Journey to India

Each September, for fourteen consecutive years, Ron Marks, dean of the School of Social Work conducts the "Journey to India" class.  Last fall, 5 of the 14 student participants were working towards their MS in Disaster Resilience. The journey is an immersive one and offers the opportunity to intimately engage with the Tibetan refugee exile community. After arriving in Delhi, the group travels north to the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains to Dharamsala, home of the largest number of Tibetans in exile, the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. One of the central goals of this experience is to enable an understanding of the needs of the Tibetan exile community and to interact with social and health programs working towards meeting these needs. Equally important is the opportunity to learn the ancient wisdom traditions brought to India from Tibet by this exile community. Overall, the experience provides an opportunity to enhance ones professional growth, develop personally, and to see the vitally important interconnection between these two areas.