SITA Courses
2015–16 Students’ Reflections & Insights
All SITA classes are taught at the SITA Center by local professors. Each class helps you better understand and engage with the people, practices, ideas, and material world you encounter in your daily life in Madurai through different approaches — including ethnography, literature, environmental studies, art history, religion, sociology, and language. Seminar style classrooms provide a space for you to ask questions, discuss ideas, and analyze both texts and experience. But we also emphasize experiential learning through your homestay, multiple local field visits, practicums, travel in South India, independent field research, optional classes in the arts, special workshops, and semester-long volunteer placements with clearly defined projects that challenge your creativity and skills while providing meaningful products and resources to a local organization.
Learn more about what some of the SITA classes are like — from recent students.
Myth, Religion, and Art in South India (Elective)
Overall evaluation: Very Good!
Dr. Venkatraman, an engaging story-teller, sought-after historian, and retired professor in Madurai, teaches this SITA course. Whether you’re in class or on a field visit, Dr. V will help you understand, contextualize, and enjoy the architecture, art, and rituals that surround you in Tamil Nadu. One spring 2016 student described the course series in the following way: “This course is an introduction to myth and religion in India. A cool aspect of this course is that once a week you go on a field trip to supplement what you are learning in class.”
“[The class could] have a better structure with more clear requirements.”
“When I passed temples or cultural sites, I could identify rituals or practices based on what we learned in class.”
The Ethnography Series: Ethnographic Methods & Theory and Research in Madurai (Required)
Overall evaluation: Very Good!
Dr. Ted Samuel teaches this series, with the philosophy that your SITA research endeavors can be meaningful and useful — to both the researcher and the research participants. One fall 2015 student described the course series in the following way: “This course is designed to help us with our independent study projects by helping us gain some background knowledge in the anthropology of South India as well as research methods.”
“Being able to conduct a research project was amazing. I learned so much more about Madurai by being able to interact with locals and be immersed in the culture.”
“Reading about different forms of ethnography and different ethnographies from South India really helped me form my thinking about the way that I was experiencing my time in Madurai. Talking about our experiences in class and thinking of them in more anthropological terms also really helped me gain perspectives that I don’t know if I would have been able to otherwise.”
Read an excerpt from a SITA student’s research paper.
“For me, the best aspect of the course was the discussion component. To challenge one another, think critically about our experiences in Madurai as well as our reactions to them, and have constructive conversations with a teacher we trusted and respected about what we were learning in and outside the classroom, really added to and helped form my experience here.”
“Ted managed to constantly challenge us and encourage us to question our mindsets while also being incredibly supportive and kind. :)”
Tamil Language (Required)
Overall evaluation: Very Good!
100% of students would recommend this course to future students, even if it weren’t required
Dr. Arun Raja Selvan teaches this course, with an emphasis on developing speaking and listening abilities to equip students to deal with different situations they will encounter in their day-to-day life. Using language outside the classroom is stressed and encouraged. One fall 2015 student described the course as “an interactive and fun class where we focused on learning spoken and written Tamil that would be most useful to us during our time in Madurai.”
“It was fun! Dr. Arun is the best.”
“We were able to learn a lot of Tamil in a relatively short time, and what we learned really came in helpful during our time here. Not to mention, it was tons of fun.”
“Although I didn’t get to the point of being able to have a very complex conversation with a random person on the street, the Tamil that I learned definitely helped me approach people in Madurai, and allowed me to talk to people who I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to. Also, most people in Madurai really appreciated it when I tried to speak Tamil, and I’m glad I made an effort to learn the language here.”
See a photo of the class in action.
“In addition to learning some functional Tamil, one of my favorite parts of the class was how participatory and fun it was. Dr. Arun made sure we were never bored, and always able to laugh and enjoy ourselves while learning.”
“It was wonderful to be exposed to a completely new language.”
Caste, Politics, and Gender in South India: Negotiating India’s Diversity (Elective)
Overall evaluation: Very Good!
100% of students would recommend this course to future students
Anita Tiphagne teaches this course, an introduction to issues surrounding caste, religion, politics, and gender in South India. Fall semester students suggested “internships / more out-of-class time.” As a result, beginning with the spring 2016 semester this class now integrates 1) lectures on the historical background of caste and gender, 2) discussions of sociological theories of power and marginality, and 3) experiential learning through individual placements in local organizations.
“This class did a great job of integrating classroom material and lectures with what we were doing outside the classroom. I felt like it helped me understand some of the experiences I had in Madurai better by giving me an idea of the larger context in which they took place.”
“I loved the amount that we were encouraged to bring what we were learning in the class outside into Madurai. We did interviews, forcing us to leave our comfort zones and have conversations with people we didn’t know. We were encouraged to talk to our host families about what we were learning, and to generally take our knowledge outside of the classroom. This really helped push me to talk to people in Madurai about topics that I otherwise may not have, enhancing my experience and knowledge.”
“I became friends with many people through the experiential learning component of this course. Because a lot of the individuals were around my age, I was able to ask them questions about things we discussed in class.”
“I think this course should be required. It gives you the tools to understand the cultural politics that affect everyday life here.”
“Both Professor Tiphagne’s lectures and the experiential learning placement were fantastic. My experiential learning placement taught me a lot about how human rights works in India and how a human rights organization functions. It was very useful.”
Modern Indian Fiction (Elective)
Overall evaluation: Very Good!
Professors Premila Paul and R. Padmanabhan Nair teach this course. Assessment is based on students’ original insights, interpretative skills, and understanding of the socio-political and cultural background/issues, as they relate to a variety of novels, short stories, and poetry by Indian authors. Fall 2015 students suggested that this course provide more emphasis on Tamil authors and introduce them to literature they would not necessarily encounter in the US. As a result, beginning in 2016–17 this course will shift to an emphasis on human rights and literature in South India, featuring more Tamil authors.
“The reading load was pretty heavy! But I understand why that is, so don’t change it.”
“The books and discussions were interesting, but we could have gone deeper at times.”
“The professors were helpful in giving us the tools to talk about what we were reading, and I enjoyed hearing other students’ interpretations of what we were reading as well as giving my own.”
“I loved all the literature we read. They were great examples of social criticism.”
