Many blog readers know a little bit about the how and why of this course, but we wanted to bring all our followers up to speed — especially our new ones!

The original course (BIO70) didn’t include any field experience.  Professor Zegans taught the upper level course to mostly seniors, where it consisted of lectures, team literature presentations, and the creation of an NIH-style grant proposal.  In 2015, the team at the Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning began offering pilot funding for undergraduate courses that expanded the teaching to include a clearly defined experiential learning aspect.  Professor Zegans and Dawn Carey moved forward with their Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI) course funding application to cover the costs of travel to southern India during winterim.

The on-campus component of the fall course follows much of the same format and content as the original.  One small change was winnowing the large number of qualified applicants down to the course cap of ten.  With the limitations of travel funding and time, this process allowed the faculty to select students with an appropriately high academic and research background. During the ten-week, on-campus, component, students were introduced to the science side of eye health on a cellular level, along with gaining an understanding of the environmental and behavioral aspects of disease.  In addition, the students attended a required Cultural Navigation class, where they explored some of possible opportunities and challenges found in traveling to a new locale.

The ELI funding also made it possible to host a visiting research scholar from our partner institution, Aravind Eye Care, as another component for feedback and content for the classroom.  This researcher spearheads our scientific conference activities here in Madurai.

Many thanks to DCAL and the ELI for making all this possible!

After almost two days of travel, we safely arrived at the Chennai Radisson, tired but happy.  Somehow, we magically flew during the only two days this week that Lufthansa was NOT striking, so already feeling pretty lucky.

As you can see from the lovely note on our pillows, tomorrow in Chennai promises to be in the mid-eighties for temperature.  After a quick sleep tonight, we will be back on a plane to Madurai in the morning, with temps in the low nineties.  The wee bundle above the note is a small sachet of fresh jasmine — truly intoxicating scent.

Our featured blogger for tomorrow is Caroline, so look for a recap of our first day on the ground then!

Welcome to the blog site for the Fall16 BIO70 trip to India.
As we spend eleven days traveling to, through, and back from Tamil Nadu, we will share our experience with our friends, family, and supporters in the United States and elsewhere.  Each student will take turns reflecting on the academic experiences, new colleagues, and exciting context during our time in the city of Madurai.

Because of the extraordinary generosity of our host, Aravind Eye Care System, all ten BIO70 students, along with one of our PHD students, are featured presenters at a two-day conference. In addition to these presentations, researchers from the Aravind Medical Research Foundation are slated to present in both lecture and poster form.

Our students will spend time with other researchers and clinicians at Aravind, and visit their labs, hospitals, health centers, manufacturing center, and training centers.  Their schedule also includes visits to some of the temples and ancient sites in the area.

We look forward to posting more about this amazing adventure in the next few weeks!