SFU launches new field schools in India
Contact:
Randall Martin, Director, Global Initiatives, 604.291.5840; 604.727.4490; martin@sfu.ca
Julie Ovenell-Carter, PAMR, 604.291.4323
In January 2008, SFU’s School for International Studies will offer an eight-week program on the development of modern India in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M). The Madras campus is the only one of the seven IIT institutes to offer arts programming together with its science and technology. Fifteen SFU students will study alongside Indian faculty and students for one full term.
In May 2008, SFU’s School for Interactive Arts and Technology will launch a program in the technology and culture of India, to be hosted jointly by IIT-M and the TATA Consultancy Services (TCS) Executive Training Centre in Trivandrum, Kerala. TCS is the largest software consultancy in Asian and one of the largest multi-nationals in India, and has received SFU co-op students for the past four years.
For the first half of the program, 20 students from SFU will join students from IIT-M to explore the interplay between technology and culture in an Indian context. Later, they will be joined in the classroom by young executives from TCS.
These new programs complement SFU’s existing field schools and exchange programs in India, which include courses in global education at Punjab University in Chandigarh and the contemporary art of India at Banares Hindu University in Varanasi, Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, and private films studios in Mumbai.
SFU’s activities in India are supported by the newly formed SFU-India Advisory Council, comprised of prominent leaders from the Indo-Canadian community. The group is leading the development of new programs and research relationships to increase the exchange of knowledge between SFU and India.