India: Culture+ Microfinance
| Dates: | June 1–30, 2008 |
| Cost: | $4975 |
| Application deadline: | April 1, 2008 |
Program Overview
To many people India brings to mind brilliantly colored saris, throngs of people, cows wandering down dusty rural roads, yoga retreats and crowded urban centers. While this is enough to satisfy some, there is much, much more: India is also home to more than 22 officially recognized languages, the exiled Tibetan community and to the Dalai Lama. India was utilizing principles of community-based development and microfinance before these become buzz words in the international community. In the past few years India has surged ahead in the technology field and many large US and European companies outsource much of their work to India. Only first-hand experience and study can begin to reveal India's multilayered culture for students to understand its true nature.
Intrax's Culture+ program in India focuses on microfinance and rural economies in the northern region of India. Our program includes courses in survival Hindi, microfinance, history and Intercultural Competence (ICC) taken in the town of Palaumpur in the foothills of the Himalayas in Himachel Pradesh.
Your program begins with an arrival at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Your first ICC class will take place in Delhi. As is the case throughout the program, local resources and field-based opportunities are interwoven with class time. In Delhi, your ICC faculty will arrange meetings with Delhi-based NGOs and microfinance institutions along with site visits to Delhi's most important cultural landmarks as complements to classroom learning.
A flight from Delhi to Dharamsala brings you to "Little Lhasa"—so named because Upper Dharamsala is home to several thousand Tibetan exiles. Lectures on Tibetan history are brought to life with planned meetings and informal interactions with local people.
A beautiful drive brings you to your home for the next few weeks. Palampur is a hill station renowned for tea production which has quickly become the hub of agricultural research in India and South Asia. Within a small radius you can find many universities and research institutions, including the Agriculture University of Palampur (one of the best agricultural universities in India) where your coursework will take place. The practice of microfinance is common in this area and is one of the reasons why rural India functions with such efficiency. Microfinance addresses the lack of access to normal bank loans which traps many farmers and small business owners in poverty, unable to start businesses or escape debt. Microfinance institutions offer small, low interest loans to such people, allowing them to create viable businesses and sustainable income for their families. We draw upon Palampur's rich academic resources, including the abundance of qualified professors and experienced practitioners, to offer a truly unique, credit-bearing academic program.
