On January 11, 2023 Dr. Sanjeev P. Sahni, Advisor to the Vice Chancellor and Professor of Eminence along with Mr. Akhil Bhardwaj, Additional Director, Office of International Affairs and Global Initiatives from O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonepat, Haryana, India visited the SASI offices. Mr. Walter Foreman, UFV’s Associate Director, International was kind enough to include a visit to SASI for the two guests along with Dr. Chris Schinckus, Dean of Business and Computing Science.
Discussions ensued about internationalization efforts of both Universities and the opportunities India presents for faculty exchanges, student mobility, dual degrees and twinning of academic programs. JGU has emerged as India’s No. 1 Private University for the third year in a row according to QS World University rankings 2023. It offers a wide range of undergraduate and post graduate programs and the ability to create opportunities for accreditation were discussed with UFV.
SASI’s Director is currently engaged with JGU’s Associate Professor Dr. Christine Moliner who is an anthropologist specializing in the Sikh Diaspora, currently teaching at Jindal University (Haryana), where she co-founded the Center for Migration & Mobility Studies (CMMS). The CMMS is organising its 1st online Winter School on international migration starting this month (January 2023) in which SASI is a contributing partner. Secondly, Dr. Moliner hopes to visit SASI in the summer of 2023. She has conducted fieldwork on various aspects of the kisan andolan (particularly its religious and transnational dimensions) both at the Delhi border sites and in Punjab and would like to further explore, publish and share her insights about this major social movement.