Pravasi Bharatiya UMass Dartmouth to leverage from Vedas $ 1 million endowment for vedic studies

As Indian students and community celebrated India'sIndependence Day, UMass Dartmouth announced that the Three Rs Foundation has pledged $1 million to support the university'sCentre for Indic Studies to initiate an innovative educational pedagogy rooted in India'sVedic traditions. The donation will support the Centre'smission to connect the university, region and Commonwealth to India'sgrowing economy and world influence.

The announcement made with a celebration of Indian Independence Day and featured presentations by students from India, and a guest speech from Dr Subramanian Swamy, visiting Harvard Professor and president

of Janata Party in India. ?Our university, our students, and our region are enriched by experiencing diverse cultures,?? Chancellor MacCormack said. ?The history, art, music and religion of India hold important lessons for all of us as we strive to be better citizens of our own community and the world. On behalf of UMass Dartmouth, I thank the Three Rs Foundation for its exemplary generosity.?

Pandit Ramadheen Ramsamooj, Director of Three Rs Foundation, said, ?We are excited to be part of this educational initiative that will allow UMass Dartmouth students to learn about India at a time when the information super highway and global economy are creating important East-West connections. Among our highest priorities is to develop innovative teaching strategies rooted in Indian culture.? The Three Rs Foundation is the lead sponsor of the Super Accelerated Learning Theory (SALT), a school model that emphasises whole brain education. Preceding the announcement, the Board of Governors of the Centre for Indic Studies unanimously approved the Memorandum of Understanding with Three Rs Foundation.

The chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Centre, Shri Rajiv Malhotra, said that the accelerated learning movements across USA

regard Georgi Lozanov, a Bulgarian educator and neuroscientist, as their founding father. What is seldom considered is that Lozanov had studied traditional Vedic learning systems in India in the 1960s under UNESCO programme, to figure out how Vedic pandits were able to memorise and impeccably recite tens of thousands of verses. Shri Malhotra said, ?Today, the Three R'sFoundation is reviving that learning system from its source, and creating a programme which could be a breakthrough even beyond Lozanov?s. This deserves all our encouragement and support.?

Shri Brahm Agarwal from Orlando, Fl, General Secretary of Indic Governing Board agreed saying, ?This is a good beginning for the Centre.? The Centre for Indic Studies is planning several major academic and scholarly initiatives in the coming years.

In its Board of Governors meeting, Dr William Hogan suggested including graduate education as part of the Three Rs Foundation'sagenda in Indic Studies. He agreed with the Board Chairman'ssuggestion to distinguish Indic studies from South Asian studies, the latter being adopted by many US universities for general area study that handicaps them from getting into deeper understanding of Indic traditions and values.

?An endowment of this size to bridge ancient civilisation of India to the most modern civilisation of United States through education is a most powerful statement to society,?? said Dr Balram Singh, director of the Centre of Indic Studies. ?I am thrilled at this opportunity and look forward to facilitating the engagement of my colleagues in this educational mission.?

With more than one billion people, India represents over 15 per cent of the world'spopulation. Only China has a larger population. India'smedium age is 25, one of the youngest among large economies. India and the United States are the two largest democracies in the world. With an average GDP growth of 7 per cent over the last decade, India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It is leveraging its large number of well-educated and English-speaking people to become a major exporter of software services and software workers. According the US Census Bureau, India also now ranks 4th in Massachusetts as a nation of origin of foreign born residents in 2006 with 40,000 residents of Massachusetts. In 2000, India ranked 9th, and in 1990 did not rank in the top 10. India is the top country of origin for international students on the UMass Dartmouth campus. This fall there will be approximately 150 students from India on the campus.

The Centre for Indic Studies was established in 2001 to disseminate understanding of issues relating to the arts, philosophy, culture, societal values and customs of India. UMass Dartmouth is located in North Dartmouth on the South Coast of Massachusetts. Established in 1895 and located on its current site since 1964, the university offers more than 60 undergraduate, master'sand doctoral degree programmes to 9,000 students. Its $21 million per year research enterprise is widely recognised for its contributions to marine science, engineering, biotechnology, public policy, education, business and management, nursing and social science. The campus is also highly respected for its community engagements, including a downtown arts campus in nearby New Bedford, advanced technology centre in Fall River and student community service initiatives.

(For more information visit www.umassd.edu)