Sabrina D MisirHiralall, Ed.D.

http://tinyurl.com/yc94qpap

The author aims to use Kuchipudi Indian classical Hindu dance to educate non-Hindus about Hinduism with postcolonialism in mind. This goal arises from her dance experiences and the historical era of imperialism. Colonization occurs when those in power believe there is a need to dominate in a manner that subjugates people. Colonizers created colonies as they moved into territory because they felt there was a need to " civilize " the so-called savages of the land. Postcolonialism is an intellectual discourse that confronts the legacy of colonialism and attempts to de-colonize. With the legacy of colonialism and a postcolonial lens in mind, some research questions arise. How does she, as a Kuchipudi dancer, use Hindu dance to educate non-Hindus about the Eastern literature of Hinduism? For non-Hindus, she feels the power of the exoticizing gaze when she dances, which might very well block the educational intention of the dance. This exoticizing gaze prevents the understanding of the traditional nature of the dance and the introduction to Hinduism as a world religion. The author's problem is moving the exotic gaze of non-Hindus to an educational gaze that seeks to learn about the ethics of Hinduism in a manner that takes into consideration the multiple perspectives of the complex society we live in today.

An environmental ethic of care, coupled with scientific and religious under- standing, sheds light on the urgent concern of the crisis of water depletion in the Indian subcontinent. Dam and reservoir projects impound India’s great rivers to the detriment of rural areas and villages, producing scarcity in primarily agricultural regions. The water crisis in India parallels what is happening around the world as humanity contends with contaminated or depleted water supplies. What is happening in rural communities in India happens around the globe in the processes of globalization and privatization of water. With the pressing water crisis in mind, the goal of this article is to present a philosophical method of analysis that points to a way to overcome the water crisis. Philosophy of care suggests a solution to the water crisis in questioning privatization and restor- ing respect for the rivers of India.

I am an American born faith-based Kuchipudi Hindu dancer and educator with Indian ancestry regardless of what I wear.  For the purposes of this article, I focus my attention on a dress narrative to explore an authentic self.  Here, clothing is an artifact that creates an image that provokes a phenomenological experience.  Dress choices become appropriate or inappropriate, religious or anti-religious depending upon the social constructions of culture.  Also, there is a feminist issue that provokes a social construction of “delicate” regardless of what I wear.  The feminist dilemma incites my main question for this discourse.  How can I maintain my authentic self as a faith-based Hindu dancer and educator regardless of my wardrobe?  What is the appropriate attire in a particular setting?  Does clothing provoke a certain phenomenological experience that requires consideration?  What kind of narrative do I write with my wardrobe choice?  Through a self-study that maintains a postcolonial theoretical framework, I propose a postcolonial theory of Cultural Becoming to develop a more authentic sense of self, based on my own lived experience of what it means to be me as a postcolonial educator who is simultaneously Eastern and Western.

The theological misappropriation of Christianity as a civilizing force occurs when individuals convert to Christianity due to deception that ignores the faith-based aspect of Christianity. The history of Western education in India illustrates the hidden curriculum that Christian missionaries employed to disrupt the Indian educational system. This unnerving pedagogy points to the need for a postcolonial theoretical framework that relates the inescapable hybridity of religion and culture where Orientalism has the potential to occur. To press the ongoing urgency of this discussion, I convey how the history of British India connects to my lived-reality as an American Hindu. Overall, I point to hybridity as a lived paradox of ambiguous conflict that embraces interfaith relations. I offer implications for Christian missionaries today to foster authentic interfaith connections without engaging in colonizing ideologies.

Edward Said pointed to the problem of Orientalism that develops when the West creates a fictitious imagined version of Eastern religion and culture. Said’s notion of Orientalism focuses on the general distorted representation of Eastern religion and culture by the West. Homi Bhabha extends Said’s notion of Orientalism to reveal the tension of the inevitable hybridity between the East and the West. Here, cultural practices develop in the space of hybridity with the intention to promote a feeling of coherence as opposed to with the objective to deform or distort religion and culture. Thus, the intention in a space of hybridity is often not to engage in Orientalism. Instead, the goal is to develop something new in a hybrid form. An opportunity arises in philosophy of education to adequately confront the problem of Orientalism that may develop in a space of hybridity. The author proposes a philosophical postcolonial framework that engages in a creative process that does not further Orientalism but rather develops something new with an ethic of hybrid responsibility for religion and culture. To illustrate this, the author uses Kuchipudi Indian Classical Hindu dance as an example.

Contemplative pedagogy focuses on creating a sense of presence within educators to effectively educate the whole person through mindfulness in teaching. As I engage in a self-study, I develop initial components for the way I employ contemplative pedagogy. I aim to understand myself as an educator in order to teach effectively. One way to enable particular kinds of understandings is through self-study methodology. The foundational framework that develops through my ongoing self-study may interest those who are unfamiliar with the terrain of contemplative pedagogy. For the purposes of this article, I place an emphasis on the philosophy and ethics classes that I taught at Middlesex County College in New Jersey, although I teach several classes on many campuses.

My philosophical method requires me to engage in a self-study of my teaching practices. My project involves self-study as a philosophical research methodology that aims to inform educators and rethink the theories and praxis of teaching. As I work towards improvement- aimed pedagogy, I make myself vulnerable as I share my experiences with my Peer Scholar. My Peer Scholar, which some researchers call a “critical friend”, deliberates with me to challenge epistemological assumptions along with suspicions.

The self-study dialogue with my Peer Scholar causes me to define initial components of how I engage in an improvement-aimed contemplative pedagogy. My hope is to support those who wish to implement contemplative pedagogy in higher education as I relate my working framework based on the themes that developed from the deliberation. The components in the article that convey how I engage in contemplative pedagogy are not meant to serve as a checklist or stern procedure for classroom activities. I share these components as aspects of my contemplative pedagogy, with suggestive scripts, not as a rigid structure but rather as a work in progress that is always under construction.

Course Description https://iwl.rutgers.edu/leadership-scholars-certificate-program:

“With IWL staff members, select an internship placement which relates to your academic, career, and leadership interests. Scholars intern 10–12 hours per week and meet in a weekly seminar to connect theory and practice, by bringing together academic readings on women and work with a work experience in an internship site.”

WGS Learning Goals http://womens-studies.rutgers.edu/academics:
• Understand and critique the formation of categories of gender and sexuality as they function in social, economic, cultural and/or political contexts and as they intersect with other categories of difference such as race and ethnicity.

• Communicate effectively using gender analytics as a tool for academic research, for creative production, for collaborative work, and/or for practices of social change.

• Know the complexity and variety of differently gendered lives and livelihoods around the globe.

• Recognize stereotypes and the naturalization of hierarchies of difference through analyzing power dynamics from the micro to the macro level.

• Identify the politics of issue framing and knowledge production.

Course Description http://womens-studies.rutgers.edu/academics: 
"In this course we will be thinking about the ways that race, gender and sexuality structure our social worlds and intimate lives. We will ask what it means to describe these categories as 'socially constructed' and consider the mechanisms through which they are produced and reproduced. At the same time we will pay careful attention to the material ways in which power is organized and distributed through these categories. Assuming that these are not 'natural' categories we will look at the work that goes into making them appear so, and consider the ways in which their meanings and efficacy change over time. In the latter weeks of the course we will begin to think more about the value and pitfalls of using identity categories as analytical frameworks and organizing platforms.  The course is invested in an interdisciplinary approach and as such we will broach these questions by engaging a cross section of academic, literary, popular culture and activist texts. The course is designed to be not only an academic endeavor, but also an attempt to bridge our academic, personal and political investments, as such I encourage you to bring your life experiences and political investments into the course and classroom as a valuable set of knowledges that we will attempt to build upon and challenge."

Course Abstract: " Examines the nature of gender, gender identity, gender roles and gender discrimination, and the influence of these on classrooms, schools, and educational policy. Meets Gen Ed 2002-Social Science Perspectives. Meets World Cultures Requirement. 3 hours lecture. " Prerequisite(s): WRIT 105 or HONP 100 Academic Dishonesty Policy: Academic dishonesty is any attempt by the student to gain academic advantage through dishonest means, to submit, as the student's own, work which has not been done by the student or to give improper aid to another student in the completion of an assignment. Such dishonesty would include, but is not