SWK 499 - India Experience: Contemporary Social Issues in India

(6 credits)

This course will explore in detail selected social welfare, economic and cultural issues prevalent in India, with special emphasis given to Southwestern state of Kerala. The course will focus on such issues as adult literacy, alternate health-care practices, community development and self-sufficiency, the electronic industrialization of rural communities, and the role of women. Students will have pre-departure orientation of an interview of India: social welfare, political, socioeconomic, Malayalam language and other cultural aspects, followed by four weeks of structured learning and intensive analysis of Kerala, involving lectures by local area experts and professors from University of Kerala, visits and mini-internships to social welfare agencies, educational and health care organizations and rural communities. Students will have an opportunity to stay and interact with university students and their family members. As part of the program students will participate in reflected discussions, write daily logs, learn to communicate in Malayalam, upload day-to-day experience into CSU India Experience Web site, prepare two major papers and give a presentation in front of an invited audience. Study Abroad. This course may fulfill a General Education Requirement.

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