Cordially invites you to

 Cosmology, Myth and Landscape in India

Understanding Cultural Geography through Cultural Heritage

 A talk by

 Dr Surinder M. Bhardwaj

Emeritus Professor, Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

Thursday, 22 March 2012, 6 pm
at
GeoVidyaa Geography Centre of Excellence *
Army Public School
Kamaraj Road
Bangalore

* A partnership between The Indian Institute of Geographical Studies & Army Public School, Bangalore

Abstract:

The sacred is deeply imbedded in India’s geography. India’s cosmology, lore, mappings, actions in geographic space all testify to this. Settlements, human movements, and other performances show distinct geographical characteristics. Indian cultural patterns reflect profound geographic awareness.

In this talk, I will provide examples of this imbedding of the sacred in India’s geographies. I will begin with my own journey as a geographer, an Indian, a pilgrim, and a human being curious about the world around me. From there, I draw upon the work of geographers and others to illustrate my point. In the course of this journey, I will also address the question of why all this matters. I conclude with a challenge to young cultural geographers to not only uncover inherent, intrinsic Indian geographical motifs but also to apply their learning to addressing real issues of human rights on the ground.

About the speaker:

Born in India in 1934, Surinder Mohan Bhardwaj received his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in geography from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. In 1969, he joined the faculty at Kent State University and served as Chair of the Department of Geography from 1974 to 1978. He has guided many MA and PhD students. Retired in 2004, he is now Emeritus Professor of Geography. He was awarded the Kent State University President’s Medal in 1996, and the Honors College Distinguished Faculty Award in 2004.

He has authored/co-edited several works related to the geography of religions. Among them are his pioneering work on Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India, and Pilgrimage in the United States (the latter co-edited with Gisbert Rinschede, University of Regensburg, Germany). With Professor David Odell-Scott (Chair, Philosophy), Dr. Bhardwaj is co-director of the Ohio Pluralism Project, an affiliate of the Harvard Pluralism Project.

Dr. Bhardwaj gives of his time and expertise in intercultural and interfaith understanding to several community organizations, such as the Cleveland Conference of Religions, the Greater Cleveland Shiva Vishnu Temple, Akron International Friendship, and Akron Area Interfaith Council. Dr. Bhardwaj was invited to serve on the President’s Commission on Inclusion at Kent State University during 2008. He has served the Hindu Community of Greater Akron Area as a state licensed Hindu clergy since 1988. In addition, He also volunteers as an Associate Chaplain at Robinson Memorial Hospital, in Ravenna, Ohio.

You can download a copy of the invitation here
(requires PDF reader that you can download from here)

A very limited number of copies of Dr Bhardwaj’s seminal work
Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: a study in cultural geography
will be available for purchase at the venue.
Price will be approximately Rs. 480/copy

Here is a map to guide you to the venue

View GeoVidyaa Geography Centre of Excellence in a larger map

—oOo—

Indian performing arts, poetry, and music are intimately connected to geography – the monsoons, the diverse cultures, agriculture, seasons, …

Intrigued?

As part of the workshop on Internationalizing Geography Education: A Focus on India and South Asia, students of Army Public School, Bangalore will present a live program at the School premises.

The program will include live music by the Army Public School student choir, bharata-naatyam (south Indian classical dance), and kathak (a northern Indian classical dance form) — both dances by a student of the School.

All items are connected with geography.

The full details of the program will be announced at the venue.

Where: Army Public School, K. Kamaraj Road, Bangalore.

When: 6:30pm – 8:30pm, Wednesday, 14 March 2012

Suggested attire: Semi-formal

Entrance:  The event is free and open to everyone, especially for kids!

Directions: You could use the map below

View directions to the venue in a larger map

Internationalizing Geography Education: Perspectives from India and South Asia is organized by the Association of American Geographers, Washington DC and The Indian Institute of Geographical Studies, Bangalore.

This evening is a collaborative presentation of:

Association of American Geographers

Army Public School, Bangalore

The Indian Institute of Geographical Studies

GeoVidyaa Geography Centre of Excellence

ಭೂಗೋಳ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಕ್ಕೂ ನಮ್ಮ ಲಲಿತ ಕಲೆಗಳಿಗೂ, ಕಾವ್ಯ ಕವನಗಳಿಗೂ ಕೂಡ ನಿಕಟವಾದ ಸಂಬಂಧ ಇದೆ ಎನ್ನುವುದು ಬಹಳ ಜನರ ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಬರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಏನೀ ಸಂಬಂಧ ಎಂದು ಕುತೂಹಲವಾ ನಿಮಗೆ?

ಅಮೇರಿಕಾದ Association of American Geographers ಮತ್ತು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ The Indian Institute of Geographical Studies, ಎರಡೂ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳು ಸೇರಿ ಒಂದು ಅಂತರ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಕಾರ್ಯಾಗಾರವನ್ನು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಸುವವರಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅದರ ಅಂಗವಾಗಿ ಭೂಗೋಳ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಕ್ಕೂ ಹಲವು ಲಲಿತ ಕಲೆಗಳಿಗೂ ಇರುವ ಸಂಬಂಧಗಳನ್ನು ಎತ್ತಿ ತೋರಿಸಲು ಒಂದು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಮನರಂಜನಾ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮವನ್ನು ಕಲ್ಪಿಸಿದ್ದೇವೆ.

ಈ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ Army Public Schoolಇನ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು ಗಾಯನ, ಭರತ ನಾಟ್ಯ, ಹಾಗೂ ಕಥಕ್ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮವನ್ನು ಅರ್ಪಿಸಲಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಎಲ್ಲ ಕೃತಿಗಳೂ ಭೂಗೋಳ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದವೇ ಆಗಿರುತ್ತವೆ.

ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ಪೂರ್ಣ ವಿವರಗಳನ್ನು ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ಸಂಜೆ ಸಭಾಂಗಣದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊಡಲಾಗುವುದು.

ಎಲ್ಲಿ:  Army Public School, ಕೆ. ಕಾಮರಾಜ್ ರಸ್ತೆ, ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು
ಯಾವಾಗ: ಸಂಜೆ 6:30 ರಿಂದ 8:30 ರ ವರೆಗೆ, ಬುಧವಾರ, 14 ಮಾರ್ಚ್ 2012
ಉಡುಗೆಯ ಸಲಹೆ: ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾದಮಟ್ಟಿಗೂ ಸಾಂಪ್ರದಾಯಿಕ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಉಡುಗೆ
ಪ್ರವೇಶ: ಉಚಿತ, ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ
ದಾರಿ: ಈ ಕೆಳಗಿನ ನಕಾಶೆಯನ್ನು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಿಕೂಳ್ಳಿ

 
ಈ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ಸ್ಥಳಕ್ಕೆ ದಾರಿಯನ್ನು ಈ ನಕಾಶೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ದೊಡ್ಡದಾಗಿ ನೋಡಿ

ಈ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ಪ್ರಾಯೋಜಕ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳು:

Association of American Geographers
Army Public School, Bangalore
The Indian Institute of Geographical Studies
GeoVidyaa Geography Centre of Excellence

&

The Indian Institute of Geographical Studies

Workshop on

Internationalizing Geography Education: A Focus on India and South Asia

12 – 16 March 2012, Bangalore

The Association of American Geographers will conduct a workshop under the aegis of its Center for Global Geography Education. The Indian Institute of Geographical Studies is the local organizer for this exciting venture.

A team of selected geography educators from the USA, India, Pakistan, Chile, and Canada will work together during this workshop. They will develop a series of case studies on selected geographical themes and topics. These case studies will be delivered online for world-wide use in geography courses for higher secondary and undergraduate courses.

An announcement of the workshop details is here (PDF file, requires PDF reader).

Please note: participation in this workshop is only by selection. At this time, the selections have been completed and no further delegates are being invited.

Previous workshops in this project have focused on North America, South America, western Europe, Southeast Asia, etc. This workshop focuses on India and South Asia.

TIIGS, its parent organization — The Dharani Trust, and Dharani USA are pleased to welcome all the delegates to Bangalore for this exciting venture.

As part of this workshop in Bangalore, there will be a cultural geographical evening — GeoArts — at the Army Public School, Kamaraj Road, Bangalore. Program details will be posted soon. Please check back for details.

Implications for geography education in India:

Future developments of this model for India will provide value-addition to geography education at school and collegiate levels with in-depth Indian case studies in multiple Indian languages.

Educators will be empowered with the necessary skills to use these tools. Officials in schools, government, and the private sector will be invited to help realize this project.

TIIGS will soon release some exciting geography educational resources online. Be in touch for details.

1. Internationalizing geography education workshop for geography educators (closed participation).
2. GeoArts cultural evening with geography and the performing arts (open to the public). Please come with your friends and family, particularly school kids.
3. The first TIIGS public lecture on Cosmology, myth, and the Indian landscape, by Dr Surinder Mohan Bhardwaj, Emeritus Professor of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA. (open to the public).

A Teacher Moment (TM) happens when the kid’s light bulb goes on, the eyes widen, the face blossoms, and there is an explicit or implicit “Aha!” or “OOhhh!”  This is when they have understood a concept and suddenly something makes sense.

Few other than teachers can know the joy of  being in that moment.

I often share these experiences with friends and other sympathetic or kindred souls. Most of them “get it.”

In high school, my samskrtam teacher, Vidvaan Alasingra Bhatrachar used to quote some poet’s characterization of the ideal teacher: शिष्यात् इच्छेत् पराभवम्  (a teacher who should wish to be vanquished by his/her student).

The TM is a baby-step in that direction. Meanwhile, being in that moment is unadulterated joy!

Here are a couple of TMs.

****

Class 9, Army Public School, Bangalore. 2010.

I am conducting a workshop for kids on the monsoons. This topic, like most others, offers a wonderful canvas on which to paint a grand picture of geography, how it matters, and how it connects. I explicitly connect geography, physics, biology, mathematics, economics, politics, lore, myth, fine and performing arts, poetry, and so on.  We had come to the point of discussing the basics of wind movement.

I: “What is wind?”

45 voices: “WIND IS AIR IN MOTION !”

I: “Great! But why does wind move?”

45 voices: “    ” (for a few seconds)

Slight movement in the left periphery of my field of vision.

I turn.

Girl’s face lights up, eyes widen, … in short, the expression of a geophany (is that a new word?). All animation, she opens her hands out, spreads her arms a little, shrugs her shoulders a tad and bursts forth: “Because it’s FREE!”

I smile and exclaim, “Wow!” But she suddenly has doubts. She says, “No wait! That’s wrong, no?”

I tell her, “Not at ALL! It’s a very poetic view of it … very poetic way of putting it! It’s brilliant!”

The entire class laughs and joins in the enjoyment of this burst of poetic vision. Everyone is smiling at her approvingly. She glows with pride, but also a little embarrassment at this sudden attention.

I laid extra emphasis on monsoon and poetry in that session.

(She is now preparing for her class 10 CBSE final exams.)

****

3:00pm – 3:45pm. Tuesday, 20 December 2011. 8th standard. MEG school, Bangalore.

Me … teaching the kids about latitudes and longitudes. S.L.O.W.L.Y. This class was the 4th, over as many weeks (i meet them only once a week) on just this topic.

They have come from Tamizh medium until last year, and suddenly from this year are in English medium. So, I’ve been alternating between English and Tamizh.

One kid, little Vijay, particularly has difficulty and has sometimes asked me to explain things again in Tamizh when the English version proved to be too much for him.

Finally, we got to the point where they had to learn how to give the ‘address’ of a place using latitude/longitude, on a grid on the whiteboard. I showed two examples.

“Did you understand?”, in English. Several nods from the kids.

Vijay wants the explanation in Tamizh.

Done.

“Now, I have placed a point on the grid, you must tell me the correct latitude/longitude address of this point. Who will do it?”

Young Mary just leaps from her chair, grabs the marker from me and before you could say ‘geography rules!’ writes the correct answer, complete with the correct symbols and conventions. This is not very surprising. She’s always very quick to grasp concepts.

“Excellent!”

Beaming, Mary, whom I tease by calling her “Little Miss Mary” to her delightful laughter, returns to her seat.

Everyone’s smiling.

“Final example! Who will do the next one?”

Little Vijay, hand raised high, jumps up from his chair comes almost running to me, takes the marker, and before you could say, um … “kolaveri di!”, he has written the correct answer!

I nearly swoon from joy.

“VIJAYYYY! Brilliant! Very GOOD!”

But just as I say, “Vijayyyy!”, the whole class bursts into spontaneous and loud applause! I am the only one who could see the gleam in Vijay’s eyes, the joy of his classmates, and his own joy at their expression of theirs, and the air of geographical triumph he wears as he proudly walks back to his seat.

However, I am sure my two geography teachers … Mr Narasanna in high school, and Dr Bhardwaj at Kent State University are present there in spirit.

They empathize.

I am blessed and grateful.

(That beautiful samskrtam word धन्योऽहम् “I am fulfilled/blessed” is the most apt!)

Notes:

• (“kolaveri di” is an ‘ear-worm’ song that had just gone viral and kids were singing it everywhere)
• I prefer “Tamizh” to the customary spelling “Tamil.”

Chandra Shekhar Balachandran
Director, TIIGS

ಮೊದಲು ಚಪ್ಪಟೆಯ ಕಾಗದದ ಹಾಳೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಅಕ್ಷಾಂಶಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ರೇಖಾಂಶಗಳ ವಿನ್ಯಾಸವನ್ನು ಕಲಿತರು. ಆ ಹಾಳೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ನಿರ್ದಿಷ್ಟವಾದ ಸ್ಥಾನ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕಗಳನ್ನು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸುವುದನ್ನು ಕಲಿತರು.

ಅವರ ಬಗೆ ನಮಗೆಲ್ಲ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆ!

ಭೂಗೋಳಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ, ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು, ದ ಇಂಡಿಯನ್ ಇನ್ಸ್ಟಿಟ್ಯೂಟ್ ಆಫ಼್ ಜೆಯೊಗ್ರಾಫಿಕಲ್ ಸ್ಟಡೀಸ್, ಟಿಐಐಜಿಎಸ್, ಭಾರತ, ಎಮ್.ಇ.ಜಿ., ಜಾಗೃತಿ, ಚಂದ್ರಶೇಖರ್ ಬಾಲಚಂದ್ರನ್, ಕನ್ನಡ, ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು

ನಂತರ ಈ ತತ್ತ್ವಗಳನ್ನು ಒಂದು ಗೋಳದ ಮೇಲೆ ವಿನ್ಯಾಸಗೊಳಿಸಿ, ಗೋಳದ ಮೇಲೆ ಅಕ್ಷಾಂಶಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ರೇಖಾಂಶಗಳ ಲಕ್ಷಣಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸುವ ವಿಧಾನಗಳನ್ನು ಕಲಿತರು.

ಆರಂಭದ ದಿನ ಇದ್ದ ನಿರ್ಲಕ್ಷ್ಯ ಮಾಯ!

ಈ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ಹುಮ್ಮಸ್ಸು, ಆನಂದ ಎದ್ದು ಕಾಣುತ್ತವೆ. ಮುಂಚಿಗಿಂತ ಈಗ ಅಕ್ಷಾಂಶಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ರೇಖಾಂಶಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅವರಿಗೆ ತಕ್ಕ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗಿದೆ.

ಹೌದು, ಈ ಗೋಳಗಳೆಲ್ಲ ತರ್ಮೊಕೋಲಿನವು. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ನಾವು ಭೂಮಿಯ ಕ್ಷಮೆಯನ್ನು ಕೋರುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಆದಷ್ಟು ಬೇಗ ಪರಿಸರ-ಸ್ನೇಹಿ ವಸ್ತುಗಳನ್ನು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಿಯೇ ಈ ಕಾರ್ಯಾಗಾರವನ್ನು ಮಾಡಲು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸುತ್ತೇವೆ.

ಇಗೋ ೧೭ ಫೆಬ್ರವರಿ ೨೦೧೨ ರಂದು ಈ ಭೂ-ಕಿರಿಯರು ತಮ್ಮ ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ತಮ್ಮ ಭೂಗೋಳಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರದರ್ಶಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಸ್ಥಿರ ಚಿತ್ರಗಳ ಸಂಕಲನ.

(ಇದರ ವಿಡಿಯೊವನ್ನು ಶೀಘ್ರದಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಯೋಜನೆಯಿದೆ.)

Learning about latitudes and longitudes is extremely challenging for kids. Yet, it is fundamental to learning geography — both in the curriculum and outside it. Many teachers also dread having to teach this subject.

This need not be the case.

For some weeks, the GeoKids of 8th Standard, MEG School, Bangalore learned about latitudes and longitudes. On the first day of this project, they were all very skeptical.

Once we started and they found that they could use a flat paper grid to locate places, they were really excited!

Then, they moved to understanding latitudes and longitudes on a globe. Their enthusiasm increased greatly. They were boisterous when challenged to locate places on their globes using latitudes and longitudes.

On 17 February 2012, they put up their globes in their classroom. These still images captured their joy at this.

The pictures were taken on a mobile phone, so the clarity is not that great. However, the previous days of the project when they started with the globe have been video-recorded. This video needs to be edited. Soon, the edited video will be posted on YouTube.

Yes, the globes are made of styrofoam! Apologies to Earth for this, but we couldn’t find an eco-friendly alternative quickly enough. We will try to be more eco-friendly for future offerings of this workshop.

Here, then is the video montage . . .

and

Young Creators’ Den

Invite you to

Explore A World Of Ideas!

How Earth Made Us

Part 5

The Human Planet

Presented by Dr. Iain Stewart, Geologist

(Duration: 1 hour)

Human beings were at the “mercy” of nature during earlier times. Now, we have ourselves become a major force of nature. We are able to change so many things on Earth and re-shape many things in nature. But how powerful are we, really?

In this episode Dr Stewart shows us how human beings have influenced the planet we live on: Earth. He shows us examples of where we have been able to resist nature’s forces and where we are not powerful! Our impact on Earth has not always been “bad.” We have impressive power, but not enough control over it. Human power to change Earth’s surface is so great that we now live in the “anthropocene” age (epoch of the human).

Come and explore with us on

Sunday, 12 February 2012, 4:30 to 6:30pm at the Young Creators’ Den

Kids and parents are welcome!

Download the study sheet (PDF).

ಇದರ ಸಲುವಾಗಿಯೇ ಟಿ.ಐ.ಐ.ಜಿ.ಎಸ್. ಶ್ರಮಿಸುತ್ತೆರುವುದು.

ಜೂನ್ ೨೦೧೧ ರಿಂದ ಜನವರಿ ೨೦೧೨ರ ವರೆಗೆ ನಡೆದ ಹಲವಾರು ಭೂಗೋಳಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳಿಂದ ಆಯ್ದ ಹಲವಾರು ಚಿತ್ರಗಳನ್ನು ಈ ಕೆಳಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿರುವ ವಿಡಿಯೋದಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ.

ಇವು ಮತ್ತು ಇಂತಹ ಇನ್ನಷ್ಟು ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮಗಳನ್ನ ಇನ್ನೇನು ನಡೆಯಲಿರುವ ವಾರ್ಷಿಕ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಗಳು ಮುಗಿದ ಮೇಲೆ ಪುನಃ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸುತ್ತೇವೆ. ವಿವರಗಳನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಯಲು ಈ ಸೈಟಿಗೆ ಪುನಃ ಪುನಃ ಭೇಟಿ ಕೊಡುತ್ತಿರಿ. ಅಥವಾ ನಮ್ಮೊಡನೆ ಸಂಪರ್ಕಿಸಿ.