After-School Club: The Arts and Culture of India

Looking for a fun, engaging way to learn more about the arts and culture of India? This virtual after-school club will provide students ages 13–18 with an introduction to Indian culture. The club will cover the basics of the Hindi language and cultural activities aimed at introducing participants to the Indian subcontinent.

Throughout the seven weeks, students will meet weekly on Zoom to engage in interactive Hindi language lessons. Students will also engage in fun, hands-on activities exploring different topics related to Indian culture each week, such as geography, music, film, literature, arts, and environmental issues.

Ultimately, the goal of the club is to learn about the cultures of India in a way that sparks excitement and primes the student for further engagement with Indian cultures both professionally and socially. The instructors will connect the lessons from the club to larger themes that can be pursued by the participant through various courses of study in the future both independently, and formally.

The club does not require any prior knowledge of Hindi or India to participate.

Scholarships are available for this club. To apply, please email your name and school information to Jennifer Kapral, Director of Education and Outreach, at JKapral@asiasociety.org.

Club Dates

Thursdays, October 8 – November 19, 2020
Time: 4:30–6:00 p.m.

About the Instructor

Pranav Rao is a senior at the University of Houston with a background in Political Science, India Studies, and Hindi language. For the duration of the 2019–2020 academic year, he participated in a Boren Scholarship program that allowed him to study Hindi in India full-time. In addition to being able to live in India for an extended period of time and gain proficiency in Hindi language, Pranav also was able to take away some cultural observations in connection to language, religion, and society. He believes that being acquainted with the cultural aspects of India extends far past an area of cultural studies and can boost ones understanding in other subjects, such as political science and history. Coming off his Boren program and as a current intern at the Asia Society Texas Center, Pranav hopes to share some of the linguistic, and cultural knowledge he attained through that program in this course and prime participants for further engagement with Indian cultures, languages, and people, be it in their own communities or on a larger national or international scale.

Major support for Education & Outreach programs at Asia Society Texas Center comes from Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as The Brown Foundation, Inc., and The Houston Endowment. Additional funding also provided by the George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation, as well as through contributions from the Friends of Asia Society, a dedicated group of individuals committed to bringing exceptional programming and exhibitions to Asia Society Texas Center.

About Asia Society at Home

We are dedicated to continuing our mission of building cross-cultural understanding and uplifting human connectivity. Using digital tools, we bring you content for all ages and conversations that matter, in order to spark curiosity about Asia and to foster empathy.

About Asia Society Texas Center

With 13 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.