Fulbright-Hays 2024 Project

The project focuses on two main groups of narratives:

The official narratives from mythology, history, or literature are encoded in architectural structures and their design elements (reliefs, sculptures and murals), spatial arrangement and hierarchy, iconography and symbolism depicting narrative scenes. Such are the narratives in many historical architectural complexes (e.g. Ellora-Ajanta, Sanchi and Khajuraho, etc.). These complex stories can be perceived as an instrument of social and political discourse and a vehicle reflecting or advocating for social change. They are created and disseminated by those in positions of power, therefore they embody singularity: intentions of shaping public perception and advancing specific political or ideological agendas. They are used in a top-down direction to promote a certain worldview, in order to reinforce and maintain cultural, social and political cohesion. However, the artists and artisans, add their own visions that have a major presence in art history highlighting their aesthetic values or technological innovations. They add to the complex and multilayered meanings that can be decoded.

The folk narratives are stories, legends, or myths that emerge organically from the collective wisdom and experiences of a community and through various forms of storytelling they preserve and communicate local cultural heritage and values. These narratives are based usually on a sequence of events, with a specific structure, characters, and plot on a variety of topics relevant to the life of the local community. They are rooted in the traditions, customs, and beliefs of a specific community, they reflect their history and cultural identity and therefore, they embody diversity. These folk narratives are conveyed through the syncretic art of storytelling through image and/or performance, which is an efficient vehicle for transmission. It involves the performance or presentation of a narrative, emphasizing the delivery and engagement with the audience, typically through spoken words, written language, visual media, performance or other means. It is the process of narrating or presenting . Storytelling is a central cultural phenomenon and centuries-long tradition embodying Indian diversity and pluralism.

Most importantly, this wide range of narratives and the artistic forms of encapsulating and/or performing them are seriously underrepresented in the Hindi language and South Asian Studies textbooks and curricula. In order to address this curricular gap and to enhance authenticity-based student engagement in the classrooms, the proposed project aims at:

a) enriching the content of the existing curricula by collecting new audio-visual and script-based materials and by designing new instructional units based on the new materials.

b) diversifying the cultural representation in the Hindi language and South Asian Studies textbooks and lessons by re-evaluating the dominance of official narratives about the social groups in power and increasing the use of folk narratives and underrepresented voices as well as improving participants’ understanding of  the intangibles of cultural heritage.

c) adopting traditional storytelling techniques, integrating language, image and performance in the context of communicative language pedagogy.

The program provides frameworks for analysis as well as opportunities for collection, exploration and comparison of local narratives performed and/or visually represented in several locations in India. The participants visit and familiarize themselves with several architectural complexes and their dominant narratives, their imagery, symbolism and encoded meanings, on the one hand, and on the other, they are exposed to and gather folk stories as well as the complex storytelling process, its forms and content. Examining such narratives adds depth to the understanding of the multidimensional cultural fabric of Indian society, a necessary socio-cultural competency for any educator in the field of South Asian Studies. The program creates opportunities for its participants, K-16 educators, to learn, observe, practice and experience narrative cultural traditions, encompassing the rich diversity of India. Thus by better understanding it, they will make informed choices when representing India in their classrooms through a balanced integration of content, culture and language and as a result they will create an inclusive and diverse environment for their learners.

More specifically, the objectives of the program are to examine the cultural, social, and political themes, symbolism and meaning of various narratives, significant as top-down and bottom-up communicative processes in various regions of India. The program  delves into ancient epic, Pauranic and folk tales, local origin stories, micro-histories, mythologies, and other narratives rooted in the relationship to others, to nature, time, or the cosmos. They transfer knowledge across generations and preserve cultural memory. They are not only sources of background information or cultural histories, but also creative ways of comparing, negotiating, and communicating new ideas of what the local community thinks ought to be. Participants seek to understand how these narratives are associated with rituals and festivals, how they convey cultural and spiritual message, enforce power-controlled agendas or guide religious practices and perspectives. This type of work is based on content areas, including Indian art, architecture, history, philosophy and culture.

This project is supported by a partnership with the South Asian Language Programs at New York University (NYU) and with faculty from Michigan State University Department of Linguistics, Languages and Cultures, Yale University Macmillan Center, and the South Asia Institute at the University of Texas at Austin (UTA) in the U.S. In India, the project is supported by a collaborative understanding between Yuva Hindi Sansthan and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Vasanta College of Women, Center for Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, Rabindranath Tagore University, Bhopal, Sanchi University of Indic-Buddhist Studies, Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda, Indira Gandhi Museum of Mankind, Bhopal, and Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, Delhi, all of which offered access to their academic resources and campus facilities. 

The Project Director, Team Leader and Administrator Ashok Ojha, along with the Academic Lead Dr. Gabriela Nik Ilieva, Clinical Professor, Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University, lead 12 Fulbright-Hays participants on a month long study tour to several  heritage sites in India (Ajanta, Ellora, Sanchi, Sarnath, Benares, Delhi) where pre-planned daily activities for collection of authentic, cultural products, realia, workshops with experts and visits to local communities are conducted.