J-Term 2025

APPLICATION DETAILS:

Priority Application Deadline:
October 13, 2024

Priority Notification Deadline:
October 18, 2024

Commitment Deadline:
October 25, 2024

APPLICATION NOW OPEN

Please note: This program is only open to graduate students. Applications will continue to be accepted for this program until it fills.

The Two Worlds of India: Leading Power and Developing Country

Course Number: GLOB1-GC 3040.001 (3-credits)

Term: J-Term 2025

Location: India – Delhi, Agra, Hyderabad, Bengaluru 

Program Dates:  January 3 – January 17 (students must arrive by January 3 – depart on January 17)

NY Based Pre-departure course sessions (REQUIRED): 
November session (dates TBA)

CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO INFO SESSION

Instructor: Dr. Waheguru Pal Sidhu

Degree Requirement This course is a 3-credit course elective or concentration course within the MS in Global Affairs program. With the approval of the department, this course may count as an elective for the MSGSCC. Non-SPS Global Affairs students must consult with their individual academic programs for approval.

Registration for Program: All students must apply for this program using the online application form and with the submission of a personal statement uploaded to the form. The personal statement should address the following:  “In 500 words, please explain why you would like to go on the GFI, what questions/issues you’re interested in, and how the GFI relates to your academic and/or professional goals.”  Accepted students will be registered by the department.

Documents: A valid passport is required for entry.  General info about visa requirements can be found below, but more specific guidance will be provided by the department and the NYU Office of Global Services.

Entrance to India: All visitors entering India must have valid entry visas. All visa applications MUST be completed online at https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html

Program Overview:
As India marches towards the centenary of its independence in 2047, it inhabits two worlds. In one, as the world’s biggest democracy with the world’s fifth largest economy, India’s status as a re-emerging regional and global power is now not just recognized but increasingly institutionalized: with a seat on the G20, membership of the BRICS and several other regional and plurilateral grouping; increasing clout in existing and new international financial institutions; entry into the club of nuclear states; as well as impressive peacekeeping credentials under the United Nations. At the global level, India has emerged as a rule-shaper on climate, cyber, energy, space, and maritime issues. With Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family) as its guiding principle, India seeks to give a greater voice to the concerns of the global South. In contrast, despite 25 years of impressive economic growth – powered by the IT and service sectors, – India remains a developing country and one of the poorest countries in the world. It is estimated that around 300 million Indians still live below the poverty line; another 300 have no access to electricity; and the number of people living in urban slums has increased by more than 20 percent over the past decade. All these considerations suggest that India is a rich country but a poor state: the post-reform period has complicated questions about the state’s capacity to meet the demands for development, especially among the Indian poor. These challenges have been exacerbated by growing political, economic, and social polarization.

This course examines India’s geopolitical concerns, the political and economic developments in an era of open markets, and its evolving global role and engagement. We begin with a brief overview of India’s long history, its strategic culture, and the impact of colonial legacy on its emergence as an independent but weak hegemon. India’s wars and its efforts at making peace will also be examined, as will the key factors behind India’s economic reforms launched in 1991, and the politics involved both at the central and state levels. We will explore how India’s economic policy of decentralized planning has bolstered the role of non-state actors, especially the civil society and transnational corporations, as well as the power of regional economies within the state. We also examine how the economic reforms have benefitted from globalization and other external drivers as well as how India’s reforms in turn have contributed to its global rise. Given the nature of domestic economic planning and the importance of identity politics, we focus on the contemporary internal challenges confronting India. Given regional and global geopolitical shifts we also look at India’s contemporary external challenges. We conclude with a survey of India’s responses to these domestic political and economic challenges, external threats, and an analysis of how these will impact on India’s role in the emerging global order.

Six pre-departure sessions will provide students with an overview of India’s long history, its political and economic developments, a review of the recent neoliberal reforms, a general introduction to the social, political, and cultural institutions, which characterize India’s civil society, as well as the key drivers for India’s foreign and security policies, its conflicts with China and Pakistan and its efforts to maintain a peaceful regional environment. During the field study to New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru and their environs, enrolled students will receive briefings from former and serving senior government officials, multinational organizations, think tanks, and NGOs on India’s political, economic, social, and foreign policy priorities and challenges. They will also have the opportunity to observe the work of NGOs in alleviating rural development challenges. 

Site visits and briefings may include:

  • Taj Mahal
  • Humayun’s Tomb
  • Golconda Fort
  • Mysuru Palace
  • Carnegie India
  • United Nations Office in India
  • Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW)
  • Aapne Aap 
  • Institute for Defense Studies & Analyses (IDSA)
  • Kautilya School of Public Policy
  • National Institute of Advanced Studies 
  • Ranga Shankara
  • Protovillage

Trip Leader: Waheguru Pal Sidhu

Dr. Waheguru Pal Singh (W.P.S.) Sidhu is Clinical Professor and directs the United Nations (UN) Specialization at the Center for Global Affairs, School of Professional Studies (SPS), New York University. He teaches graduate-level courses on International Relations, the UN & global governance, weapons of mass destruction, and emerging powers & world order, especially India. He was bestowed with the SPS Teaching Excellence Award in 2021. Dr. Sidhu has over 30 years of pedagogical and research experience in some of the leading teaching and policy-research institutions in Asia, Europe, and North America. He is also Senior Research Associate, South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg; Associate Fellow, Geneva Center for Security Policy, Switzerland; Guest lecturer at the NATO Defense College, Rome; Member, International Advisory Council of the International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe; and Member, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. He has also served as a consultant to UN agencies, including three UN Panel of Governmental Experts on Missiles. He is the author of multiple books, chapters, monographs, and reports, and has published in Arms Control TodayInternational Peacekeeping, Jane’s Intelligence ReviewPolitique Etrangere, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. His recent publications include Shaping the Emerging World: India and the Multilateral Order (Brookings, 2012) and The Future of Global Affairs: Managing Discontinuity, Disruption and Destruction (Palgrave, 2021). Dr. Sidhu earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. He holds a Master’s in International Relations from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a Bachelor’s in History (Honours) from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, India.  

Basic Itinerary:

  • January 3: Arrive in Delhi 
  • January 4 – 9: Various visits and lectures in and around Agra
  • January 9 – 12: Various visits and lectures in and around Hyderabad 
  • January 12 – 16: Various visits and lectures in and around Bengaluru 
  • January 17: Departure day from Bengaluru 

Program Costs: Tuition, registration & service fees,
& Program fee

Tuition:  Cost of 3-credit tuition (at the slightly reduced winter tuition rate of $2000 per credit). Students will be eligible to be made half-time equivalent in order to take advantage of financial aid.

*Normal Registration & Service Fees Apply to this tuition

The SPS Global Diversity Scholarship is designed to help students with financial needs participate in SPS Global Field Intensive (GFI) courses. 
Deadline to Appy: Oct 1, 2024
More Info and How to Apply HERE

Program Fee: $2,244 (shared double room); single rooms may be available for an additional fee.

The program fee includes the following:

  • Lodging 
  • Meals per Itinerary
  • All in-country transportation (excludes airfare to and from India)
  • All meetings and guest lectures
  • Multiple local and regional site visits and cultural excursions
  • Geoblue travel health insurance

NOT Included

Airfare, passport fees as needed, personal items such as wines, liquors, laundry services, dinners (other than those specified in the program), special arrangements before or after the program, and other items not specifically mentioned as included. Insurance for trip cancellation, flight cancellation, luggage loss or damage, medical and accident is not included but is strongly recommended.

Other Travel Details:
Lodging/Accommodations: Students will stay in centrally located hotels in New Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru. As well as two nights at Carnegie India’s campus. 

Booking Flights – Arrive:  Delhi (on Friday, January 3); Depart: Bengaluru (on Friday, January 17)

Student participants will be responsible for booking flights to and from the GFI entry and departure cities.  Students should plan to arrive in Delhi on Friday, January 3 (at the latest).  Students will depart from Bengaluru on Friday, January 17 (program officially ends on Thursday, January 16).  More information will be provided upon your registration.

Program cancellations must be made in writing and may result in full forfeiture of the program fee.  To protect yourself, we recommend that you purchase flight cancellation insurance.