WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Students and area residents interested in Missouri State University-West Plains’ short-term, study away program to India this summer still have time to apply.  Dr. Rajiv Thakur, assistant professor of geosciences and director of the program, said the application deadline has been extended to April 2.

The program, India: Encountering and Contesting Development (GRY 197), is a three-credit-hour class set for July 9-24 and is being coordinated through the Office of International Programs at Missouri State University in Springfield.  The cost of the trip has been reduced to $3,311, not including class tuition, meals, transportation to and from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, passport and visa, Thakur said.

“Students will have the opportunity to visit New Delhi, the capital of India and the second largest city in the world,” he said.  “Students also will visit Agra, which has the Taj Mahal, and Jaipur.  But the most exciting aspect of this trip will be a visit to Leh in Jammu Kashmir Himalayas at a height of 11,000 feet above sea level.”

Contemporary India is a country of contradictions, with some of the world’s richest and poorest sharing the same space and the most vibrant democratic practices co-existing with feudal, casteist and religious ones, he pointed out.  The objective of the course is to look at some of the key emerging and ongoing developments that shape lives, livelihoods and possibilities for change in India, he explained.

“We hope students and members of the community can still take advantage of the trip,” Thakur said.  “It is my belief it will be one of the more profound learning experiences at Missouri State-West Plains.  I am personally excited about this trip and consider it a unique opportunity to see India and understand this unique culture and population, from someone who has lived in Dehli for more than three decades.”

Those interested in enrolling or wanting more information should contact Thakur at RajivThakur@MissouriState.edu or at 417-396-9027.  Thakur said community members can participate in the program without enrolling in the course.  Those interested will need to pay the program fee in full through the Study Away storefront at www.international.missouristate.edu/studyaway/ before the program departs.

For more information about the trip, contact Thakur or visit the Missouri State University Study Away website, www.international.missouristate.edu/studyaway/.