Rooted in Change: Immersive learning for Rural Agro-Food Development in Southern India (11:400:490)
Credit: 3
Prerequisite: None - Recommended: General Biology or General Chemistry (minimum one semester)
Time & Place:
Office Hours: By appointments
For appointments: use Microsoft booking
Instructor:
Chitra Ponnusamy, Ph. D.
chitra.ponnusamy@rutgers.edu
65 Dudley RD, Room 203
(848) 932-5452
(732) 932-6776
EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY & INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS:
All of the materials that you will need for this course will be posted in the Canvas website. Textbook: There is NO mandatory textbook required for this course.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The goal of the course is to expand students' knowledge through a cultural, pedagogical and student group experience in collaboration with (Amrita University). Students will have an opportunity to interact with the host institution’s faculty and students who specialize in the field of plant natural products, food, and agriculture. In addition to in-classroom learning, students will live and experience life in a pre-selected rural village through the host institution's Live in Labs® program. Students will collaborate with Amrita university students to understand traditional practices in these areas and devise sustainable solutions to challenges faced in the community using experiences and knowledge from their academic major. The advantages of this group work will allow students from different cultures to gain knowledge and skills not necessarily incorporated within their academic program. For example, a Rutgers Food/Plant Science major may collaborate with an Amrita University Engineering major, or a Rutgers Business major may collaborate with a student from the agricultural program at Amrita University.
About the Live in Labs® program: This program associated with Amrita University is a multidisciplinary experiential learning program that exposes students to challenges faced by rural communities within India. The students collaborate to develop sustainable solutions through an inclusive approach method and are encouraged "to think outside the box." The multidisciplinary research and interdisciplinary teamwork foster high impact learning goals. The thematic areas for the Live in Labs® program are Agriculture & Risk Management, Water & Sanitation, Energy & Environment and Health & Hygiene.
COURSE LEARNING GOALS:
- Describe (knowledge level) how agricultural practices and food production in rural India differ from modern agriculture.
- Explain (comprehension level) the use of plant natural products in cultural and medicinal practices in India (Ayurveda).
- Identify (comprehension level) ethnographic and ethnobotanical issues for a rural village in India through community engagement.
- Formulate (synthesis level) through collaboration, possible solutions to those issues by applying pedagogical background and on-site observations and analyses
ASSIGNMENTS/RESPONSIBILITIES, GRADING & ASSESSMENT:
Students will be provided with the required reading that will be used to facilitate discussion and address critical thinking questions.
- Participation and involvement in group discussion. (25pts).
- In-class assignments (20pts)
- Student presentation (30pts)
- After return to the U.S. students will be required to submit travel journal addressing five key issue/topics pre-approved by the course instructor. (25pts)
GRADING FOR THE COURSE
GRADING
COURSE COURSE SCHEDULE
Afternoon: campus tour and meet faculty and students
Evening: free
Afternoon: Visit Amrita Integrated rural nutrition center (functional food and food product development for the rural community)
Evening: Group discussion and reflection of the day
Early afternoon: Visit small scale farms – coconut and banana plantations.
Late afternoon/Evening: Workshop Training session I for Amrita Live in Labs® program
Live in Labs® – Record ethnographic and ethnobotanical information and utilize the strategies to enhance rural community engagement.
Rutgers and Amrita student interview with rural community members
Rutgers and Amrita student discussion with faculty experts.
Evening: Culture immersion – Observe/Partake in the traditional village ceremony
Rutgers and Amrita student discussion with faculty experts
Tour: Art of foraging with rural village representative
Rutgers and Amrita student discussion with faculty experts
Cultural Immersion: Cook a traditional village meal and understand the ethnobotanical relevance
Discussion and review of presentations
Free time or hiking
Afternoon: Biotechnology Department – Food and Medicinal plant research
Late afternoon/Evening: Boating at Kollam backwaters (optional)
Afternoon: Depart for Kochi, Kerela
FINAL EXAM/PAPER DATE AND TIME
There is no final exam for this course
ACCOMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Please follow the procedures outlined at Rutgers Office Of Disability services Registration form. Full policies and procedures are found in the Rutgers Office Of Disability services website.
The Rutgers Office Of Disability services is located at Lucy Stone Hall, Suite A145, Livingston Campus, 54 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854. The contact phone number is (848) 445-6800.
Rutgers University welcomes students with disabilities into all of the University's educational programs. In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, a student with a disability must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation at Rutgers Office Of Disability services documentation Guidelines website. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus’s disability services office will provide you with a Letter of Accommodations. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. To begin this process, please complete the Registration form on the ODS web site at: Rutgers Office Of Disability services Registration form.
Absence Policy
The University does recognize that temporary conditions and injuries can be problematic and may adversely affect a student’s ability to fully participate in class.
Absences or making up work go to Temporary Conditions website for detail.
The Dean of Students Office at Rutgers University-New Brunswick provides solutions, services, and support to help students navigate Rutgers University. By focusing on students’ educational, social, and personal development, staff in the Office promote academic success and student retention. The Office serves as a student support network by providing advocacy, problem resolution, and critical incident intervention for those times when additional assistance is needed.
- Self-Reporting Absences: For absences in class or labs less than a week that are not confidential in nature, students need to inform faculty directly by using the Absence Reporting System (ARS).
- Longer Periods of Absence: If you anticipate missing more than one week of classes for serious illness, confidential, or sensitive personal reasons, you should also consult with a New Brunswick Dean of Students who will help to verify your extended absences from classes.
- Absences due to illnesses: If your absence is due to illness, visit New Brunswick Health Services for information about campus health services, including information about: how to make an appointment, self-care advice for colds/flu, mental health and counseling options.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The university's policy on Academic Integrity requires that a student:
- properly acknowledge and cite all use of the ideas, results, or words of others.
- properly acknowledge all contributors to a given piece of work.
- make sure that all work submitted as his or her own in a course or other academic activity is produced without the aid of impermissible materials or impermissible collaboration.
- obtain all data or results by ethical means and report them accurately without suppressing any results inconsistent with his or her interpretation or conclusions.
- treat all other students in an ethical manner, respecting their integrity and right to pursue their educational goals without interference. This requires that a student neither facilitate academic dishonesty by others nor obstruct their academic progress.
- uphold the canons of the ethical or professional code of the profession for which he or she is preparing.
Adherence to these principles is necessary in order to ensure that
- everyone is given proper credit for his or her ideas, words, results, and other scholarly accomplishments.
- all student work is fairly evaluated, and no student has an inappropriate advantage over others.
- the academic and ethical development of all students is fostered.
- the reputation of the University for integrity in its teaching, research, and scholarship is maintained and enhanced.
Failure to uphold these principles of academic integrity threatens both the reputation of the University and the value of the degrees awarded to its students. Every member of the University community therefore bears a responsibility for ensuring that the highest standards of academic integrity are upheld.
Cheating and Plagiarism
(From Spring 2010 Andy Egan 01:730:252 Eating Right): "Cheating on tests or plagiarizing materials in your papers deprives you of the educational benefits of preparing these materials appropriately. It is personally dishonest to cheat on a test or to hand in a paper based on unacknowledged words or ideas that someone else originated. It is also unfair, since it gives you an undeserved advantage over your fellow students who are graded on the basis of their own work. In this class we will take cheating very seriously".
Turnitin will be used to assess students‚ submissions and all suspected cases of cheating and plagiarism will be automatically referred to the Rutgers Academic Integrity office.
Counseling, ADAP & Psychiatric Services (CAPS)
Counseling, ADAP & Psychiatric Services (CAPS) located at 17 Senior Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 is a University mental health support service that includes counseling, alcohol and other drug assistance, and psychiatric services staffed by a team of professional within Rutgers Health services to support students’ efforts to succeed at Rutgers University. CAPS offers a variety of services that include: individual therapy, group therapy and workshops, crisis intervention, referral to specialists in the community and consultation and collaboration with campus partners. its phone number is (848) 932-7884.
Violence Prevention & Victim Assistance (VPVA)
The Violence Prevention & Victim Assistance (VPVA) phone number is (848) 932-1181, and it is located at 3 Bartlett Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
The Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance provides confidential crisis intervention, counseling and advocacy for victims of sexual and relationship violence and stalking to students, staff and faculty. To reach staff during office hours when the university is open or to reach an advocate after hours, call 848-932- 1181.
Disability Services
The Office of Disability Services phone number is (848) 445-6800, and it is located at Lucy Stone Hall, Suite A145 Livingston Campus 54 Joyce Kilmer Avenue Piscataway, NJ 08854
Rutgers University welcomes students with disabilities into all of the University's educational programs. In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, a student with a disability must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation at Office of Disability Services Documentation Quidelines website. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability services office will provide you with a Letter of Accommodations. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. To begin this process, please complete the Registration Form.
Scarlet Listeners
Scarlet Listeners provides free and confidential peer counseling and referral hotline, providing a comforting and supportive safe space. Call at (732) 247-5555 for more information.