This 6-week course centers on the origins of human beings and the emergence of civilization and includes the study of India, Greece, and Rome as seen thought the development of democratic forms of government. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises to offer tremendous opportunities for service excellence, creation of newer domain of employment avenues, and in the process augment industrial and economic growth for countries. The question, however, is India ready to embrace AI and pave for a new technology revolution? India’s history does indeed support this possibility. In the past, starting in the late 1980s, India successfully clasped the computer revolution bubble and took almost a decade to become an information technology (IT) leader in the world. Today, the Indian IT sector contributes significantly to the country’s GDP and is among the highest employment opportunity provider in the country. The journey of India as an IT major, however, has not been without its ups and downs.  

In this Nature video, learn about the extraordinary impact that birds have on the agriculture of a small Indian community.

This course explores successful approaches to delivering healthcare in challenging settings. We analyze organizations to find why some fall short while others grow in size and contribute to the health of the people they serve, and explore promising business models and social enterprise innovations.

Host Harry Kreisler welcomes The Right Honorable Lord Patten of Barnes CH for a discussion of the European UnionŐs common foreign and defense policy, relations between Europe and the United States, and the challenges posed by the emergence of the economies of China and India. Lord Patten also offers his reflections on diplomacy, enlargement, and the power of ideas in politics. (53 min)

Writer and Diplomat Shashi Tharoor joins host Harry Kreisler for a discussion of his dual careers as one of India's most distinguished writers and as a leading figure in international diplomacy. (52 min)

D-Lab Development addresses issues of technological improvements at the micro level for developing countries—in particular, how the quality of life of low-income households can be improved by adaptation of low cost and sustainable technologies. Discussion of development issues as well as project implementation challenges are addressed through lectures, case studies, guest speakers and laboratory exercises. Students form project teams to partner with mostly local level organizations in developing countries, and formulate plans for an IAP site visit. (Previous field sites include Ghana, Brazil, Honduras and India.) Project team meetings focus on developing specific projects and include cultural, social, political, environmental and economic overviews of the countries and localities to be visited as well as an introduction to the local languages.

D-Lab Development addresses issues of technological improvements at the micro level for developing countries—in particular, how the quality of life of low-income households can be improved by adaptation of low cost and sustainable technologies. Discussion of development issues as well as project implementation challenges are addressed through lectures, case studies, guest speakers and laboratory exercises. Students form project teams to partner with mostly local level organizations in developing countries, and formulate plans for an IAP site visit. (Previous field sites include Ghana, Brazil, Honduras and India.) Project team meetings focus on developing specific projects and include cultural, social, political, environmental and economic overviews of the countries and localities to be visited as well as an introduction to the local languages.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"The Earth is undeniably getting hotter. For the third time in a row, the past year has gone down as the hottest on record. While researchers don’t expect every year to be record-shattering, the trend is disconcerting—perhaps nowhere more so than in South Asia. A new study shows that here, unique climate effects converge with poor living conditions and high population density to create the most at-risk hot spot on our planet. Climate data shows that some of the world’s hottest zones lie across Asia. In these areas, the wet-bulb temperature, a measure of temperature that accounts for humidity, reaches life-threatening highs, commonly above 28°C. For perspective, consider that spending just a few hours at a wet-bulb temperature of 35°C is enough to cause death. And according to an international team of researchers, this heating trend might only get worse..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

In 1999, the University of Chicago began the Digital Dictionaries of South Asia (DDSA) to make electronic dictionaries of South Asian languages available to the public for free. It includes languages from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Gary Tubb, Professor and Chair of the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations (SALC), and James Nye, former University of Chicago Library Southern Asia bibliographer and COSAS Emeritus, were awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education that allows them to expand these digital dictionaries to include Kashmiri, Panjabi, Persian, Sindhi, Sinhala, Telugu, and Urdu languages. James Nye is a CAORC Multi-Country Research Fellowship alum, who traveled to Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, and India on the fellowship.

This is a collection of downloadable video clips on the theme of Economic Systems, with guiding questions for students. Clips are drawn from the following PBS WIDE ANGLE documentaries: "To Have and Have Not" (2002), "A State of Mind" (2003), "Ladies First" (2004), "1-800-INDIA" (2005), "Border Jumpers" (2005).

As markets or production bases, China and India are becoming important and integral players in the global economy. Foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio investments and outsourcing businesses have increased dramatically in these two economies. Despite the rising importance of these two economies on the world stage, our knowledge and analysis of these two countries in an integrated manner has remained poor. The two are often lumped together by business analysts as “emerging markets,” despite the substantial differences in their political systems, reform policies and business organizations. Academics, in contrast, have tended to treat the two countries separately, preferring to specialize in issues and questions specific to one or the other country.
The purpose of this course is to analyze these two countries within a coherent analytical framework. Our learning model is inductive, and heavily based on class discussions and participation. The group projects should aim at integrating analysis, knowledge and understanding of these two countries. We will also experiment with other forms of group projects, such as creating and working on business plans and those projects that integrate research from field trips with more traditional research, such as library research. There is no prerequisite but 15.012 (Applied Macro- and International Economics) and 15.223 (Global Markets, National Policies and the Competitive Advantage of Firms) are highly recommended.

From pineapples grown in Hawaii to English-speaking call centers outsourced to India, the legacy of the “Age of Imperialism” appears everywhere in our modern world. This class explores the history of European imperialism in its political, economic, and cultural dimensions from the 1840s through the 1960s.

This is an open-ended activity designed as a long-term undergraduate research project for Earth science, physical geography, or environmental studies courses. It is designed to allow for substantial student autonomy with the guidance of an instructor. The activity presented here may be modified to fit one’s class and instructional style.

Modernization is an important issue in the New York State Global History and Geography curriculum. Students are expected to understand how modernization may impact such areas as society, politics, the economy, and the environment. In the Global History and Geography curriculum, a study of historical examples of modernization includes examples of attempts to transform society, such as the Meiji Restoration or Kemal Ataturk. In this lesson, two PBS WIDE ANGLE documentaries -- "To Have and Have Not" (2002) and "1-800-INDIA" (2005) -- will enable students to examine the effects of modernization on two Asian countries: China and India.

This presentation is a part of the subjective assignment done for a MOOC course on Academic Writing in SWAYAM. This presentation gives a bird's eye view about how the technology is shaping the Banking industry in India and what are its advantages and limitations.

In December 2023, Geeta Wahi Dua led a tour of Sunder Nursery in Delhi for CAORC OFDS participants. During the tour, she intertwined the history of the nursery with stories of the design elements, pointing out motifs and the meaning behind them.
Garden as Universe, Universe as Garden: What are the creative realms of gardens in contemporary India? Landscape architect Geeta Wahi Dua discusses curating the book Bagh-e-Bahar for the 2023 India Art, Architecture, and Design Biennale. The book celebrates the idea of a “garden” in the context of India. Dua shares selected gardens in India with strong attributes toward philosophical, environmental, and design aesthetics, which cover diverse geographies, manifest in multiple scales, and reflect the rich natural and cultural heritage of the country. UCF Arboretum Director Jennifer Elliot as moderator.

In January 2024, Ruchita Gupta, Ph.D. presented a lecture on Indian urban informal settlements to CAORC OFDS participants visiting the School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi.
Informal Housing in Delhi: Policies and Case Studies: The growth of India’s population and increase in urban migration has amplified the shortage of affordable housing in India’s capital. How do government policies address the need for housing for the urban poor, slums and squatter settlements in the city of Delhi? Ruchita Gupta, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Housing, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi, presents several case studies to provide a glimpse of the living conditions of the urban poor in these settlements. Moderated by FDS participant Amar Sawhney, Professor of Architecture, Building Construction and Interior Design, Miami Dade College.

Today, over 115 million children have never set foot inside a school. The fact is that for children living in developing countries, the dream of a first day of school is yet to be realized. The daily realities of poverty, political instability, regional conflict, geography, and cultural or traditional values all play a role to varying degrees -- and the issue of gender disparity makes this fact even more staggering. Full and equal access to education (Article 26) as outlined in the 'Universal Declaration of Human Rights' and 'The Convention on the Rights of the Child' (Articles 2,3,28, and 29), has clearly been out of the reach of poor children -- and even more so in the case of girls. Nearly two-thirds of children who are denied a primary education are girls. In the least developed countries, nearly twice as many adult women than men are illiterate. (Source: UNFPA http://www.unfpa.org/icpd/10/icpd_ed.htm) If you happen to be a female, you are less likely to have access to a quality primary education and beyond -- contributing to the feminization of global poverty. Yet, there is hope despite this current state of affairs. 189 nations have pledged to meet 8 major Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. In doing so, nations hope to improve the social and economic development of all peoples. Included in these goals are those that address education and gender disparity: MDG 2: Achieve universal and primary education. MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women. Through the activities outlined in this lesson, students will become familiar with the current barriers standing in the way of educational opportunity -- especially for girls. They will watch clips from the WIDE ANGLE film 'Time for School' (2003) to understand the sense of urgency surrounding this issue, the potential benefits that can result from educating girls, and the ways that local communities are trying to address these problems. Note: This lesson focuses on MDG 2 and MDG 3. An introduction to the overall goals of the Millennium Project should be presented prior to this particular lesson.

Poster showing sailors as tourists in India, riding an elephant and taking snapshots. Caption: India.