UNL Global Studies is heading to India in summer 2019. This 3-week/3-credit class focused on India's culture, history, religion, and language and will be take place in three important sites: New Delhi, Jaipur and Gaya. Students will also volunteer at a local organization.
Course Description: This faculty-led study abroad trip will take place in three important sites: New Delhi, Jaipur and Gaya. This place will take place over 3 weeks during UNL’s summer pre-session earning 3 credits of GLST 391. Participants will lodge, study, and visit sites together along with faculty leaders. Students will stay in hotels and in a homestay with a local family while in Jaipur. We will also travel to various significant locations around the country including Bodh Gaya the site where Buddha achieved Enlightenment. In addition to learning about history, politics and culture of India, students will have an opportunity to serve in the community and improve or gain working knowledge of Hindi.
Sites:
New Delhi: India’s capital city and the home of executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of the Government of India, Delhi is a large metropolis with strengths in arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. Delhi is littered with the relics of lost empires. Modern Delhi is a chaotic tapestry of medieval fortifications, Mughal mausoleums, dusty bazaars, colonial-era town planning, and mega malls. (Description taken from All Points Vacations and Lonely Planet.)
Agra: Home to the magical Taj Mahal, Agra is a home to sprinkling of fascinating tombs and mausoleums; and there’s also fun to be had in the bustling chowks (marketplaces). Just outside the city is a superb ruined city of Fatehpur Sikri.
Jaipur: Jaipur, Rajasthan’s capital, is an enthralling historical city and the gateway to India’s most flamboyant state. The city’s colorful, chaotic streets ebb and flow with a heady brew of old and new. In the midst of mayhem that is Jaipur, the splendors of Jaipur’s majestic past are islands of relative calm evoking a different pace and another world. At the city’s heart, the City Palace continues to house the former royal family; the Jantar Mantar, the royal observatory, maintains a heavenly aspect; and the honeycomb Hawa Mahal gazes on the bazaar below. And just out of sight, in the arid hill country surrounding the city, is the fairy-tale grandeur of Amber Fort, Jaipur’s star attraction. (Description taken from Lonely Planet.)
Bodh Gaya: Gaya is a major pilgrimage city in Bihar for Hindus and Buddhists. It is visited for doing Pind Dan (funeral offerings for the benefit of the soul of the deceased) and for visiting Bodhgaya and Vishnupad temple. (Description taken from WikiTravel.)