The CCCU Board of Directors just approved a new BestSemester off-campus study program in India. The India Studies Program (ISP), scheduled to begin during the fall 2011 semester, will be offered to CCCU students in partnership with the CCCUs international affiliate, the CSI Bishop Appasamy College of Arts and Sciences. Bishop Appasamy is located in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, one of the major states of India and is affiliated with Bharathiar University.
The program is structured to provide students with both immersion in a local community and broad exposure to a variety of peoples, places and customs in India. Students will participate in two core courses: Contemporary India, and Indias Religious Landscape. The tentative list of elective courses includes:
Indian Society & Social Work Intervention
Dimensions of Culture: Indian Cuisine, Traditions and Festivals
Indian Literature
Indian Arts & Paintings
Indian Design: Traditional Costumes and Textiles
Current perspective of Business in India
The ISP will be the third partner program on the BestSemester roster. The Australia Studies Centre is offered in partnership with the Wesley Institute in Sydney, and the Uganda Studies Program is offered in partnership with Uganda Christian University in Mukono. Other BestSemester programs include: American Studies Program, China Studies Program, Contemporary Music Center, Latin American Studies Program, Los Angeles Film Studies Center, Middle East Studies Program, Oxford Summer Programme, Russian Studies Program (which will end in fall 2010), Scholars Semester in Oxford, and Washington Journalism Center.
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is a higher education association of 185 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world. There are now 110 member campuses in North America and all are fully-accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. In addition, 75 affiliate campuses from 23 countries are part of the CCCU. The Councils mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.