The Service Learning Program has been designed as an experiential learning process, with a combination of classroom activities and field work. Students are expected to take away a broad overview of pertinent, current global development issues, placed in the Indian context. Alongside classroom learning, students will also volunteer with Non-Governmental Organizations working on different issues and will use that as an opportunity to learn, analyze and synthesize their experiences in the field with themes presented during the seminar.
Prerequisites:
None.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the semester, the students would:
Describe theories and models of development and volunteerism
Analyze different global developmental issues in the Indian context
Demonstrate good practices in volunteering, measured by feedback received from field agency mentors, facilitators and peers
Analyze and synthesize their experiences based on the theories and issues studied
Present material through a group seminar
Method of presentation:
Participation in classroom activities, which will be a mix of discussions, simulations, presentations and talks; Weekly readings pertaining to classroom discussion topics; Volunteering with a chosen agency; Reflective writing and regular debriefs on volunteering experiences
Required work and form of assessment:
Development Paper – 40%
Working on this assignment will be a cumulative process ending with a twenty (20) page written paper. The goal of the paper is to demonstrate the students’ understanding of some current development theory and critiques of such theories in an Indian specific context. Students are expected to choose a specific topic (health, education, environment, water resources, women, etc.) and gain some first-hand knowledge of the current work in this sector. To do this students are expected to visit at least one organization (school, hospital, etc.), NGO, or INGO in the specific field and complete a minimum of two interviews as part of the assignment. Students should prepare a list of questions in advance based on issues raised in the seminar readings and lectures.
Successful completion of the paper requires a discussion of the specific topic of choice in the larger development arena and the incorporation of cultural concerns specific to India such as the complex social stratification system as they impact efforts at change.
The topic selection will be made by week 6 and the papers will be submitted by week 13. Final presentations will also be made on these papers at a seminar organized by the students in week 14 (described below).
Social Change and Self Transformation: Volunteer Placements – 40%
Students will choose an organization that they will be placed with over a period of 12 weeks. Students will be expected to spend 5 hours each week (total of 60 hours) with the placement organization, during the course of which they will attempt to understand the workings of that organization and the particular developmental concern that the organization is trying to address. The aim is to give students the opportunity to examine development work first-hand and to enable them to have some practical experience in the field. Students should consider their individual skill sets and what they may be able to contribute in a volunteer capacity in the planning for this project. At the same time, the volunteering experience needs to be looked at as a learning opportunity and the students are expected to be reflective and introspective throughout the process.
As part of the volunteering assignments, students will capture at least two change stories from their placement agencies. Additionally, students will also write a testimonial on the impact the volunteering experience with their placement agency, has had on them. Evaluation will be based on feedback from placement agency, self and IES faculty.
Final presentation – 10%
As a final presentation, students are expected to design and implement a seminar as a group. Through this seminar, the students will present their final papers, while having organized and managed logistics of the seminar as a team. They will receive peer and faculty feedback on the same.
This process not just requires them to demonstrate an analytical view of the topics they researched, but also allows them to demonstrate the ability to synthesize their learning experiences and an ability to
work effectively in teams.
Discussions, Films, Excursions, and Participation – 10%
The Service Learning Seminar combines’ classroom based lectures with student and faculty-led discussions and field excursions. They are expected to demonstrate a basic understanding of the material and to facilitate group analysis of key themes and ideas. The seminar additionally may include films emphasizing different aspects of Indian culture and development issues. Finally, field excursions will allow students first-hand observation of seminar topics and are built into the curriculum as supports to the classroom learning. Students are expected to not only be present on all excursions but also to actively engage through questions and keen observations.
Participation is not the same as attendance. All students are expected to participate fully in all aspects of the seminar. This means asking pertinent questions to the course’s guest lecturers, engaging in
discussion and analysis during question opportunities after lectures, in group discussions and on
excursions. Students are expected to complete the required reading in a timely fashion, and to demonstrate their understanding of texts through reflection, writing, and discussion.
content:
Week 1 Introduction to course, overview, grading, field agencies’ presentations
Week 2 Introduction to Development: Understanding Civil Society- Participants develop a general understanding of development, while getting an overview of the 3 sector model, representing Civil Society, Government and Corporates. The session takes a look at micro and macro level action for change, while also mapping the historical progression of voluntary action in India.
Reading/Assignment:
Mahajan, Vijay. "Voluntary Action in India: A Retrospective Overview and Speculations for the 21st Century." in A Common Cause: NGOs and Civil Society. Eds. A. Maharishi and R. Dhillon, National Foundation of India. 2002.
Tandon, Rajesh; Voluntary Action, Civil Society and the State, New Delhi: Mosaic, 2002
Volunteering week 1 Orientation and meeting with senior team member
Week 3 Overview: Millennium Development
Goals- Participants develop an understanding of the global relevance of the MDGs, with a specific look at each of the goals. They also get a brief insight into the current status and progress of the MDGs in the South Asian and specifically, Indian context.
Reading/Assignment:
Hulme, David and Scott, James; The Political Economy of the MDGs: Retrospect and Prospect for the World’s Biggest Promise; Brook’s World Poverty Institute Working Paper 110, 2010.
Film – ‘A Future within Reach’ - Produced by TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP)for UNESCAP
Volunteering week 2
Volunteering week 3
Week 4 Gender - Here, a contextual understanding of gender, as well as its socio-economic and cultural definitions, will be developed. A brief overview Gender and Development in global and local contexts will be given.
Reading/Assignment:
Gender Mainstreaming and Human Rights in the United Nations, Hilary Charlesworth; Harvard Human Rights’ Journal, Vol. 18 (Spring 2005)
Gender Equality and the MDGs; Naila Kabeer; Gender and Development, April 2003
Volunteering week 4
Week 5 Sustainable Living and the Environment - The participants will take a look at sustainable development through the context of the socio-economics of globalization and the impect there of.
Reading/Assignment:
Srivastava, Aseem; Dancing at the Edge of the abyss? Indians globalized, Bharat Cauterised, 2009.
Film – ‘A Second Hand Life’, Director Nutun Manmohan; Producer PSBT, 2004
Volunteering week 5
Week 6 Conflict, Security and Climate - This session will examine the arguments and the evidence that indicates the linkages between climate change, instability and security
Reading/Assignment:
Barnett, J. and Adger, N. (2007) “Climate Change, Human Security and Violent Conflict”, Political Geography 26(6): 639-655
Homer-Dixon, T. 1994; ‘Environmental scarcities and violent conflict: evidence from cases.' International Security, 19/1: pp5-40
Week 6 - Submissions- Submission of paper topics
Volunteering week 6
Week 7 Youth Development and the 5th Space - This session will build the participants' understanding on youth development, as opposed to youth for development, along with understanding of the facilitators and inhibitors to youth development.
Reading/Assignment:
'Ocean in a Drop,' Paper Presentation RGNIYD, Pravah, 2010
Study on Active Citizenship Education, DG Education and Culture, February 2007, pp 55-71
Volunteering week 7: Capturing change story 1 and testimonial
Week 8 Gandhi and Development - This session will look at M.K. Gandhi's views on development - His perspectives on globalization and Swaraj and his understanding of development as community building.
Reading/Assignment:
Gandhi, M.K.; Hind Swaraj, Navjivan Trust, 1938
Volunteering week 8
Week 9 Social Exclusion and Caste- Through this session participants will develop an understanding of Social Exclusion as linked to the systematized inability to participate. It will also look at the class, caste and ethnicity dimensions of exclusion.
Reading/Assignment:
Heredia C., Rudolph; Subaltern alternatives on caste, class and ethnicity, Contributions to Indian Sociology, 2000, Vol 34 (1), pp 37-72
Panini, M.N.; The Political Economy of Caste, Caste - Its Twentieth Century Avatar; Ed. M.N. Srinivas; Penguin Books 1997, pp 28- 68
Volunteering week 9
Week 10 Understanding the Tibetan Dawa Norbu- Through a community interaction with Tibetan youth settled in Delhi, the aim is to understand the Tibetan Freedom Movement as well as their status in India.
Reading/Assignment:
Dawa Norbu,“The Settlements: Participation and Integration” in Bernstorff, Dagmar (ed.), Exile as Challenge. The Tibetan Diaspora, New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2003, pp. 186-212.
Tsewang Phuntso, “Government in Exile” in Bernstorff, Dagmar (ed.), Exile as Challenge. The Tibetan Diaspora, New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2003, pp. 125-148.
Week 11 Refugees in India – This session will explore the status of refugees in India, as a result of both internal and external migration. The session will examine the current situation in the context of human rights and development issues, as well as the laws that protect them.
Volunteering week 11 Capturing change story 1 and testimonial
Week 12 Conflict and Peace in India’s North Eastern Region- The session will explore the contemporary politics of resistance and peace building and the role that the civil society plays in the peace progress in the North Eastern states of India.
Reading/Assignment:
Das, Samir, Kumar; Conflict and Peace in India’s North East: The Role of Civil Society; Policy Studies 42, East-West Centre, Washington, 2007
Mehrotra, Deepti Priya, Irom Sharmila’s Protest Fast: `Women’s plays in the peace process in the North Wars’, Gandhian Non-Violence And Anti-Militarisation Struggles; Peace Prints: South Asian Journal of Peacebuilding, Vol. 3, No. 1: Spring 2010
Volunteering week 12 Thanksgiving to placement organisation
Week 13 Paper Submissions
Week 14 Presentation of Projects
Required readings:
Easterley, William; The White Man’s Burden New York: The Penguin Press, 2006.
Sen, Amartya and Jean Dreze; India: Development and Participation, Chapter 2, India in Comparitive
Perspective, pp 64-111, Oxford University Press, 1996.
Sen, Amartya; Development as Freedom, New York: Anchor Books, 1999.
Varma, Pavan; Being Indian, New Delhi, Penguin Books, 2004.
Recommended readings:
Beteille, Andre; Caste, Class and Power, Oxford University Press, 1996
Escobar, Arturo; Encountering Development, The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Gasper, Des; The Ethics of Development, New Delhi, Vistaar Publications, 2004.
Gladwell, Malcolm; “Introduction” And “The Three Rules of Epidemics” And “The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen”, In The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2000.
Mercier, Clare; NGOs, civil society and democratization: a critical review of the literature. Progress in
Development Studies 2,1 (2002) pp. 5–22
Peet, Richard with Elaine Hartwick; “Introduction” and “Economic Theories of Growth and Development” In Theories of Development, New York: The Guilford Press, 1999.
Rahnema, Majid with Victoria Bawtree (editors); The Post-Development Reader. London: Zed Books,
1997.
Robinson, M. A.; Evaluating the impact of NGOs in rural poverty alleviation: India country study.
Overseas Development Inst., London, UK.
Sachs, Jeffrey; The End of Poverty: How We Can Make it Happen in Our Lifetime, Chapter-9, India’s
Market Reforms, pp 170-187, London: Penguin, 2005
Sachs, Wolfgang (Ed.); The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, New Delhi: Orient
Longman, Ltd., 2000
Slim, Hugo; ‘Dissolving the differences between humanitarianism and development: the mixing of a rights-based solution’ in Debating Development: NGOs and the Future, edited by Eade, Deborah and Ligteringen, Ernst, 2006
Unruh, Heidi Rolland and Sider, Ronald J.; Saving Souls, Serving Society: Understanding the Faith Factor in Church-Based Social Ministry. Oxford University Press. New York. 2005.
Mishra, Pankaj; The Restless Children of the Dalai Lama. NYT, December 18, 2005
Wilsom, John and Musick, Marc; Who Cares? Toward an Integrated Theory of Volunteer Work. American
Sociological Review, Vol. 62, No. 5 (Oct., 1997), pp. 694-713
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Kanika Sinha has been designing and facilitating experiential learning spaces for young people for over 6 years through her work with Pravah (www.pravah.org). Her experience includes designing and facilitating training modules on various developmental issues linked to active citizenship. She also has extensive experience in training youth development practitioners in designing effective learning opportunities for young people. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Delhi University, India and a Master’s Degree in Social Development from the University of Sussex, U.K.
Service Learning
The Service Learning Program has been designed as an experiential learning process, with a combination of classroom activities and field work. Students are expected to take away a broad overview of pertinent, current global development issues, placed in the Indian context. Alongside classroom learning, students will also volunteer with Non-Governmental Organizations working on different issues and will use that as an opportunity to learn, analyze and synthesize their experiences in the field with themes presented during the seminar.
None.
By the end of the semester, the students would:
Participation in classroom activities, which will be a mix of discussions, simulations, presentations and talks; Weekly readings pertaining to classroom discussion topics; Volunteering with a chosen agency; Reflective writing and regular debriefs on volunteering experiences
Development Paper – 40%
Working on this assignment will be a cumulative process ending with a twenty (20) page written paper. The goal of the paper is to demonstrate the students’ understanding of some current development theory and critiques of such theories in an Indian specific context. Students are expected to choose a specific topic (health, education, environment, water resources, women, etc.) and gain some first-hand knowledge of the current work in this sector. To do this students are expected to visit at least one organization (school, hospital, etc.), NGO, or INGO in the specific field and complete a minimum of two interviews as part of the assignment. Students should prepare a list of questions in advance based on issues raised in the seminar readings and lectures.
Successful completion of the paper requires a discussion of the specific topic of choice in the larger development arena and the incorporation of cultural concerns specific to India such as the complex social stratification system as they impact efforts at change.
The topic selection will be made by week 6 and the papers will be submitted by week 13. Final presentations will also be made on these papers at a seminar organized by the students in week 14 (described below).
Social Change and Self Transformation: Volunteer Placements – 40%
Students will choose an organization that they will be placed with over a period of 12 weeks. Students will be expected to spend 5 hours each week (total of 60 hours) with the placement organization, during the course of which they will attempt to understand the workings of that organization and the particular developmental concern that the organization is trying to address. The aim is to give students the opportunity to examine development work first-hand and to enable them to have some practical experience in the field. Students should consider their individual skill sets and what they may be able to contribute in a volunteer capacity in the planning for this project. At the same time, the volunteering experience needs to be looked at as a learning opportunity and the students are expected to be reflective and introspective throughout the process.
As part of the volunteering assignments, students will capture at least two change stories from their placement agencies. Additionally, students will also write a testimonial on the impact the volunteering experience with their placement agency, has had on them. Evaluation will be based on feedback from placement agency, self and IES faculty.
Final presentation – 10%
As a final presentation, students are expected to design and implement a seminar as a group. Through this seminar, the students will present their final papers, while having organized and managed logistics of the seminar as a team. They will receive peer and faculty feedback on the same.
This process not just requires them to demonstrate an analytical view of the topics they researched, but also allows them to demonstrate the ability to synthesize their learning experiences and an ability to
work effectively in teams.
Discussions, Films, Excursions, and Participation – 10%
The Service Learning Seminar combines’ classroom based lectures with student and faculty-led discussions and field excursions. They are expected to demonstrate a basic understanding of the material and to facilitate group analysis of key themes and ideas. The seminar additionally may include films emphasizing different aspects of Indian culture and development issues. Finally, field excursions will allow students first-hand observation of seminar topics and are built into the curriculum as supports to the classroom learning. Students are expected to not only be present on all excursions but also to actively engage through questions and keen observations.
Participation is not the same as attendance. All students are expected to participate fully in all aspects of the seminar. This means asking pertinent questions to the course’s guest lecturers, engaging in
discussion and analysis during question opportunities after lectures, in group discussions and on
excursions. Students are expected to complete the required reading in a timely fashion, and to demonstrate their understanding of texts through reflection, writing, and discussion.
Week 1 Introduction to course, overview, grading, field agencies’ presentations
Week 2 Introduction to Development: Understanding Civil Society- Participants develop a general understanding of development, while getting an overview of the 3 sector model, representing Civil Society, Government and Corporates. The session takes a look at micro and macro level action for change, while also mapping the historical progression of voluntary action in India.
Reading/Assignment:
Volunteering week 1 Orientation and meeting with senior team member
Week 3 Overview: Millennium Development
Goals- Participants develop an understanding of the global relevance of the MDGs, with a specific look at each of the goals. They also get a brief insight into the current status and progress of the MDGs in the South Asian and specifically, Indian context.
Reading/Assignment:
Volunteering week 2
Volunteering week 3
Week 4 Gender - Here, a contextual understanding of gender, as well as its socio-economic and cultural definitions, will be developed. A brief overview Gender and Development in global and local contexts will be given.
Reading/Assignment:
Volunteering week 4
Week 5 Sustainable Living and the Environment - The participants will take a look at sustainable development through the context of the socio-economics of globalization and the impect there of.
Reading/Assignment:
Volunteering week 5
Week 6 Conflict, Security and Climate - This session will examine the arguments and the evidence that indicates the linkages between climate change, instability and security
Reading/Assignment:
Week 6 - Submissions- Submission of paper topics
Volunteering week 6
Week 7 Youth Development and the 5th Space - This session will build the participants' understanding on youth development, as opposed to youth for development, along with understanding of the facilitators and inhibitors to youth development.
Reading/Assignment:
Volunteering week 7: Capturing change story 1 and testimonial
Week 8 Gandhi and Development - This session will look at M.K. Gandhi's views on development - His perspectives on globalization and Swaraj and his understanding of development as community building.
Reading/Assignment:
Volunteering week 8
Week 9 Social Exclusion and Caste- Through this session participants will develop an understanding of Social Exclusion as linked to the systematized inability to participate. It will also look at the class, caste and ethnicity dimensions of exclusion.
Reading/Assignment:
Volunteering week 9
Week 10 Understanding the Tibetan Dawa Norbu- Through a community interaction with Tibetan youth settled in Delhi, the aim is to understand the Tibetan Freedom Movement as well as their status in India.
Reading/Assignment:
http://sftindia.org
Volunteering week 10
Week 11 Refugees in India – This session will explore the status of refugees in India, as a result of both internal and external migration. The session will examine the current situation in the context of human rights and development issues, as well as the laws that protect them.
Reading/Assignment:
Report of Refugee Populations of India, Human Rights Law Network, November 2007
http://hrln.org/admin/issue/subpdf/Refugee_populations_in_India.pdf
Panda, Architesh, Climate Refugees: The Implications for India, in the context of human rights and Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XLV No. 20, May 15 2010
http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/support-protect them. files/archit_epw.pdf
Volunteering week 11 Capturing change story 1 and testimonial
Week 12 Conflict and Peace in India’s North Eastern Region- The session will explore the contemporary politics of resistance and peace building and the role that the civil society plays in the peace progress in the North Eastern states of India.
Reading/Assignment:
Volunteering week 12 Thanksgiving to placement organisation
Week 13 Paper Submissions
Week 14 Presentation of Projects
Easterley, William; The White Man’s Burden New York: The Penguin Press, 2006.
Sen, Amartya and Jean Dreze; India: Development and Participation, Chapter 2, India in Comparitive
Perspective, pp 64-111, Oxford University Press, 1996.
Sen, Amartya; Development as Freedom, New York: Anchor Books, 1999.
Varma, Pavan; Being Indian, New Delhi, Penguin Books, 2004.
Beteille, Andre; Caste, Class and Power, Oxford University Press, 1996
Escobar, Arturo; Encountering Development, The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Gasper, Des; The Ethics of Development, New Delhi, Vistaar Publications, 2004.
Gladwell, Malcolm; “Introduction” And “The Three Rules of Epidemics” And “The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen”, In The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2000.
Mercier, Clare; NGOs, civil society and democratization: a critical review of the literature. Progress in
Development Studies 2,1 (2002) pp. 5–22
Peet, Richard with Elaine Hartwick; “Introduction” and “Economic Theories of Growth and Development” In Theories of Development, New York: The Guilford Press, 1999.
Rahnema, Majid with Victoria Bawtree (editors); The Post-Development Reader. London: Zed Books,
1997.
Robinson, M. A.; Evaluating the impact of NGOs in rural poverty alleviation: India country study.
Overseas Development Inst., London, UK.
Sachs, Jeffrey; The End of Poverty: How We Can Make it Happen in Our Lifetime, Chapter-9, India’s
Market Reforms, pp 170-187, London: Penguin, 2005
Sachs, Wolfgang (Ed.); The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, New Delhi: Orient
Longman, Ltd., 2000
Slim, Hugo; ‘Dissolving the differences between humanitarianism and development: the mixing of a rights-based solution’ in Debating Development: NGOs and the Future, edited by Eade, Deborah and Ligteringen, Ernst, 2006
Unruh, Heidi Rolland and Sider, Ronald J.; Saving Souls, Serving Society: Understanding the Faith Factor in Church-Based Social Ministry. Oxford University Press. New York. 2005.
Mishra, Pankaj; The Restless Children of the Dalai Lama. NYT, December 18, 2005
Wilsom, John and Musick, Marc; Who Cares? Toward an Integrated Theory of Volunteer Work. American
Sociological Review, Vol. 62, No. 5 (Oct., 1997), pp. 694-713
Kanika Sinha has been designing and facilitating experiential learning spaces for young people for over 6 years through her work with Pravah (www.pravah.org). Her experience includes designing and facilitating training modules on various developmental issues linked to active citizenship. She also has extensive experience in training youth development practitioners in designing effective learning opportunities for young people. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Delhi University, India and a Master’s Degree in Social Development from the University of Sussex, U.K.