Director: Dr. Aparna Rayaprol

The University's Study in India Program (SIP), which began in 1998 with only 8 students, has considerably expanded in recent years.  There were 146 participants in different programs during 2007-08 academic year.  The number was 167 in 2006-2007.

SIP is an interdisciplinary initiative, emphasizing heritage, continuity and change in India .  The unique aspect of SIP has been that the students' interests have been given primary attention.  One-on-one counseling on e-mail, contact prior to arrival, meeting after arrival provided by the SIP faculty and program assistants, lead to a good match between students' preferences and the courses they take.  In some cases, independent studies are devised for SIP students. 

Courses that have been taken by SIP students include  Indian Diaspora, Women's Studies, Folk Culture Studies, Religious Studies, Indian Philosophy, Indian Dance, Indian Music, Indian Cinema, Art, Literature, Indian Politics and Foreign Policy, Linguistics, Communication Technologies, Anthropology, Indian History, Mathematics, etc.  Basic and advanced language courses like Hindi, Telugu, Urdu, Sanskrit, and other Indian languages are also offered.  There is  growing interest in different science courses as well. 

All these courses can be classified under five heads:

• Regular University courses in different schools involving lectures, seminars, assignments and examinations. 
  
  
• SIP courses, especially designed for foreign students.
  
  
• Independent/directed study where a faculty member supervises readings, field study, and research focused on some topic. 
  
  
• Courses involving practice/performance, e.g. Indian Classical Dance, Theatre, Sitar, Painting, Sculpture, etc.
  
  
• Non-credit courses such as Yoga, Tabla, Kathak, etc.