Primary Source, founded in 1989 by educators Anna Roelofs and Anne Watt, works in collaboration with K-12 teachers and schools to help students think critically, be culturally competent, and have a global mindset. The organization provides graduate courses on the history and culture of the United States and the world, as well as international study tours, to approximately 1800 public and independent school educators each year.

This year Primary source has worked extensively on the teaching of India, its history, heritage and its culture. ‘Says Roma Razdan Kelley, Grants Management and Public Outreach “India is an emerging economy and has become a vital player in global issues. We recognized this and have taken on studies of India with its rich and varied culture and heritage. To begin with, the institute hosted a dance program lasted month which will be followed by a one day workshop on April 7th on Art and Dance of India: Tradition and Creation. We hope the workshop helps educators understand the artistic forms of dance and what the visual arts reveal about the cultures and people of India.” Through performance, discussion, and participation, teachers will learn about several dance traditions and explore Indian visual arts, including sculpture, temple art, and film. Neelima Shukla-Bhatt will be leading the discussion along with Sumati Ram-Mohan who will discuss Classical Dance Styles and how they have changed.

Primary source offers programs that include graduate courses, workshops in various school districts and study tours in many parts of the world. They include Africa, Latin America, Asia, the US and the Middle East. Partnerships will local school districts allow many teachers in the area to take advantage of course offerings and curriculum resources say Roma Kelly. Based in Watertown, the center has an extensive library of books, curriculum units, maps videos and CD’s to enable teachers to enrich their knowledge and classroom teaching.

The India resource in a work in progress, admits Roma Kelly and the program is seeking funding as well as support in the coming months. “We hope to organize study tours to India in the future too” she says. Right now the focus is on materials, lesson plans and other resources to strengthen and develop the program.

To know more please click on http://www.primarysource.org/default.php

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