IHP director tells of travels

In celebration of Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, Fran O'Neal, director of the International Honors Program and assistant director of the University Honors Program, told Monday of her trip to India between January and May.

O'Neal and her family were chosen to travel through the Fulbright scholarship program, operating in 155 countries.

Having traveled to 20 different countries, this is the second time O'Neal has traveled with the Fulbright scholars program. She chose Gandhi's birthday to deliver her "Passage to India" presentation, which featured pictures and stories from her trip.

"I chose this title, based on E.M. Forester, because it was a passage to a different world into my past and to my future. It is an overwhelmingly visual and sensual place to be," O'Neal said.

O'Neal taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

O'Neal said the college campus is a "campus with a culture of protest."

The student body, composed of 7,000 graduate students, is mainly "leftist and anti-globalization."

Since the 1990s, India's ties with America have become close, yet unstable.

Photographs of students political posters depict images of an American man in a patriotic hat breaking a piggy bank with an axe. Only the piggy bank is the world, leaving the idea that Americans will break the world for money, O'Neal said.

While India is the world's largest democracy, it is also fragmented, she said.

"If you've heard the United States is a melting pot, it is just a shadow of India," O'Neal said. "However, this diversity leads to divide."

Prayer flags - meant to flap in the wind and release the prayers which are inscribed on the fabric - prayer wheels and wheels of life all symbolize India's deep religious culture, she said.

O'Neal said the number of churches in America is much less than the number of temples in India.

Unfortunately, instead of always providing a place of peace, religious disagreement is what has driven conflict and plays into the caste, class and geographical distance between the citizens of India, O'Neal said.

"India's diversity is a source of pride and strength, but is also a source of conflict," O'Neal said.

While India's caste system is illegal and the constitution holds every citizen to have the same rights, this divide can still be seen in modern culture, she said. O'Neal said workforce violence and judicial equality are affected by the caste system.

Not only does India have problems with violence inside the country, but externally as well. O'Neal said the United States is lucky to be between Canada and Mexico.

India neighbors Pakistan, which instills a strong fear of Bangladesh terrorism in the people of the region, O'Neal said.

O'Neal and her family arrived a few days before National Day, an Indian celebration. She and her family were warned not to go out that day due to a terrorist plot.

O'Neal said she wants to travel to China with her third Fulbright scholarship. She said she hopes to find experience through travel, but also to bring back knowledge and understanding to find ways towards peace and nonviolence.