Born from a violent collision of continents, the Himalayas have long been a zone of disruptive environmental change. Anthropogenic climate change is now rapidly intensifying this legacy, transforming both the mountain chain and the sprawling regions through which its waters flow. This course examines how climate change is unfolding in the Himalayas by contextualizing it within long-running processes of environmental change and conflict distinctive to the region. In doing so, it uncovers the extent to which intensifying changes in climate are transforming these historic dynamics.
The course is structured as a careful walk through each of the basic components with which humans interact in the Himalayan landscape: forests, animals, fields, micro-organisms, water, and buildings. While we will survey pan-Himalayan dynamics, particular attention is paid to the regions where students will live and travel: Garhwal, Kumaon, and Ladakh. The course leverages the considerable field time afforded to students by linking weekly readings and research assignments to subsequent excursions and conferences planned as part of the overall Pitt in the Himalayas program. Each week follows a two-part rhythm: we first examine historic dynamics surrounding the landscape component in question, then use a contemporary case-study to analyze how climate change may be altering these dynamics.
Attentive and engaged students should leave the course with 1) an improved capacity to analyze the environmental stakes involved with Himalayan climate change and 2) an ability to re-articulate specific stakeholder perspectives in a theoretically robust and historically literate manner.
Download ANTH 1799 - Draft Syllabus.pdf (419.05 KB)Just as its great rivers carve and cleanse continents, the Himalayan landscape continues to anchor and reshape religious traditions across Asia. This course provides an introduction to the unusual and enduring relationship between these particular material mountains and an impressively diverse array of dynamic spiritual practices.
Designed as a whistlestop yatra, the course is a guided tour of a deliberately eclectic set of specific physical locations, including peaks, lakes, cities, roads, hill-top shrines, and street-side dargahs. With each stop we will examine the way Himalayan sites have acquired, transformed, and experienced traditions of sacredness. The structure of the tour enables us to follow a roughly chronological timeline, stretching from early indigenous practices to the emerging Buddhisms and Hinduisms of Lhasa, Leh, and the now-chockful Char Dham highways. This chronological approach allows us to consider the historical connections and shared intellectual genealogies behind many of Asia’s increasingly disparate religious traditions.
The locations studied vary from canonical (Lumbini) to quotidian (a small hilltop shrine just across the valley from our classroom). Attention is paid to sites near where students will live and travel. The course leverages the considerable field time afforded to students by linking weekly readings and research assignments to subsequent excursions planned as part of the overall Pitt in the Himalayas program. Reading selections are taken almost entirely from primary texts written from various positions within the religious traditions themselves.
Download ANTH 1798 Draft Syllabus.pdf (214.62 KB)Ranging in altitude from several hundred meters above sea level to over seven thousand, from subtropical forests to high altitude meadows and deserts, and from areas with little or no rainfall to regions that are among the wettest in the world, the Himalayas define a geographical region of enormous geological variation and biodiversity. The goal of this course is to gain an understanding of this diversity, with a focus on ethology, the study of animal behavior and the interaction of animal species.
The Himalayan region is characterized by a tremendous range of social and cultural diversity that corresponds to climatic, ecological and geographical variation, as well as local and regional geopolitical factors. Historical change from the emergence of early forms of social complexity centered on chiefs and their forts – from which the regional designation of “Garhwal” takes its name – through the development of kingdoms and larger polities shows the intimate link between geography, environment and socio-political transformation. Similarly, local language patterns, regional religious practices, musical styles, mythology, food culture, sartorial fashion, architectural design, agricultural and transportation technologies and engineering and trade networks have all been shaped by the structure of mountain barriers, bounded valley communities and bracketed lines of communication that follow river systems. Whereas the political economy of the Himalayas has been structured around agricultural production, and the development of elaborate field terrace systems, there have also been subsidiary economies centered on trans-Himalayan trade and pilgrimage as well as pastoral nomadism and transhumance. Since the colonial period, the Himalayas have increasingly become a place for rest, relaxation, tourism and adventure, and this – along with further political transformations since Indian independence -- has led to the rapid development of urban areas. This course will provide a survey of Himalayan history, society and culture with a focus on the relationship between nature, the environment and geography.
Download ANTH 0730 - Draft Syllabus.pdf (419.87 KB)India is a social, political and economic environment in which a broad range of South Asian Medical Systems have grown and developed over the course of several thousand years. In the past 150 years these systems have been institutionalized and professionalized within the framework of colonial and national medical and public health policy. Many of these systems are intimately connected to the environment, and to the conceptualization, categorization, production and consumption of natural resources. This course focuses on a range of systems of medicine: Ayurveda, Unani, Tibetan Medicine, Yoga/Nature Cure, Allopathy and Homeopathy, as each one of these is supported and regulated by the Government of India. We will also look closely at forms of ritual healing that involve supernatural forces, home-remedies that are based on local knowledge, and the relationship between food and health. The purpose of the course is NOT to evaluate the effectiveness or medical value of these systems; it is to understand how these medical systems and health practices fit into a range of social, political, ecological, botanical and economic contexts. Given that a number of these medical systems are intimately linked to Himalayan botanical and environmental knowledge, the course will focus on the relationship between South Asian medical systems and mountain ecology.
Download ANTH 1793 Draft Syllabus.pdf (196.97 KB)Global climate change has resulted in a broad spectrum of national and international laws and policies concerning the pressing need to reduce carbon emissions, protect natural resources, regulate the use of water and manage the production of energy. This course provides an overview of the major international agreements designed to protect the environment and reduce the effects of climate change. International agreements are complicated by national interests and state-level laws and regulations, especially in countries like the United States, China and India as well as the European Union. This course will examine some examples of how different countries establish laws to protect the environment and will focus on India to understand the priorities of the state in protecting the environment while making use of natural resources to promote economic growth and development.
Download ANTH 1750 Draft Syllabus.pdf (74.58 KB)Ranging in altitude from several hundred meters above sea level to over seven thousand, from subtropical forests to high altitude meadows and deserts, and from areas with little or no rainfall to regions that are among the wettest in the world, the Himalayas define a geographical region of enormous geological variation and biodiversity. The goal of this course is to gain an understanding of this diversity, with a focus on ethology, the study of animal behavior and the interaction of animal species.
Introductory, conversational Hindi. The course will focus on communication skills and vocabulary that is relevant to common everyday use in the context of program.
The Hanifl Centre was established in 2003 to promote the study of the Himalayan environment with a focus on outdoor education. The University of Pittsburgh has partnered with the Centre since 2013 and now runs three programs in the summer and fall. Hanifl Centre staff embody India’s multicultural modernity with a certified record of professionalism, having earned national and international recognition for their programs in leadership training and wilderness medicine. India’s first green design campus, the Hanifl Centre is near a nature reserve in-between India’s two most sacred rivers, the Yamuna and the Ganga. In 2019 Pitt’s Chancellor visited the Centre in recognition of our well-established partnership, innovative programs and proven record of success. To learn more about the Hanifl Centre please visit haniflcentre.in.
Nazir Noori
Salam! I’m Nazir and I'm your Study Abroad Program Manager. I was born and raised abroad and went to schools in Afghanistan, Iran, and the U.S. I also took classes in India and United Arab Emirates. I worked for the U.S. Department of State, USAID, and German Foreign Office for over ten years before moving to Pittsburgh in 2014. At the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, I assisted Afghan students to study in the U.S., and now I'm glad I have the opportunity to help American students study abroad.
Stop by the office during my walk-in hours (Tue, Wed, Thu from 2-4pm) or get in touch with me at nazir.noori@pitt.edu or 412-383-4827 to discuss the study abroad options.
Dr. Joseph Alter
Dr. Joseph Alter, a professor in Pitt's Department of Anthropology, has a life-long association with Mussoorie, where he has been conducting anthropological research for thirty years. Born in Landour and educated at Woodstock School, he has an intimate knowledge of Himalayan history, culture, and society that extends beyond research to local knowledge and experience. Dr. Alter's family home is adjacent to the Hanifl Centre, where students will be living during the program.
Dr. Alter will travel to Mussoorie to help students settle in to the program. Please feel free to reach out to Dr. Alter with any questions about the academics of the program. His email is: JSALTER@pitt.edu.
Akshay Shah
Akshay Shah - With more than two decades of experience in the outdoors including trekking across high passes in the Kumaon Himalaya, Akshay is an experienced and passionate trek leader, fond of simple mountain life and its rewards. He founded and managed Kumaon based social development NGO Lok Chetna Manch for more than a decade. He has worked for NOLS India as a consultant on their natural history projects.
Akshay is the Head of Programs at Hanifl Centre and is also an instructor. He is a certified WEMT with Aerie Backcountry Medicine, Missoula MT. Based on decades of experience working on rural development projects, natural resource management programs and conservation in the Himalaya, Akshay teaches courses in Wilderness First Aid & CPR, Health and Environment, and Himalayan Geography.
Dr. Jamie J. Williams
Jamie Williams received her Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Letters from the University of Oklahoma and her Juris Doctorate from Vermont Law School. A licensed attorney in the states of New York and Texas, she has practiced family, criminal, and commercial law. She taught international law at Universitas Pelita Harapan in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she was a founding director of the International Justice Initiative, an organization dedicated to international human rights legal research. She currently teaches in the online global programs for Simpson University in Redding, California and Le Tourneau University in Longview, Texas in the areas of political science, international studies, and criminal justice. She recently served as Program Coordinator for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a nonprofit organization advocating for the best interests of abused and neglected children. Jamie currently lives on the Mussoorie, India hillside along with her husband Craig Cook, who is the Principal of Woodstock School.
Suniti Bhushan Datta
Suniti Bhushan Datta is a naturalist, consultant wildlife biologist and mountain/wilderness skills educator based in Dehra Dun. Prior to graduating with a Masters degree in Wildlife Sciences from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, Suniti worked as a guide and volunteer researcher at Ranthambhore, Pench and Nagarahole Tiger Reserves. Subsequently, he has conducted intensive field research on large mammals in the Rajaji-Corbett Tiger Reserve landscape. He advises the Uttarakhand Forest Department on ecotourism, wildlife crime and human-wildlife conflict, and assists with bird surveys. His particular research interests include the relationship between elephants with their environment and infrasonic communication. He has trekked and climbed extensively in the Garhwal Himalaya and has an eclectic knowledge of the region. At the Hanifl Centre, Suniti teaches a course in Himalayan Ecology to visiting university students, and assists with school groups with nature and outdoor activities. Apart from a passion for wildlife, mountains and outdoor education, Suniti has diverse skills and interests that include trekking, mountaineering, astronomy, military history, aviation and photography. He is an avid endurance cyclist and occasional artist. He watches birds only as a hobby! He is the author of, 'Birding in the Doon Valley', a book he began writing while a student at The Doon School.
K. Krishnan Kutty
“Kutty” joined the Hanifl Centre in 2009. He has trekked extensively across the Himalaya and is an accomplished mountaineer having summited numerous peaks in the Indian Himalaya. In 1994, he co-led an Indian-American expedition to Nanda Devi (east) where he reached an altitude of 23,000 ft. In June 2011, Kutty led a group of Woodstock staff on an expedition to Banderpunch peak (20800 ft.) where 17 members made it to the top. Kutty is passionate about experiential education in the outdoors and continues to design curriculum and treks for Woodstock students and staff.
He is actively involved in developing new courses and works closely with US Universities in designing and delivering their “Study Abroad” programmes. His vision for training Trekking Guides in rural areas led to the centre’s pioneering effort in courses being taught in Hindi. He is also responsible for initiating the partnership with Aerie Backcountry Medicine of Missoula, Montana to offer affordable courses in Wilderness First Aid & CPR in India. Before joining the Hanifl Centre, Kutty worked for 20 years with NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School), as their India Director. NOLS is a US based school acknowledged worldwide as the leader in wilderness education. Kutty has taught NOLS courses in Kenya, Chile, Alaska, Wyoming and the Indian Himalaya.
