Pune (India) Program
SOUTH ASIAN CIVILIZATION

General Description:
   


Thalia Gigerenzer, '09
View into a Home in Jodphur, "The Blue City"

The University of Chicago's autumn-quarter program in Pune (Poona) explores topics in South Asian civilization. It is built upon a three-course civilization sequence, which examines the literature, religion, art and society of the South Asian subcontinent through course work, field studies and direct experience.

During the first seven weeks of the quarter, the program is based in the city of Pune, where students complete, in succession, two courses and participate in excursions to nearby cultural and historical sites. One of these courses, subtitled “Indian Religions and the Arts,” introduces students to the textual and religious traditions of South Asia. The other, subtitled “State and Society in India,” surveys the culture and politics of early-modern and contemporary India. (The order of these two courses changes from year to year.) The final three weeks of the quarter are devoted to the third course in the sequence, subtitled “History and Place in South India.” In this course, students examine aspects of pre-colonial society through the lens of place, monument and social memory. A significant component of this third course is an extended visit to a number of important South Indian archaeological and historical sites, including the Portuguese colonial city of Goa and the now deserted capital city of the Vijayanagara Empire. In addition to the civilization sequence, students take a fourth course in Hindi during the first seven weeks of the quarter. For students with no prior experience in South Asian languages, this language course is designed to facilitate their access to local culture and to provide a basis for further study. Advanced sections are held for those students with prior course work or experience in Hindi.

Pune itself is a city of some four million inhabitants situated on the eastern foothills of the Indian western coastal mountains, or ghats, about 100 miles southeast of Mumbai. Labeled, famously by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as “the Oxford and Cambridge of India,” it is a major center for Indian art, religion and higher education, and an ideal site for cultural immersion.


Eric Janofsky, '09
Virupaksha Temple at Hampi

   
Housing:
While in Pune, students will be housed in double rooms in a modest hotel. This accommodation includes breakfast and some dinners. During the extended excursion that falls within the last three weeks, participants stay in a series of hotels and similar residences.

Credits:
Pune program participants receive three credits for the civilization sequence, which meets the College’s civilization requirement. If students have already met the civilization requirement, they may use these credits as electives. Students also receive one credit for the Hindi language course. Course titles, units of credit and grades appear on the student's Chicago transcript.

 Registration and Tuition:
Students remain registered full-time in the College and pay regular College tuition, the Pune program fee and the non-refundable study abroad administrative fee required of all participants in Chicago's programs abroad. For precise figures, see Study Abroad Program Fees.

Financial Aid:
Students retain their financial aid eligibility while abroad. However, two expenses--the study abroad administrative fee and round-trip airfare--are not underwritten by College financial aid. On the other hand, since students cannot be expected to work part-time in India, the self-help component of their financial aid package does not include a term-time employment factor.

Eligibility:
   


Thalia Gigerenzer, '09
Street Scene in Jodphur

The Chicago Pune program is designed for undergraduates in good standing who are beyond their first year in the College. While the program stipulates no minimum grade-point average, applicants should present a transcript demonstrating that they are serious students who will make the most of this opportunity. It is also essential that applicants have the physical stamina, general good health and positive attitude required by an excursion-intensive program in a developing country. Because the civilization course is taught in English, previous study of an Indic language is not required. Please note: Because of the considerable demand on the Chicago civilization programs abroad, no student may participate in more than one of these programs.

Application:
Applications are available on the study abroad website. To apply to the Pune program, a student must submit a general study abroad application electronically, then download and submit a paper copy of the supplementary application, normally in mid-winter quarter of the previous academic year.

In preparing the application and especially in composing the required personal statement, students should keep in mind that admission to Civilization programs are selective and that the number of places available is insufficient to meet the considerable demand. A student accepting an offer of admission is expected to secure his or her place with a non-refundable study abroad administrative fee. (To begin the application process, click on the Study Abroad General Application.) 

 Further Information:
If you would like to discuss the Pune program and the possibility of participating in it, please contact Erika Mercer (Harper 216; 834-5424).

Statements contained on this site are subject to change without notice.