Study Abroad in Hyderabad: Community Engagement Program
The objective of the Community Engagement Program is to provide students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of the current issues impacting on community life in India and to learn about a people-centered approach to social change. Students experience firsthand the role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in various development initiatives while earning academic credits.
Students opting to take this Community Engagement Program may earn a total of 16 credits, comprising 8-credit practical Community Engagement course; a 4-credit language course (Telugu or Hindi -selection based on the location of the NGO) plus one 4-credit course ("Understanding Development in Contemporary India"). All of these courses are mandatory.
Please note the following admission requirements for the Community Engagement Program:
- 3.0 minimum GPA required
- Students must be aged 20 or older by the start of the program
- Only students at the third year level of their study or more, OR students having completed at least 5 semesters of coursework or more will be considered for acceptance to the module
- Students will be required to submit an essay (please consult your AIFS Admissions Officer for further details)
Please note that acceptance to the AIFS Hyderabad program does not guarantee acceptance to the Hyderabad Community Engagement Program. Community Engagement Program applications will be reviewed by the Community Engagement Program Coordinators at the University of Hyderabad and an acceptance decision will be provided prior to departure from the U.S.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM OUTLINE
Upon completion of the program, students will have acquired the following:
- A community/organizational profile with special reference to the NGO they are working with
- Basic understanding of the core community development concepts, processes and practices of the NGO
- Identification of their individual role in relation to the tasks carried out by the resource persons in the NGO
- Practical application of theoretical knowledge
- Basic understanding of Community Engagement in the Indian context
- Assessment of their own skills to think analytically, critically and practically about execution of their work
- Experience of working as part of a team
- Response to cultural dissimilarity, and value systems that differ from one's own
Language Course (4)
Hindi, Telugu or Urdu based on NGO requirement. (Please refer to the Language Courses section for full course description)
Understanding Development in Contemporary India (4)
Students attend lectures twice a week. The course spans over 18 weeks and is structured as follows:
Part 1: This part of the course seeks to provide some basic ethnographic skills to students to understand a new cultural milieu. Students will be introduced to methodological strategies such as participant observation, in depth interviewing, note-taking and analysis of qualitative data. The course will pay particular attention to insider-outsider issues in research and will seek to sensitize the students to problems in studying cultures other than their own.
Part 2: During the last two decades, new social movements and non-state actors, especially Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have been articulating a more people-centered approach to social change, with emphasis on distributive justice, ecological awareness, local knowledge, participation, and gender equity. This part of the course will seek to understand some of these ideas and explore the alternative conceptions of development that these new movements have thrown up in the Indian context. Through the course we will gain some basic understanding of community development concepts, principles, processes and practices and it also attempts to locate the role of NGOs in various development initiatives.
Community Engagement: NGO practical assignment (8)
Students work with the assigned Non-Government Organization (NGO) 3 days a week, for 3 hours each day. There will be continuous evaluation of students’ work with constant feedback. Students will meet one-on-one with their faculty supervisor once a week. Evaluation will be based on the following assignments:
- Journal: Students will keep a journal of their experiences of each day of work with the NGOs and will submit the journal once a week. The journal will help students to reflect on their work and learning experience while they engage with communities during their time with the NGOs. The journal should not merely be a personal diary, but a self-reflexive narrative expressing understanding of the culture of development sector and community engagement in India.
- Project Proposal: Students will choose a final research project in consultation with the faculty supervisor that is based on their experiences in the NGO and their theoretical coursework. A three page project proposal should be completed and submitted to the professor.
- Course Project: Based on the project proposal previously decided, students will submit a 10-15 page written paper with references to the faculty supervisor. In addition, the student will be required to make an oral presentation of the material in class.
Schedule for the Semester:
| Week 1: |
Friday: Introductions/Course Outline and Requirements: Part – 1 |
| Week 2: |
Monday: Introductions/Course Outline and Requirements: Part – 2 |
| Week 3: |
Monday: Introduction to Ethnographic Approaches – 1 |
| Week 4: |
Monday: Introduction to Ethnographic Approaches – 2
|
Week 5: |
Monday: Holiday |
Week 6: |
Monday: Participant Observation – 1
|
Week 7: |
Monday: Participant Observation – 2
|
Week 8: |
Monday: Insider-outsider issues in research |
Week 9: |
Monday: Understand a new cultural milieu
|
Week 10: |
Monday: Focus-group Discussions
|
Week 11: |
Monday: In depth interviewing – 2
|
Week 12: |
Monday: Note-taking – 1
|
Week 13: |
Monday: Feminist Ethnography |
Week 14: |
Monday: Self-reflexivity
|
Week 15: |
Monday: Analysis of qualitative data
|
Week 16: |
Monday: Assignments |
Week 17: |
Monday: Holiday |
Week 18: |
Monday: End-Semester Examination |
Call (800) 727-2437 to speak to an AIFS Representative today.
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