Program Description

This ten-week University of Wisconsin-Madison program in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram in the state of Kerala immerses students in a variety of Indian performing arts: dance, drama, and vocal music, as well as Indian martial or meditation arts. Thiruvananthapuram (formerly Trivandrum) sits on the hills overlooking the Arabian Sea off the southwest coast of India. This lush region boasts inland waterways, groves of coconut, palms and coastal beaches. Thiruvananthapuram became a great center for arts and culture in the early 1800’s when King Marthanda Varma named it the capital of Travancore State.

Thiruvananthapuram continues to serve as a cultural center noted for its patronage of music and dance. With a population of approximately half a million people, the city features unique neighborhoods as well as museums, a zoo and aquarium, art galleries, and over twenty-five palaces. An array of temples, mosques, and churches reflect Kerala’s religious diversity. Some of the Brahman lineages in Kerala perform Vedic rituals that have disappeared in other parts of India. Kerala also has the highest literacy rates of any state in India.

Academics

Students enroll for three credits in Languages and Cultures of Asia 468 - Peoples and Cultures of South India. This course includes a mandatory basic “survival” Malayalam language component; participation in weekly seminars, field excursions, and performance demonstrations; and a final written examination.

Students also receive three or six credits in Theater and Drama 595 - Topics in Theater and Drama: Study Abroad. For these credits students choose one or two of the following fields of study:
• Kathakali - Kerala’s indigenous dance-drama enacting texts based on the epics Click here to see the video
• Mohiniattam - Kerala’s indigenous form of female “classical” dance Click here to see the video
• Bharata Natyam - Tamil Nadu’s form of “classical” dance Click here to see the video
• Kalarippayattu - Kerala’s indigenous form of martial art Click here to see the video
• Yoga
• South Indian (Karnatak) Vocal music Click here to see the video
• South Indian (Karnatak) Instrumental music (violin, drum, flute, etc.) Click here to see the video

To view Trissurpuram, Click here to see the video

A program coordinator and a local resident coordinator assist in administrative and academic aspects of the program as well as day-to-day concerns. The local resident coordinator helps to arrange appropriate group or private lessons in each field of study with master teachers from Thiruvananthapuram. At the end of the program, students conduct a final performance.

Housing

The program operates two program houses in Thiruvananthapuram where students are housed in double rooms. The larger of the two program houses serves as a meeting place for program lectures and contains a small resource library and a computer with internet access. Daily meals are also provided at the larger program house.

Excursions and Activities

There is a two-day mandatory orientation in Madison, Wisconsin in late May or early June, after which students travel to India. Several excursions are included in the program fee and the last week of the program is open for students to travel to other regions of India.