Texas Varsity Announces Partnership To Launch An India Studies Program  

The Foundation for India Studies (FIS) and Texas Southern University (TSU) in the United States have announced the creation of an India Studies program for its graduate school to encourage the study of India in the United States, particularly in Houston.  

According to a TSU announcement, this alliance will design and implement India-focused programs at the university in collaboration with the foundation, encouraging the study of India in the United States.  

According to the press release, the program will involve a series of public and academic symposia, conferences, and guest speakers emphasising the link between India’s battle for independence and the African American struggle for equality in the United States.  

“With this relationship, we hope to leave a legacy for future generations so that the mainstream community has a better knowledge of the achievements that Indians have done,” said Krishna Vavilala, the Foundation for India Studies’ Founder and Chairman.  

“The Indian population in Houston was just 20,000 when I arrived, but it has exploded since then, enriching the city economically and culturally. We’ve come to assist the TSU in its efforts to bring India into the school and continue enhancing the program year after year.”  

Another goal of the cooperation is to increase awareness of India and Indian Americans among university students and faculty and strengthen relations with India and Indian institutions to encourage student and teacher exchanges.  

A committee of TSU academics will oversee the program, with FIS serving as an advisor. According to the statement, the inaugural symposium will be held during the Fall 2022 term at the Graduate School.  

TSU Graduate School Dean Dr Gregory Maddox remarked, “Part of TSU’s aim is to train our students to become global citizens and to have an awareness of the complexities of nations throughout the world.”  

“Understanding the significance of Indian civilisation to global history, particularly through the lens of the historical linkage between Mahatma Gandhi’s and Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to nonviolence in the pursuit of liberation and social change, aids us in achieving that,” according to the release.  

The foundation, which was founded in 2005, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to increasing awareness of India’s contributions to the world in the fields of language, literature, art, science, and engineering.  

The India Studies program at the University of Houston, which began in 2006, was the foundation’s first successful endeavour.  

The program began with Hindi language lessons and Hinduism, and Jainism seminars have grown to 12 courses and are currently sponsored entirely by the university. The FIS has recently launched the “Indo-American Oral History Project,” which will document the lives of first-generation Indian immigrants to Houston.  

The initiative collaborates between Houston Public Library (HPL) and Houston Community College (HCC), and the recordings will be archived in HPL’s digital archives for posterity. By arranging MOUs between institutions, the organisation aims to bring Indian and American universities together for student and faculty interaction. The successful MOU inked between the Central University of Hyderabad and the University of Houston is an example of such an endeavour.  

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