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Introduction I am looking for someone to share in an adventure I am arranging. -Gandalf From J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit Welcome to the 2004 NYSICCSI Program in India! The program in India is unlike any other study abroad program, requiring more preparation, more seriousness, more cultural adjustment, more academic rigor, and most especially, a sense of adventure. The program will not be like a trip to Europe. Things will not always go as planned; you will not always be comfortable. Of course, not all people care for such adventures. As Bilbo said when Gandalf invited him on one, “We are plain, quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things. Make you late for dinner.” As you have applied for the program, we assume that none of you are plain quiet folk having no use for adventure. You will take to the road well. We will be a fellowship. Working together in friendship and taking care of each other will be our first priority. There will be academic pressures, combined with those brought on by cultural adjustment and the reality of living continuously in close quarters with a small group of people. We will need true commitment and fortitude to brave minor and major irritations, discomforts, and perhaps illness. We will need each other. We need to be supportive and kind to one another. Fellowship-breaking characteristics like selfishness, being overly sensitive and grumpy, holding grudges, and excluding others from our fellowship, will all need to be left behind us. We will be one score and two strong, if everyone makes it to the orientation and to the airport. There will be strength in numbers. We will have a good balance between men and women and between student interests. There can also be weakness if the group splinters into factions. There will be a special emphasis learning to work together and get along with everyone in the group. The Assistant Director for the Fall 2004 program is my husband, Dr. John Davenport, a doctoral graduate of Princeton University. He is a Presbyterian pastor. He has also taught Philosophy of Religion and World Religions courses at the college level. He has visited India on three different occasions. As for myself, I have spent over six years in India, but constantly find each day in India a new learning experience. My doctorate is in Modern South Asian History from the University of Texas at Austin. My area of interests is in the history of religions. The courses that I offer are in the field of South Asian religions, particularly Hinduism. The purpose of this handbook is to serve as a reference, both for information covered at Orientation and for Indian study matters more broadly. Use it to prepare for our trip. You will not need to bring it with you to India, as you will receive a handbook upon your arrival in India. The handbook is meant to help you to prepare for your experience, materially and academically. The on-line edition of the handbook is available at the following web address: www.indiaprogram.org. Your parents, guardians, or friends may be interested in much of this material, either now or while you are in India. We will be posting updates and photos from India during the duration of the program. Should you find that questions arise after Orientation and before departure for India, contact your campus representatives or Nancy Pierce, the program administrator at 315-229-5991/5945 or <npierce@stlawu.edu. I can be contacted at director@indiaprogram.org Dr. Leah Renold 2004 NYSICCSI Program Director
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