As part of an exciting degree programme in Social Sciences, a new fieldtrip has given second year students the opportunity to visit India and explore a rapidly changing middle income setting.
Led by Dr Amos Channon, an expert in population health, the BSc Population and Geography trip aims to give students a first-hand insight into some of the challenges that residents working and living in India face. They also gain insight into how to practically conduct different research methodologies to understand people’s stories.
This included visiting the Belaku Trust, a charity that set up the income-generation projects and a paper factory, which is part the project, to conduct qualitative interviews with women working there. Student Emma Nelson comments, “Their willingness to share information and the ease with which they talked about their lives with us was remarkable.”
Amos says, “The fieldtrip allowed the students to see with their own eyes many of the issues that have been discussed in the lectures, while showing them the realities of conducting research in a completely different setting and culture.”
Student Rhian Stephens also comments, “This trip has given depth to what we learn and a greater understanding that there is more to the world than what appears on paper.”
The fieldtrip relates to the module, Applied Population Research Methods, as well as seeing many of the issues that are discussed in modules first-hand.
To read more about the trip visit the PopGeoginBagalore blog: http://popgeoginbangalore.wordpress.com/