Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most original, impactful, and complex figures of the 20th century. WorldCanvass panelists reflected on Gandhi at 150.

Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most original, impactful, and complex figures of the 20th century.  Revered around the world for his activism, self-sacrifice, and nonviolent methods of confronting a repressive colonial power, Gandhi remains a much-admired figure today.  Gandhi may be best known in America for the influence his teachings on nonviolence had on leaders of the civil rights movement.  But the story of the man and his legacy is layered and not without its contradictions.  Our guests on the April 16 WorldCanvass will reflect on Gandhi at 150.  This event will foreshadow the Provost’s Global Forum planned for November 2021 on “The Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi at 150: Nonviolence, Race, and Politics.”  Join us for this virtual WorldCanvass on April 16 from 5:30-7 p.m.  Free and open to all, the program will be aired on Zoom and on Facebook Live.

WorldCanvass will celebrate International Education Week* with a program on “Educational Cross-fertilization: the Iowa/India Connection.” The program will feature UI President Bruce Harreld’s presentation of the 2018 International Impact Award to Rajat Jay Sehgal and the Sehgal Foundation for their leadership in support of community-based development activities, educational access, and the empowerment of women, particularly in rural India. Sehgal will also be recognized for the foundation’s multi-year partnership with the University of Iowa’s award-winning India Winterim program. Joining the discussion about the Iowa/India educational connection are Craig Just, Marian Muste, and Allen Bradley from the College of Engineering, Stephanie Gilbertson-White from the College of Nursing, Vijay Kamalumpundi from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Associate Provost and Dean of International Programs Downing Thomas. WorldCanvass begins at 5:30 on November 13 at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, with a pre-show reception from 5-5:30 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.

In December, 2016, a group of 12 UI faculty and students, led by Meena R. Khandelwal, an associate professor of anthropology and gender, women’s and sexuality studies at the University of Iowa, spent a month studying efforts to design and diffuse improved cookstoves in southern Rajasthan, India, thanks to a Fulbright-Hays GPA grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, and supported by UI International Programs.

A cup of hot tea sits in my palms. This is my second visit to India, and I’ve answered this question many times. “Our organization serves the elderly and the critically ill, those who have been abandoned by their families,” I say. “We give them medicine for their pain. We provide social support. Many of our patients don’t even have someone to talk to.”

The University of Iowa Indian Student Alliance, South Asian Student Alliance, and the Pakistani Student Association will host a Diwali celebration on Saturday night.

UI International Programs congratulates Maya Ramaswamy on being awarded a Boren Fellowship to study in India during the 2016-17 academic year. Maya is a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Iowa College of Public Health’s Occupational and Environmental Health program. She will study Tamil at VIT University in Tamil Nadu, India.

The UI South Asian Studies Program (SASP) will host an upcoming lecture featuring artist and art historian, Seema Srivastava. This event is free and open to the public, and will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 24, 2016, in room 116 of Art Building West.

Two CPH students traveled to southern India to research the occupational conditions of workers who harvest tea leaves by hand.

A team of University of Iowa students will visit India in January to help a world-renowned eye doctor provide vision care and cataract surgery to more poor patients.

On the next WorldCanvass, Rebecca Arnold, UI Masters of Public Health graduate and senior program officer at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communications Programs, will receive the UI’s 2015 International Impact Award. This is the sixth year of the award, which is given to exceptional individuals who have made sustained and deep contributions internationally or in the U.S. to promote global understanding. The presentation and following WorldCanvass discussion will begin at 5 p.m., November 10, at FilmScene in downtown Iowa City and is free and open to the public.

The South Asian Studies Program (SASP) will kick-off its fall semester activities with a lecture by Paul Robbins on the intertwined fates of India's wild animal species and its rural populations. The event is free and open to the public and will be held on Thursday, October 29, from 5:00 - 6:30 pm in UCC 2390 (Executive Boardroom, 2nd Floor UCC).