Boston College Board of Regents Presents Exploring India: Solar and Sanskrit Featuring Dean Gautam Yadama from the School of Social Work January, 2020 9 Days/ 8 nights Boston College Board of Regents Presents Exploring India: Solar and Sanskrit Featuring Dean Gautam Yadama from the School of Social Work January, 2020 9 Days/ 8 nights July 10, 2019 Ms. Joanne Goggins Office of the Board of Regents Strategic Engagement Officer, University Advancement Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 Dear Joanne, We are delighted to submit a proposal for the Board of Regent’s trip to India. There are five key reasons why we think ATA would be a strong strategic travel partner to further develop exciting travel opportunities for this engaged group of supporters. 1. The breadth and depth of our experience. We have been in business for 69 years, are passionate about educational travel, and serve a diverse set of audiences. We have a deep bench of experienced travel professionals, as well as a global reach of knowledgeable specialists in many professional fields and around the world. 2. Our focus on innovation, customization, and themes. Few, if any, of our peers have our unique ability to focus on specific educational themes, nor have the business model that permits the level of customization that ATA offers. 3. The stability of our leadership Kate Simpson, ATA’s President, Mark Lenhart, Director of CET Academic Programs (our study abroad division) and I bought Academic Travel Abroad after careers with the company of nearly 25 years each. Most other senior managers here have over a decade of experience. The longevity of our key personnel creates an unbeatable level of stability and trust. 4. Our expert crisis management and survival skills. We know that change is constant and risk is inevitable in our business. Therefore, we spend considerable resources protecting ourselves and our partners against risk whenever possible. We manage foreign currency carefully to protect our program prices, carry the highest level of insurance in our industry, and safeguard our stability through the on-going diversification of our portfolio. 5. Our longevity and sterling reputation. We have formed and maintained relationships with partners, colleagues, and competitors for decades. We value trust, honesty, and a spirit of partnership and collaboration that acknowledges and respects the needs of both parties. We are well suited and well-resourced to take on the role of Boston College’s partner in India for this trip, and feel confident that we would deliver a well- managed program. We look forward to discussing the proposal at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, Chase Poffenberger Executive Vice President and Co-Owner ndia is captivating and complex, a country where exquisite artistry and sumptuous palaces coexist with extreme poverty and a dearth of infrastructure, education, and Ilocal governance. Boston College has partnered with local scientists, sociologists, and entrepreneurs on promising initiatives in rural India, breathing life into a key principle of Jesuit education and the core mission of our School of Social Work: to address human suffering and improve the human condition. We invite you to join Dean Gautam N. Yadama as we explore these different dimensions of India through the lens of Boston College’s work in the country. Along with visits to spectacular royal sites and historic cities from Udaipur to Jaisalmer, we will spend time in rural communities where Boston College School of Social Work is lending support and expertise to help local people harness resources, improve their environment, and expand opportunity in a sustainable way. Understanding the plight of the rural Indian through firsthand experience allows us a more spiritual connection with our fellow humans, and an acknowledgement of the interconnectedness of the world. Our travels take us from Mumbai to Udaipur and on to the desert cities of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. Along the way, we’ll visit our partners at Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) and take a field trip to a community near Udaipur where IIT-B works with local women to develop renewable solar energy solutions. Another excursion will take us to a village where the Foundation for Ecological Security and Dean Yadama are working with rural communities to revitalize public lands, rehabilitate ecosystems, and impart technical skills to local people. Highlights • Explore four of India’s fabled cities: the colorful metropolis of Mumbai; Udaipur, the city of lakes and palaces; Jodhpur and its famed Blue City; and the sandstone wonder of Jaisalmer. • Meet with local women near Udaipur who are developing solar technologies to bring renewable electricity to impoverished communities. • Take a field trip to a village where the Foundation for Ecological Security and Boston College School of Social Work have collaborated to rehabilitate the environment, teach rural communities new skills, and improve livelihoods. • Enjoy three unforgettable dinners, featuring traditional entertainment, local hospitality, and regional specialties; and dine with special guests at many of your meals. • Look for rare wildlife on a guided visit to Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, and visit the nearby Ranakpur Temple, a masterpiece of Jain architecture. [email protected] | 800.556.7869 | academic-travel.com Boston College Board of Regents Itinerary Day 1: Mumbai, India Arrive in Mumbai in the evening on independent flights, and transfer to your hotel. The Taj Mahal Palace or Trident Nariman Point Day 2: Mumbai A capital of commerce with a strong spiritual undercurrent, Mumbai is a bustling island city on India’s western coast. Spend today getting to know this city, known as Bombay during the British colonial era. Visit the Gateway to India, built at the water’s edge in 1924 to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary—and the spot from which the last British colonists departed in 1947. Continue to Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount, also known as Mount Mary Church, a pilgrimage site that began as a Jesuit chapel in the 17th century. At Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, a train station formerly known as Victoria Terminus, admire the UNESCO World Heritage-designated Victorian Gothic architecture. Next, meet with faculty and staff at the National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) and learn about new developments in the research and development of solar cells, photovoltaic batteries, and energy storage. Tonight, several IIT-Bombay faculty members join us for a welcome dinner. The Taj Mahal Palace or Trident Nariman Point (B,D) Day 5: Udaipur/Field Site Visit: Foundation for Ecological Security and Boston College Head into the countryside to visit a rural community where the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) has worked with Boston College School of Social Work to improve land stewardship and alleviate property. Established in 2001, FES aims to reduce rural poverty and revitalize India’s common lands, which have been exploited by corporations and local government corruption. After building the trust of skeptical community members over many years, FES now empowers villagers to secure rights to land, protect their Day 3: Udaipur natural resources, and improve water management and Take a short (roughly 1.5-hour) flight to Udaipur this soil quality—reducing poverty and bringing ecosystems morning and set out on a field trip to Dungarpur to back to life in more than 6,000 villages across India. visit DURGA Renewable Energy Technologies, a solar Dean Yadama and Boston College have collaborated device manufacturing company owned and operated by with FES to share Community Based System Dynamics women from the local tribal community. Boston College expertise, and the Packard Foundation, the Omidyar School of Social Work has teamed up with IIT-Bombay to Network, and others support the work of FES. Meet support this initiative, wh`ich addresses a fundamental community members, visit project sites, and discuss need—electricity—in a sustainable, renewable, and the effects of these interventions on ecosystems and socially conscious way. Working with technology poverty in rural Rajasthan. Enjoy at evening at leisure to provided by IIT-Bombay, the women of Durga produce explore Udaipur. solar-powered lamps, solar panels, and street lights. In the process, they have gained technical, business, and RAAS Devigarh or Trident Udaipur (B,L) professional skills—and their community has benefitted from a renewable energy source that improves safety, health, and quality of life, and the educational prospects of its schoolchildren who previously studied by candlelight. Return to Udaipur for an evening at leisure. RAAS Devigarh or Trident Udaipur (B,L) Day 4: Udaipur Enjoy a full day to discover the serene beauty of Udaipur, a city of palaces and temples situated amid four tranquil lakes. Tour the majestic Udaipur City Palace, which was built on the edge of Lake PIchola over a period of 400 years. See the elaborate carvings and architecture of the Day 6: Kumbhalgarh Wildlife 17th-century Jagdish Temple, and delve into the narrow Sanctuary/Jodhpur lanes of Udaipur’s Old City to find temples, traditional Journey north for a four-hour drive by private havelis, ghats (steps leading to the waterfront), and step coach toward Jodhpur today, stopping for a safari in wells. Tonight, sit down to a specially arranged dinner: Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary. Here, in the shadow those staying at the Devigarh will enjoy an excellent of the hilltop Kumbhalgarh Fort, join a guide to search meal on a private rooftop balcony. Guests at the Trident for a wide variety of creatures, including wolves, jackals, will dine at the Jag Mandir, a palace situated on an island elusive sloth bears, rare birdlife, and numerous unusual in Lake Pichola. antelope species. Continue to Ranakpur Temple, a 15th-century Jain temple that showcases the exquisite RAAS Devigarh or Trident Udaipur (B,D) carving and craftsmanship of this Hindu sect.