Some members of the Colgate University faculty were able to “study abroad” in India recently. Photo by Christopher Henke.

As improvements in communication technology brings the world closer together, one university is taking the unusual step of sending its faculty overseas in the hope that they will pass on new ideas to their students.

Colgate University, a private, liberal arts college located in upstate New York, recently sent its faculty members to India in an effort to improve their curriculum.

The trip, which took place from Dec. 31 to Jan. 13 and involved 27 faculty members, or 10% of the Colgate staff, was partially paid for by a $100,000 grant from the Andrew W. Melon Foundation.

“Further internationalization of the university is of critical importance,” said Jeffrey Herbst, Colgate University president.

For the past 85 years, all Colgate undergraduates have been required, along with their general education requirements, to take a set of core classes designed to increase their awareness of the world and their responsibilities in it.

The core classes never had any specific connection to anything international, which was not to the benefit of the students, said Kaimal.

As the university prepared to make revisions to their core program a debate began concerning why the program existed and how faculty could best prepare their students to be members of the world community.

“They really need an education that connects the pieces for them,” said Kaimal.

The Matrimandir, which is surrounded by a large manicured park, is plated with gold. Photo by Christopher Henke.

Traveling through both the north and south of India, Colgate’s faculty were able to interact with local communities, view religious events, partake of local cuisine and visit a different culture.

The trip also enabled university faculty to view their own disciplines through the eyes of a different culture.

Although officially outlawed, the caste system, a social system determined by birth, still exists in India to a large degree.

Jenna Reinbold, assistant professor of religion, was able to view this system and question how Karl Marx, a German philosopher and the author of The Communist Manifesto, would see it.

“Capitalism is helping dismantle the caste system in India,” said Reinbold.

Colgate faculty were able to record these and other experiences using social media to pass on their thoughts to the outside world and continue the discussion after returning home.

They have posted a blog entitled Reflections from India, which has garnered 1,000 hits a day, according to Barbara Brooks, director of public relations and marketing.

Professors from every subject of the program took part in the trip assuring its multidisciplinary success.

The faculty members chose India as their destination, in part, because it is an emerging democracy struggling with modernization.

Although this was the largest group that Colgate has sent overseas it was by no means their only trip. In the past Colgate faculty traveled to destinations including England, East Asia, Italy and Spain.

“We now live in a world where we have much greater communication with people in other parts of the world,” said Reinbold. “We no longer live in a world where we can’t say we’re not influenced by the rest of the world.”

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