Art and Social Change in South India

Co-sponsored by the Department of English

Interested in art and activism? Join our long-running program and learn how Indian activists, scholars and everyday change-makers use art to expand the frame of human rights and social justice. You'll be impressed by the artistic range of practitioners we'll meet, and better understand how social change can take place on the streets, in the judiciary, in the classroom, as well as on various performance stages.

Our program zooms in on the arts and exposes students to Indian dance, music, theatre and artistic production. We'll learn how colonialism influenced centuries-old artistic traditions, and consider how globalization, gender, sexuality, caste, race and class are represented in art nowadays. Students will participate in performances as well as engage in numerous hands-on experiences with front-line activists and thinkers.

Our program will also foreground the study abroad experience as a site of inquiry and appreciation. We'll discuss the ethics of going abroad as Westerners, and what it means to grapple with our good intentions and different identities. How might we navigate our privileges with an eye toward justice and dignity toward ourselves and others? How do we "sit with discomfort" productively so we can learn and stretch well, not only during the program in India but even after we return home?

If these conversations sound interesting, please do consider joining us. All students across campus welcome to apply!

Note: the program fee includes all meals during during the program.