About Us
The South Asia Initiative is an inter-divisional effort UCSD to promote discussion and exchange about South Asia. We support research, bring speakers, and sponsor courses toward an undergraduate minor in South Asian Studies. We host a weekly seminar Thursday afternoons from 4-6 pm. Our Steering Committee members are: Vineet Bafna, CSE; Prashant Bharadwaj, Economics, Lilly Irani, Communications; Vish Krishnan, Rady School, Steve Parish, Anthropology, Kamala Visweswaran, Ethnic Studies. Contact us to learn more.
Summer Courses on South Asia:
| Global Seminar Session II | MEDICINE AND HEALING IN SOUTH ASIA: This course introduces students to the field of medical anthropology as it pertains to South Asia. This course will be divided into two parts. First, we will analyze how religious, cultural, political and economic structures impact health and wellbeing. Second, we will look at ethnomedicine, that is, how local systems of healing provide alternative ideas of illness and health, such as medical pluralism and Ayurveda. Since this is a global seminar, we are in the unique position to combine our in-class learning with field experiences and visits with experts in the field; this will include people who are working in the fields of global health, public health, and/or with alternative medical systems, such as Ayurveda. | S. Varma |