According to a recent article in the Times of India, India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development has introduced four new education bills, all related to “foreign education providers.”
As India is expanding its international education and research partnerships, many U.S. universities are seeking to collaborate. But GW has somewhat of a head start, according to Donna Scarboro, associate vice president for international programs. Dr. Scarboro’s office coordinates GW’s overall collaborations and international strategy, in addition to overseeing study abroad and other international activities.
Earlier this month, Dr. Scarboro participated in the Emerging Directions in Global Education conference in New Delhi, which focused on Indian higher education and partnerships.
“The Indian government is in the process of reforming higher education, and a big part of the intention is to make it feasible for institutions from other countries to open campuses and help expand higher education in India,” says Dr. Scarboro. “India needs more capacity, and it has realized it needs to develop many well-educated future leaders among its citizens.”
GW has been helping India expand its institutions of higher education since 2006, when the Law School signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology/Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law (RGSIPL). GW shares law faculty and administrative resources with the Indian school, particularly in the field of intellectual property. The partnership has enabled faculty, legal professionals, students and staff to travel to India to learn about its legal system.
“We are honored to have a collaborative relationship with RGSIPL, one of India’s premier educational institutions,” says Susan Karamanian, associate dean for international and comparative legal studies at GW Law School.
Six GW law students recently spent spring break studying at RGSIPL, and two of the Indian school’s alumni are studying at GW’s Law School, says Ms. Karamanian.
“We are now poised to focus more on joint research activities. The work of both law faculties will heighten the dialogue and understanding between the United States and India,” she adds.
GW also maintains partnerships with Indian institutions in the fields of business, medicine, public health and art therapy.
The School of Business and the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, share an exchange program that allows students and faculty at GW to travel to India to experience its business environment firsthand.
At the Medical Center, Peter Hotez, chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, maintains informal agreements with Indian health entities with the goal of developing hookworm vaccine and promoting vaccine advocacy. Rakesh Kumar, who chairs GW’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is working with Indian institutions on cancer research.
The university’s Art Therapy Program offers a short-term study abroad program, developed by professors Heidi Bardot and Lisa Garlock, which enables students to engage in internships at schools and community organizations in India that provide assistance to indigent children, homeless and abused women, and men suffering from substance abuse.
Beyond the university’s partnerships with Indian institutions, several GW humanities, medicine and international professors are conducting research on the country and collaborating with Indian colleagues.
Professor of English Judith Plotz has done extensive research on Anglophone India, South Asian diaspora and Indian colonial literature, while Professor Jonathan Gil Harris focuses on early modern writing that includes Indian authors. Kavita Daiya, associate professor of English, explores gender and religious violence in India and is creating a video archive for her digital interviews with survivors of the 1947 partition. Professor of Religion and of History Alf Hiltebeitel is a noted expert in the religion of south India.
The Elliott School of International Affairs – where Amb. Karl Inderfurth, former assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, directs the graduate program in international affairs – supports an India Initiative through its Sigur Center for Asian Studies. The initiative forms part of the Elliott School’s expertise in the study of emerging powers on the world scene.
With the help of her students, Amita Vyas, assistant professor and director of the Maternal and Child Health Program, has established the Global India Fund to assist health-focused nonprofits in India, and Kalvir Dhuga, director of GW’s astrophysics program, works with research scientists in Mumbai. Chemistry professor Akos Vertes has collaborated with Indian colleagues at the National Center for Mass Spectrometry.
“In almost every school, we have significant activity,” says Dr. Scarboro.
According to a university report, about 250 students from India are enrolled at George Washington, and about 20 GW students are currently studying abroad in India. More than 200 GW alumni live in India.
Dr. Scarboro says she would like the number of GW students pursuing internships, capstone and similar projects, as well as study abroad in India, to increase.
“I’d like to see us build the appropriate supports and incentives to approach better balance the flow of visiting students and faculty,” she says. “And I’d like to see us expand our curricular support for students who take a strong interest in this vital and fascinating country.”