Established in 2008, Educators for Teaching India (EFTI) is a group of secondary school educators dedicated to deepening our own knowledge of India and to exploring India’s role in school curricula. The organization includes teachers in public and private schools as well as educators in supporting academic institutions.
Their purpose is to enhance the role that India plays in curriculum through outreach and education. The first major event was a 2008 conference, “Why Teach India? Exploring India’s Role in Secondary Curricula,” with keynote speaker Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paolo Lemann Professor, HBS which took place on April 3, 2009. The 2nd annual conference, “Why Teach India? Caste and its Controversies,” featured keynote speaker Mridu Rai from Yale University, and held on April 30, 2009 at the South Asia Initiative at Harvard University.
EFTI is comprised of educators from Winsor School, Phillips Academy Andover, The Groton School, St. George’s School, Peddie School, Newton South High School, Ashoka Youth Venture pro tem Mumbai, and Niswarth Summer service-learning program. SAI staff meet regularly with the EFTI group to organize the annual conference.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Sponsored by Phillips Academy Andover and the Winsor School and hosted by the South Asia Initiative
Why Teach India conference
Exploring India's Role in Secondary Curricula
Keynote speaker: Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School
Friday, April 30, 2010
South Asia Initiative sponsored event
2nd Annual Why Teach India conference
Caste and Its Controversies
Keynote speaker: Mridu Rai, Associate Professor of History, Yale University
Friday, April 29, 2011
9:00 am-5:00 pm
South Asia Initiative sponsored event
3rd Annual Why Teach India conference
Mahatma Gandhi: Beyond the Legend
Keynote speaker: Rajmohan Gandhi, Research Professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
A One-Day Conference for Secondary-School Teachers
The 2011 EFTI Teach India conference focused on Mohandas K. Gandhi, the Mahatma, a topic that is central to Indian and South Asian history and also plays a critical role in world history and even American history. Several workshops during the conference addressed these issues as well as more general topics about India and South Asia, covering material suitable for secondary school curricula, including information about resources, pedagogy, and travel to the Indian subcontinent.
Friday, April 27, 2012
9:00 am-3:00pm
4TH ANNUAL WHY TEACH INDIA CONFERENCE
HOLY INDIA: RELIGION IN THE MODERN SUBCONTINENT
Keynote speaker: Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies; and Frederic Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society, Harvard University
Educators for Teaching India is proud to present its fourth annual conference, “Holy India: Religion in the Modern Subcontinent.” The conference will explore why India is so often defined by its spirituality and re-examine the stereotypes of a “sacred” India. What function does religion actually play in India and its individual faiths? Keynote speaker Diana Eck will address these issues, and participants will examine them through compelling workshop topics that consider pedagogy and other implications for teaching India in the middle and high school classroom. The day will close with a panel discussion of the role of religion in 21st century India and an outdoor reception.
Tsai Auditorium, CGIS South Building, 1730 Cambridge St. Cambridge, MA
