A global exploration through community engagement that enriches your life
Academics
The core academic program will focus on the production of urban social space in South Asia within a post-colonial framework that focuses on the formation and transformation of trans-national cultures in a globalizing world. The field of post-colonial architecture and urbanism is a relatively new area of inquiry. With a few exceptions, the literature on post-colonial urbanism does not reveal the contested aspects of space. Indigenous responses to colonialism and indigenous developments that move away from the colonial past cannot be effectively approached without changing the vantage point of inquiry and decentering the colonial narrative. From this standpoint, studies in both colonial and post-colonial urbanism are still Euro-US-centric decentering of the colonial discourse has been very effectively carried out by scholars of post-colonial studies, yet this paradigm is quite weak in the area of social space and urbanism. Shifting the vantage point in very different ways, and also questioning "post-colonial" and "nationalist" constructions of social space at different scales, however, the work of Brenda Yeoh, Lily Kong, Abidin Kusno, G. B. Nalbantoglu, and C. T. Wong, and my own work has laid a foundation for the study of post-colonial urbanism from a "post-colonial perspective."2 The participants will therefore, have the opportunity to understand social and cultural space in South Asia from an "indigenous-friendly" perspective.
About South Asia
South Asia is an amazing region not well known in the USA. This lack of knowledge -- which is historical and reinforced by South Asia’s refusal to take part in the Cold War and the lack of US involvement in the region (except in Pakistan)-- still remains true even after the US entanglement in Afghanistan. Many characteristics of this largely "unexplored territory" stand out, making it one of the most appropriate locations for the type of center proposed here. Firstly, over one fifth of the world’s population (22%)1 live in this region. Yet, secondly, it is one of the most diverse regions of the world. With a vast array of religions, languages, and political parties, it is a region that embodies a high degree of diversity and democracy. Thirdly, South Asia not only exemplifies the European influence over it, but also the full potential and the reality of some European visions. It is there where the most monumental complex of British history, the Viceroy’s Palace in New Delhi, rivaling in grandeur and even the Palace of Versailles, was built.
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It is there where Le Corbusier himself was able to materialize his European modernist dream. In regard to its achievement, Chandigarh is in par with the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House. It is also there where the most sophisticated, computer-aided design of the Baha’i Temple of New Delhi was materialized. Fourthly, many goals that the American society is striving to achieve such as sustainability and many traits that most contemporary societies are losing, for example, self-sufficiency, community, and integrated land-uses and activities, are operating well in South Asia, albeit within a continuously Westernizing environment. The historic city of Jaipur with its co-existing palaces, fortifications, sun dials, modern businesses, and a hierarchy of roads which are also used by automobiles, people, cows, and goats is exemplary. How development without resources as well as communal and low-energy reproduction of environments --including solid-waste disposal-- takes place in this region cannot be overlooked. Finally, it is a part of Asia which has undergone radical change (development) in the past three decades and may point to many aspects of the future world society and space and prove to be a great laboratory for the study of unknowable scenarios unless one experiences them firsthand.
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South Asia is so remarkably different from the United States that, the field study participants, when in the region, are very much outside their "comfort zones." They are thus compelled to think about the world outside of America and they certainly develop a strong consciousness of the world. Moreover, this setting facilitates the understanding of Asia and other parts of the world without being prejudiced or stereotyped. Moreover, by reflection, the participants could develop a critical understanding of their own cultures and environments. This has been the case with both CapAsia field studies; the experience is life-changing.
Goals
The project is integral to the challenges facing academic institutions and professionals in the United States in the era of globalization. The increasingly global nature of the world’s enterprises demands that scholars and practitioners in America situate themselves in a global society --regardless of where they physically live-- and they were aware of the challenges and opportunities offered by today’s global society. Increasingly, the competitiveness of this (or any other) country and its professionals and academics hinges upon this knowledge. This is a formidable challenge that the American education system is facing today and the South Asia Studies Center responds to this challenge. As South Asia is remarkably different from the United States when in the region, the participants are very much outside their "comfort zones" and are compelled to think about the world outside of America. They certainly develop a strong consciousness of Asia and other parts of the world.
The second goal is to expand the intellectual horizons of the participants. The premise is that the impact the program has on analytical frameworks employed in the meaningful organization of information is more long-lasting than the skills and information acquired during the field study. Once the students begin moving away from their stereotypical views and open themselves up to the proposition of learning from the unfamiliar, they begin to ask intelligent questions about those and subsequently their own cultures and the environments which are familiar to them. The program, therefore, expects to help students to reach challenging academic standards. The objective is to provide a strong base of critical thinking on which to build creativity in regard to their own environments and wherever they might be physically located in the future.
Thirdly, as CapAsia experience has shown, the participants as people will become different. This life-changing experience potentially makes them more matured and understanding people, and caring and effective professionals, in their own environments in the global society. The program, therefore, inculcates responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment. They will be highly creative in developing a professional role for themselves in the future.