students in the academic and cultural opportunities at each destination, as well the hands-on internship components of the domestic programs.
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This program set itself apart from other study abroad programs in a number of ways - the most important of which was movement. The longest amount of time we were settled in one place was 6 weeks, when we were in homestays in Jaipur. I loved the homestay period - we had a lot of independence during this time, and I loved the family I was living with. I felt like this was the time when I came to truly love India, and I fully immersed myself in the experience. I would have liked to have been in the homestay for longer than six weeks, but I did appreciate how much we moved because it allowed me to see so much of India.
Another aspect of this program that set it apart from others was the IFP - Independent Fieldwork Project. This project required us to do a lot of independent research & work, both in preparation for the trip and while we were there. Before our departure we prepared a number of papers, and in India we conducted interviews and did quite a bit of research on our own. Although it was a lot of work (and it felt like a lot before leaving for India), I could not be happier that I did it. Knowing so much about India before I even arrived allowed me to engage in the culture and converse with Indian people in a way that would not have been possible otherwise.
Like the reviewer above said, much of your experience in India will depend on the people in your group and your director. But this program has been around for a while now, and it has high academic standards as well as some impressive connections. You will have the opportunity to meet some incredible people - like Vandana Shiva, to name one - and the people behind the program consortium are pretty incredible themselves. I could not have imagined a better semester in India.