* photo by Bethany Hill, Dukeengage Hyderabad 2008
south asian outreach:The North Carolina Center for South Asian Studies promotes the teaching of South Asian language and culture in North Carolina. In addition to our work on consortium member campuses, we collaborate with area K-12 schools, community organizations and other groups interested in raising the profile of South Asia in North Carolina. The majority of our outreach efforts goes towards conducting training and developing curricular resources for K-16 teachers.
Below you will find additional information about the services and resources we provide. Additionally we have a lending library of regional and country-specific material lending resources (books, videos, art, costumes) available for loan from our office. There is more information about each of these resources below. We can also coordinate presentations by relevant speakers according to your needs.
curriculum development:
Lesson Plan: Grade-level specific lesson plans are available for use in teaching South Asia in the classroom. If you are interested in teaching a topic not listed on the site, we will be happy to work with you to develop a unique lesson plan to cultivate awareness of South Asia in your students.
Book Club: Come read with us! The book club links your class to books with South Asian characters and themes. Pick up one of our suggestions, or one of your own, and we can support your class as they read about South Asia.
Workshop: Attend our workshops to meet other teachers and learn how to bring South Asia into your classroom. Check back for further details coming soon.
Tasveer Ghar (House of Pictures): Co-founded by Duke faculty member Sumathi Ramaswamy, Tasveer Ghar ("House of Pictures") is a digital resource for South Asian popular visual culture.
study-tour program for teachers:
Study Tour: In Conjunction with World View, the Consortium for South Asian Studies promotes study-tours in India for teachers. These experiences provide an immersive travel experience that helps provide an experiential context for teaching about global and regional themes. The trips include visits to important historical and cultural sites, as well as visits to Indian schools and/or universities. Please click the link above for more information about past and future trips.
Fulbright-Hay GPA Summer 2010: Pre-service teachers in the Duke Program in Education and in-service mentor teachers in the Durham Public Schools will be participating in this program this summer.The goal of this program is to help pre-service and in-service teachers develop intercultural competence and global learning curricula through a 4-week study visit to India. Participants will learn more about the educational system and practices in India, while visiting schools and colleges and meeting with foreign counterparts. We will also explore significant cultural and historical sites. This program will be a model through which pre-service and in-service teachers can immediately apply their intercultural learning as a foundation for incorporating cross-cultural teaching and learning into diverse 21st century classrooms.
Clothes Closet: the center has a collection of South Asian clothing and accessories from the region. These items may be checked out by local schools for use in lesson plans, theatrical productions, and other activities that have a tactile component. (see link for full inventory)
Visual Exhibit: The center has an extensive collection of photographs from South Asia that can be checked out for mounting exhibits in your school.
World View: Based at the UNC-Chapel Hill, World View is an organization that provides activities and resources for training teachers to address the complexity of an increasingly global world in their classrooms. Their website provides information about upcoming activities, as well as global-themed lesson plans, etc.
Carolina Navigators: Part of the Center for Global Initiatives at UNC they organize a variety of student presenters on different global cultures and themes. They also have "culture kits" that teachers can borrow for use in their classrooms.
Tasveer Ghar (House of Pictures): Co-founded by Duke faculty member Sumathi Ramaswamy, Tasveer Ghar ("House of Pictures") is a digital resource for South Asian popular visual culture.
The Town of Nathadwara: The Town of NathadwaraFrom the University of Washington's South Asia Studies, an online presentation on artists and art in the Rajasthani town of Nathadwara. Addresses Hindu religious iconography, cultural geography, and an art lesson!
A Virtual Village: From Wesleyan University, this website provides a virtual orientation to Arampur, a village in the state of Bihar in northern India. Addresses physical and cultural geography, and provides extensive information on the various aspects of the village.
UVA teaching resources: An extensive list of teaching resources developed by the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Virginia.