A specialist on Latin America and frequent traveler to that part of the world,
Teresa Meade thought that she was well prepared for the crowds, the poverty and the high
level of religious devotion she would encounter on a recent trip to India. She was wrong.
“India was much more crowded, had much more religious devotion, and the poverty
was more extreme than I had seen in Latin America,” said the associate professor of
history, who traveled to India last month with Sharon Gmelch, professor of anthropology.
Meade and Gmelch visited the University of Mumbai in Bombay. They each gave several
lectures at the University and met with faculty and students formally and informally. At
Mumbai, they were joined by Jagdish Gajjar, profesor of electrical engineering/computer
science.
Even with their backgrounds in women's studies, both Gmelch and Meade said they
were surprised to find so many women in academia, especially the humanities and social
sciences. They discussed women's issues in India with many of the women they met, and
were interested to see the impact of the caste system.
“I teach a segment on India in my 'Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective'
class, but to be in India and have the opportunity to talk to people about these issues
was a great experience,” Gmelch said.
Similarly, Meade has already used slides she took in India in one of her classes to
illustrate the influences of Arab architecture in the East.
Gmelch and Meade said what struck them most about India was the distribution of wealth.
“You see desperate people juxtaposed with a posh hotel; a flourishing high-tech
industry juxtaposed with a camel cart. It is mind-boggling,” said Gmelch.
During their trip, Meade and Gmelch also visited with Union students on a term abroad
at the University of Mumbai.