EDISON, NJ (TIP): For the second time in a row Yuva Hindi Sansthan, a NJ based non-profit educational institution, partnered with the Hindi Program at New York University, received the prestigious Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad award for the fiscal year 2023. The project, conducted by the US Department of Education, requires the grantees to conduct a month-long study tour to India for US based language teachers, students and school, college or university faculty members.

According to a press release issued by the award recipients, “The project is based upon an in-depth study by Prof Gabriela Nik Ilieva, NYU, who developed this program that offers a unique opportunity to study, improve, and develop Hindi language skills and engage in collecting, organizing topic-based audio, visual and textual materials as resources for developing thematic curriculum documents for Hindi learners. The theme of the project, LIVING WIH CONTENTMENT IN A MATERIAL WORLD: MINDFUL LIVNG AND WELLNESS TRADITIONS IN INDIA’, is drawn from the age-old Indian tradition that advocates contentment.”

“We are glad to have received this award”, said Ashok Ojha, Program Director, “ We won the Fulbright-Hays award in the year 2022 for the first time that enabled us to lead a group of educators to India for one month when the participants explored the value of ‘sustainability’ in the Indian context. On their return to the USA they worked under Prof. Ilieva and developed teaching material based on the material collected in India.”

“This year our team will explore how members of various Indian communities think or talk about mindful living, on one hand, and on the other exercise mindful living, ideas and behaviors rooted in ancient traditions and textual sources”, Ojha continued.

A non-political project funded by the US Department of Education, YHS-NYU Fulbright-Hays GPA Curriculum Development Program 2023 provides equal access and treatment for eligible project participants without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age or disability condition. It is open to all U. S. based K-12, community schools and college instructors. Project Director Ashok Ojha and Project Academic Director Prof. Gabriela Nik Ilieva will lead the team of participants on a study tour to India in the Spring 2024.

During the study tour the program participants will collect information, record individual and community insights about practices and perspectives related to contentment, mindful lifestyles and wellness in order to develop instructional materials and thus expand existing curricula. The study tour includes mindful and wellness lectures and activities at the ‘Arsh Vidya Gurukulum’ in Rishikesh; measuring contentment and happiness, Lucknow University; legends and iconic places, Kolkata; balance in life through Madhubani art in Bihar, and the traditional practices and perspectives in Upanishadic and Buddhist texts at Benares University and Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies.

The goal is to create an instructional platform that will support the teaching of traditional mindful practices and perspectives more consistently and more cohesively in the Hindi and South Asian Studies classrooms in the U.S., based on focused information and well-designed instructional materials. They will learn from lectures and selected readings of primary and secondary resources; they will make observations and discuss with local native speakers common practices and perspectives related to the different dimensions of mindfulness and wellness. Our initial research demonstrates that
The program consists of pre-departure and post-tour online work (held on 5 Saturdays 10am- 2pm December, 2023-January, 2024 and 5 Saturdays April-May 2024).