This May, as the Class of 2014 prepared to embark upon new educational and professional paths, a group of seven Gettysburg faculty boarded a plane ready to embark upon their own journey.
Over the next twelve days, they would travel throughout northern India to learn about food insecurity and global health in the cities of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Funded by a 2013 grant from the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation, this trip marked the first of a series of faculty seminars abroad aimed at expanding the international perspective of coursework across Gettysburg’s curriculum.
When they organized this trip, Dean of Global Initiatives Rebecca Bergren and Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Study of Global Issues Caroline Hartzel aimed to recruit faculty participants who had not integrated an international component to their coursework or who had little to no expertise in South Asia. “As the world’s largest democracy and as a growing economic power, India is such an important world location,” said Bergren. “Our faculty must be prepared to help their students understand India’s history and challenges.”
The group selected for the trip comprised faculty from the College’s religious studies, health sciences, anthropology, biology, mathematics, and education departments. As part of the application process, faculty were asked to describe what they hoped to achieve through the trip, and to suggest how they might use this experience to enhance and broaden their course offerings.