Comments on: What Do You Know About India?

By: Chris Phippen

Chris Phippen — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:50:25 +0000

I would have to agree with a few of my classmates about not knowing a whole lot on either China or India. And although I do agree that there should be some history and cultural ideals from both countries incorporated into our school systems, with today’s economy it would not be the best move. So many teachers are getting pink slipped and having to shorten their curriculum because of furloughs that it would be wise to wait for our own country to pick itself up off the ground before we disrupt the way our school systems are currently running.

By: Vitus Holzner

Vitus Holzner — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:54:54 +0000

I have to be honest, prior to enrolling in GSB 563 I knew very little to nothing about India. Well I was aware that there is a country with that name and I knew that quite a few people live there but I had no idea of the country’s history, the political landscape in India or just plain and simple how normal people lives are like etc.
I agree with Chase that at least the basics on the newly emerging super powers China and India should be incorporated in high school curricula.
However the only real way to learn about a country is to go there and explore! I’m excited to be lucky enough to be able to go on this trip!!

By: Leslie Mann

Leslie Mann — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:52:48 +0000

What do I know about India? Not much and the more I learned about the country, the more I realize almost all of what I thought I knew was wrong or at the very least, somewhat jaded. My view of education may too be jaded, having gone to private school K-12; only because I attended a religious high school, did I learn about some religious aspects of the culture but outside of this, I learned nothing else of India. I was not taught about the rest of the world and this type of teaching, I think needs to be done in more than just a classroom.

Career advising is lacking in American schools and I do feel the curriculum needs to change to educate children, even at the junior high level, that their life extends well beyond what college they attend and the country they live in. I agree with Chase, that American schools, public or private need to make changes to include a more global perspective. A world history class cannot possibly cover the importance of the rest of world in one semester of school, so a change in the curriculum, along with the importance of career advising (not college advising) would be a step in the right direction. I have no doubt that my children (assuming they are educated in America) will know more at their age about India and China than I ever did. Like Chase said, teaching strictly American history in American schools will have to change, and it will.

Just to add to the ever-growing list of interesting things about India:
-Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries
-The Bengal tiger is India’s national animal
-The banyan, or Indian fig tree is India’s national tree
-The national fruit of India is the mango
-India is the world’s largest tea producer, and tea (chai) is its most popular beverage
-According to legend, to prevent the builders from ever replicating the beauty of the Taj Mahal, their hands were cut off (Ouch!!)

By: Chase Janvrin

Chase Janvrin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:30:32 +0000

My education in Alaska consisted of what I now realize to be the homogeneous depiction of the greatness of America, whether in regards to it’s founding, it’s success, it geography, or it’s people. I think this is frighteningly common for most American school systems. And that’s precisely why this trip is such a fantastic opportunity for us. While it’s a shame, though obviously understandable, that only a few MBA students will get to enjoy the incredible experience of seeing a truly different culture first hand, it would at least be nice if American schools taught on a more global scale. And of course if we add something, we lose something. But with the increasing power of the global economy, comes the increasing importance of knowing who else is on the globe. I think teaching strictly American history in American school will be changing soon, if not already. They’ll have to.

By: Catherine Kristensen

Catherine Kristensen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:51:40 +0000

I did not learn about India in school, but I did learn a bit about India as a child because of my parents’ extensive travels there in the 1970s. I grew up always wanting to see India’s cultures firsthand and am grateful that the day of reckoning is soon upon us!

I have learned a lot about India through our lectures with Professor Singh and through this blog. To follow Amy’s lead, I did little research on Indian history and culture. Some of the topics that I found interesting are listed below:
- India invented Chess
- India invented the number system, including zero and pi
- the official Sanskrit name for India is Bharat
- India has the most post offices in the world
- the India Railway is the largest employer in the world (over 1M!)
- Beyond Bollywood, there are also film industries referred to as Tollywood and Kollywood
- India’s national bird is the peacock

By: Kirk Story

Kirk Story — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:59:01 +0000

I’m with John on this one. The US would benefit from global awareness of the world we are a part of- some refer to this as a worldview. I disagree with the idea that we should parcel our public education for 13 years to historic discoveries of three ethnic regions.
The more you learn, the more you want to learn. The more you vision the US relative to 95.5% of the world’s people, the better equipped you are to act as a global citizen. Before homeland security required passports for interstate travel, 7% of the US population owned a passport. But lets face it, the ignorance of the world’s regressing superpower pays dividends for a few stakeholders.

By: John Barry

John Barry — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 04:30:11 +0000

As a youth in Brazil I learned about most of the world. Certainly India and China. Not only is this part of a student’s formal education there, but their knowledge is reinforced by daily exposure to news on these nations. Perhaps as a result of not being THE world power, Brazil as a whole takes great interest in what is going on in the rest of the world as most every nation is considered an integral piece of the world puzzle, not just a piece of trivia which might be useful to know if one ever finds oneself on the game show “Jeapardy.”

While I can’t recal much of what I was taught some 15 years back in Brazil, and have gotten along fine without it here in the U.S., I must admit that at best I feel uncultured, and at worst ignorant, when sitting around a dinner table in Brazil with friends and family and they’re going on about intricate details of political strategy and fiscal policy in different parts of the world, and my knowledge about these countries is mostly limited to the newsmaking disasters these countries have experienced recently, or their terrorist threat level. While knowledge of the “lesser” nations that make up the world may not seem crucial to most Americans, as these nations emerge onto the world and business scene, one may find it beneficial to know a thing or two about these nations that more than scratches the surface-level.

By: Danielle Steussy

Danielle Steussy — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:50:20 +0000

Like with everyone else, I don’t think I learned a whole lot about China and India in my formal education. If I did, I certainly don’t remember it now.

I grew up in a small town in the suburbs of San Diego and by far the biggest minority at my school was Mexican. Naturally, I learned all about the Mexican culture and history and how it connected with California’s history, and ultimately how it affected the history of the United States. We had classes on world history but I remember always being fascinated by Mexico. I think that’s entirely due to exposure. I was exposed to a different culture that made me want to find out more about it.

I think that’s the primary responsibility of education these days: exposure. Teachers should be able to let students know that these cultures and places exist and let the student’s own intrigue carry them further. Kids have so many more resources to find out more about the world we live in and the Internet offers opportunities to further explore what teachers simply cannot cover in the classroom.

By: Tim Lynds

Tim Lynds — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:22:31 +0000

Well I can say with certainty that I did not receive any formal education on India past locating it on a world map. I mostly agree with Emily on this matter. While it is more important today to make students aware of the rise of India and China, I am not sure it is best to sacrifice part of the current curriculum to study India in depth. I am not sure students will gain more than they lose by doing this. I believe that k-12 students do not have enough instruction on American history. I’ll bet that the typical high school senior could not tell you how a law is passed in the US or the names, let alone the achievements, of most of our past presidents. We should understand how our country was developed before looking at the development of other countries.

This is not to say that current world matters, including India and China, should be ignored. Along this line it may be more appropriate to discuss India and China in a current events or politics classroom. I do not know the best solution, but our young students should at least be aware of the rise of both of these countries and what their future roles may be.

I agree with Dr. Carr that there would be PTA and other uproar if school curriculum is changed. Sure some of this uproar would be based on ignorance and bigotry, but I would bet there would be opposition based on reasonable and legitimate arguments. Should we change the curriculum? I don’t know. Maybe we should talk to the students.

By: Phil Hamer

Phil Hamer — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 23:13:39 +0000

I can remember taking World Geography when I was in the 5th grade and we lightly touched on everything from Mesopotamia to the modern world and most of the focus was on Europe. From then on, the focus was all on American History and Government.I grew up in Idaho so my entire 4th grade year and 8th grade year were focused on Idaho History.
Upon graduation, I knew what the Idaho State horse was (the Appaloosa), but had no idea why there was fighting in Israel, I couldn’t tell you which continent Singapore was on, and I didn’t know what the capital of Canada was! It wasn’t that I was stupid, it was just not taught.
I know that there is only so much that can be taught in the classrooms, but in this age of globalization we are doing a disservice not teaching more about the world to American youth. It has earned us (rightfully so) a reputation for naivety and ignorance.
If America is going to take such an important role in global affairs shouldn’t its citizens know at least basic knowledge about enormous power players like China and India?