|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
3rd Summer Program in Punjab Studies July 4-August 16, 1999
I am gratified to report that the summer program in Chandigarh concluded successfully last week. The responses of participants who handed in their evaluation reports ranged from "general satisfaction" to calling the program "an invaluable experience," and "the peak academic experience of my life." The participants appreciated the program both in terms of the range of things we tried to do as well as the way we did them. In the words of one participant, "Beyond the integration of many academic perspectives, [the program] allowed for me a unity of personal, spiritual, and intellectual components that has more meaning than I can express."
This year's group was comprised of two university professors, a school teacher, four graduate students pursuing research in Ethnomusicology, Hinduism in the Himalayas, Islam, and Sikh Studies, two recent graduates, and two undergraduates. With participants coming from such diverse background, there was a lot to learn from each other, and it was a delight to put this wonderful group of young scholars with the top ranking Punjabi intellectuals and watch their interaction. I am glad to report that the substantive content of the program has sharpened over the years and has reached a reasonably refined shape. This year, the language offerings included both Elementary and Advanced Punjabi. The teaching manual created specifically to meet the needs of north American students was considered useful. A participant described Anne Murphy as "a great language teacher," while another admired her "clear conceptual framework for teaching the language, as well as a clear love for it." Her care for "her students and excitement with our progress made the course a delight and a fine learning experience." It has taken us two years to firmly set this segment of this program and now in the words of a participant this "compares favorably with those of the programs that are much more rigorously language oriented." We hope to further refine the teaching manual. I also hope that Anne will be able to come with us next summer, and train Ami Shah, a doctoral candidate working on Hinduism in the Punjab at UC Santa Barbara, to share this responsibility in the years ahead. My experience confirms that we need someone from the US to teach this part of the program, and I hope we will have doctoral students to do this while they work on their research projects in the summer.
The teaching of the Advanced Punjabi was started by Piara Singh Padam, an outstanding scholar in medieval Punjabi literature, and myself. Since the group taking it was uneven, three were advanced students and two were at beginning intermediate level, it was difficult to keep the balance. Padam's inability to understand the needs of foreign students added to class difficulties. At the end of the second week, however, Padam left as we moved into the modern period. With language becoming easier the work became more enjoyable in the remaining weeks. To refine this part of the program, I plan to generate an annotated reader including poetry and selected pieces of prose, and intend to start the teaching with modern writings and then go back in time to deal with more difficult medieval texts. Next year, I plan to invite Gurdit Singh, a doctoral candidate in Sikh Studies at UC Santa Barbara, to co-teach this course with me. I hope to prepare him to eventually take over this part of the program. The history section of the program was verywarmly received. It provided a comprehensive overview of the history of the Punjab from pre-historic times to the present. There was a clear admiration for Professor Grewal's mastery of the material he dealt with; other speakers added to this in interesting ways. Although many of these lectures were considered excellent, there were dull moments when people found it hard to cope with the detailed information that was being imparted in the lectures.
On the basis of my discussion with the past three years' participants and, in particular, Anne Murphy (who taught beginning Punjabi this year and helped with the running of the program, in general), I have made the following changes for the years ahead. First, the length of the lecture in this part of the program will be reduced to 1: 30 minutes followed by a 30-minutes question answer session. Second, I have abbreviated the sequence of lectures on the ancient period and have added a set of new lectures in the twentieth century. Third, I have added a regular review session on Friday to clarify and comment on issues addressed in the previous lectures. Through this addition, we will attempt to address the needs of less advanced students who come with a more limited background but are interested in learning more. Finally, I plan to generate a set of short readings to go with each lectures, and sessions reserved for the discussion of readings may be instituted for beginning students. Bringing speakers from various walks of Punjabi life in the afternoon sessions was welcomed by the participants and the contents of their talks was seen to supplement the information imparted by lectures in the morning. The fact that the participants were able to meet so many people ranging from bureaucrats to poets, musicians, and social activists was welcomed. Participants also took advantage of local artistic and cultural activities, attending performances at Punjab Kala Manch and concerts at the University. I plan to spend one afternoon a week on guided outside activities, to allow participants to interact more in a group setting outside the hotel in Chandigarh. The travel in the Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Western Uttar Pradesh was the highlight of the program. This provided the opportunity for the participants to familiarize themselves with the landscape and get a chance to talk to people in these places of historic and religious significance. This summer, we expanded our travels to include Hardwar in the east and the Kangra Hills in the west. One of the most meaningful moments of the program for all who chose to come (participants were given several options for activities at some points in the program) was watching Vaidwattie Seewah, one of the participants, take a holy bath in the Ganga at the time of solar eclipse. Vaidwattie is the first member of her family to have returned to India after her family moved to Guyana in the 1860s, and this trip provided her with her first sight of the holy river. We also had two scholars who were interested in doing additional work in Urdu along with the regular offerings of the program. I was able to arrange a private tutor for them. While Dr. H. K. Lal, the teacher, claimed that they were "the best students he ever met in his life;" they were satisfied to have the experience of learning Urdu from a teacher who was not trained to teach it as a foreign language.
This year was difficult in some ways. The stress of intense group activity where people are together over a period of time generated tensions. Furthermore, one participant came with the single goal of improving her Punjabi, and another expected a cultural immersion experience. Both were visibly uncomfortable with the heavy academic content of the program, and felt it was not geared towards their needs. My close attention to the needs and activities of the participants was interpreted by some as not permitting sufficient space for them to explore. There were also more instances of sickness than the two previous years put together. I am relieved to say that with the help of our local doctor, we were able to bring the sickness under control. After the completion of the program, there was an unfortunate incident at Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, Delhi, when three participants staying there were subjected to harassment. The episode was brought to a satisfactory resolution as Dr. Mohinder Singh, the director of the Sadan, quickly brought the culprit to task. The participants continued to stay there the following night and no problems of any kind were encountered. Whatever the difficulties, I am fully convinced that the program deserves to continue. I hope to address the problems mentioned at the closing in the following ways. We need to state the goals of the program with a higher degree of clarity from the outset. I believe that we need to create a brochure giving the history and the goals of the program and make it very clear that this program aims at imparting information about the region at several different levels: academic lectures, visiting places, and meeting people from various walks of life. The core of the program is the academic study of the region. Meeting people and visiting institutions are important aspects of this study. I plan to generate a more formal admission application and know more about the academic history people who apply, noting in particular their experiences overseas and their experiences in South Asia. if any. This is not to say that those who have not visited the area will be discouraged to apply, but I think I need to know who they are and know what their expectations are and what they know (and hope to know) about the region. I will be particularly interested in comments from their referees as to their ability to function in a group, as successful group participation is crucial to the functioning of such an ambitious program. We will also start the program with an orientation in which all these details will be reiterated before the program starts, and will also institute scheduled meetings among participants at the beginning and end of the week to facilitate planning and clarify organizational issues.
Finally, I believe that I have begun to show signs of exhaustion in my own working and handling of the little details of the program. This summer Anne Murphy's help was extremely valuable and her presence took a big burden off my shoulders. In the years ahead, the type of role she took on needs to be formalized and developed as an integral part of the program. This will bring new energy into the program and will prepare younger and firmer hands to take over the leadership of the program. In the coming months and years, I will thus work towards instituting organizational structures for the inclusion of others in the planning and implementation of the program. In particular, I will enlist further help (as I have noted) in the teaching of Punjabi, include others in the admissions process, and enlist the help of the doctoral candidates named herein to develop supplementary materials for participants. I will also rely on them to work directly with participants on the program in India, to ensure the smooth running of the program in the future.
Gurinder Singh Mann August 24, 1999 |
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
