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History In the mid 1990s, Gurinder Singh Mann, teaching in the Religion Department at Columbia University, perceived the need for a summer program in Punjab Studies. He envisioned it not simply as a language-based program, but also as a locus for the intensive study of Punjabi history and culture within the Punjab itself, drawing on the academic resources available there. John Stratton Hawley, then the Director of Columbia's Southern Asian Institute, incorporated Mann's plan in the Institute's future activity and successfully raised financial support for it from the U. S. Department of Education in 1996.
Plans began to take shape. The program would be designed to bring a group of approximately ten scholars for six weeks to Chandigarh to sharpen their awareness of the richness and complexity of Punjabi cultural history. They would be taught the language, religion, and history of the region; introduced to prominent Punjabis from different walks of life; and exposed to the local culture. Although Mann's own area of expertise is the Sikh tradition, the summer program would give equal attention to the contributions of Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and other communities during different stages of Punjabi history.
The SPPS was formally launched in 1997, with Mann as its director. Since its inception, the Program has attracted 152 students who came from 58 universities in ten countries (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, France, Germany, India, Italy, Sweden, and the U.S.). Their areas of interest comprised Anthropology, Architecture, Art History, Asian Studies, Crimonology, Economics, Education, Ethnomusicology, Global Studies, History, International Affairs, Library Science, Literature, Linguistics, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration, Public Health, Religious Studies, Social Work, and Sociology. The enthusiasm of its first participants suggests that the SPPS has answered well to a need widely felt. It has been described by a former participant as "critical" for any student working on the Punjab, providing "crucial language training, a comprehensive overview of the region, as well as the opportunity to pursue particular interests." Another felt that the program provided the opportunity for "guided pre-dissertation research," and thus was ideal for any student in thefirst few years of graduate work, and in the process of formulating ideas for research.
The SPPS's offerings have expanded as well as sharpened over the years, but it retains its initial commitment to building a tight-knit group of young scholars. The program is built around a core curriculum in the history of the region from 1500 BCE to the present; Punjabi language both at the elementary and the advanced levels; and an extensive schedule of field visits. The latter have ranged from pre-Harappan archaeological sites in Ropar to ancient Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist temples at Baijnath, Jawala Mukhi, Kangra, Masroor, Naina Devi, and Sanghol; Islamic monuments at Batala, Kapurthala, Nakodar Nurmahal, Sirhind, Sikh sacred places from Sultanpur to Anandpur, and the immigrant Tibetan-Buddhist community in Dharamsala. Participants have the opportunity to explore the lush green post-monsoon Punjab plains from Delhi to the Indo-Pakistan border post at Wagah, and travel in the Shivalik hills from Hardwar to Kangra. Insha'llah, the traditional center of Punjabi culture at Lahore will be the next landmark to be featured on the SPPS's travel map. The SPPS is very fortunate to have enlisted the cooperation of leading scholars in Punjab Studies. Professors Indu Banga, J. S. Grewal, B. N. Goswamy, Rana Nayar, and others make its lecture series, as participants have said, a regular "feast" of scholarship. The SPPS participants have been offered a warm welcome every year by Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Panjab University, Chandigarh; Punjabi University, Patiala; and Baring Union Christian College, Batala, among other institutions. The advice of Manmohan Singh, IAS, has been an important asset, as have been the warmth and support of many other friends living and working in the Punjab. Dr. Himmat Singh has been very kind in volunteering his time to take care of the participants' health-related problems.
The SPPS has emerged as a forum where North American, European, and Punjabi scholars trained both in the Punjab, as well as in the West, meet and exchange academic ideas-arguably the most distinctive aspect of the program. Unlike many other study-abroad programs which focus primarily on language training, this program provides an environment in which scholars from India and abroad come together to share knowledge and expertise. Nor does the program focus on packaging a consumable 'experience' of India for participants; instead, it challenges them to meet and work with scholars and other prominent cultural and political figures and understand them on their own terms, rather than as icons of Indian 'culture'. The program thus aims to work toward an educational agenda where traditionally-held dichotomies between western scholars and their eastern counterparts are more carefully examined and problematized. Both Indian and western scholars with post-modern and post-colonial commitments and research interests meet with more 'traditional' scholars, students from the Indian Diaspora, graduate students from institutions the world over, and local activists and leaders. The program is also self-consciously global in its scope, and aims to rework traditional interactions among the scholars of the world academic community who take Punjab as their subject. By breaking traditionally held boundaries, the program presents a model for what a study abroad program in the future should be. The program has brought together two major universities, Columbia and UCSB, one based on the East Coast and the other on the West, one a leading private institution and the other a major state university. The mix of academic levels, backgrounds, and interests among the participants has been one of the program's great strengths from its very inception. While an overwhelming majority of them sought a rigorous understanding of the areas of their research, some looked for information about the region while simultaneously seeking a deeper understanding of their cultural and spiritual roots in the land of their ancestors. Pursuing their separate goals together, they have supplemented each other's work tremendously and have contributed to a larger, better nuanced understanding of Punjab and its significance, both in the academy and out, and both within South Asia and beyond. The Setting The program is based in Hotel Shivalikview, in Chandigarh, the "City Beautiful," designed by Le Corbusier, in the 1950s. The facility is run by Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation, a Government of India undertaking. A participant described living at Hotel Shivalikview as "excellent, dignified and comfortable." The lectures are held in a conference room where tea and snacks are served during breaks. Lunch and dinner are available at Bazam, a restaurant specializing in north-Indian cuisine, and Chopsticks, a Chinese restaurant.
This centrally air-conditioned hotel provides a comfortable living environment and customized seminar space. Two participants occupy a spacious room with large windows opening toward the lush green Shivalik hills continuously washed by the Monsoon, others feature balconies, and there is a rooftop bar/café. Prof. Mann's room serves as the hub of the program for access to books, mineral water, medicines, etc.
Hotel Shivalikview is a convenient base for exploring the amenities Chandigarh has to offer. It is located less than a five-minute walk from the city's central market in Sector 17 with book shops, cyber-cafes, restaurants, and a large market selling fashionable Punjabi clothing. It is also only a few minutes walk from the city's two most beautiful parks, the Shanti Kunj and the Rose Garden, which are often used by participants for their morning and evening walks. The hotel is also within a walking distance from the Tagore Theater and Punjab Kala Manch, the two primary centers of Chandigarh's cultural activities.
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