A new SU Abroad summer offering brought Falk College students to points of significance in northern and western India, including New Delhi, Agra—home of the Taj Mahal—and Baroda to immerse themselves in the culture, food and healthcare systems of South Asia.
Created by associate professor of nutrition, Sudha Raj, and associate professor of child and family studies, Kamala Ramadoss, the course incorporated online instruction on community-based projects and traditional food and healthcare systems prior to the group’s May 31 departure.
Upon arrival to India, students visited schools, community program sites, such as a school for children with special needs and a senior citizens’ center, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions, and traditional and modern healthcare facilities. Other highlights included visits to an ayurvedic center, a working dairy farm, and homeopathy hospital.
It was when they were working together on a project a few years ago that professors Raj and Ramadoss realized they graduated from Madras University in India, both with bachelor of science degrees in nutrition and dietetics seven years apart. Raj went on to complete her Ph.D. in nutrition science at Syracuse University and Ramadoss pursued degrees in child development and family studies at the University of Madres, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, and Purdue University before coming to Syracuse University. The combination of their expertise in food, nutrition, and family development presented a winwin situation for Falk students with this new offering in India. “Understanding food in a family context was something our students in nutrition and child and studies could benefit from,” says Raj. And so the new course started to take shape.
The course will help students understand the diversity of families in a multilingual, multi-faith Indian society given the wider global forces influencing Indian society. They will get an up-close view of the food and health systems in India given the impact of globalization on Indian socio-political, cultural and commercial life. Their exploration will have them analyze and evaluate the interrelationships among families (including food systems and health care), governmental policies and community programs.