India Winterim
The International Perspectives study-abroad course aims to increase students’ sensitivity to and awareness of global water issues and to enhance their understanding of international processes and decision-making in water management.
International Perspectives, currently titled Water Poverty in Rural India, is designed and taught by IIHR faculty and staff and offered under the auspices of the University of Iowa International Programs Winterim Study Abroad program. The course takes students to India’s Mewat — an underdeveloped area where securing freshwater for drinking and cooking is a daily hardship. UI Students work with local students and Mewat villagers on projects to provide low-cost solutions to enhance the meager freshwater supplies and to raise awareness of the alarming rates of freshwater depletion. Each participant engages with a real-life project based on his or her background and skills. The interdisciplinary nature of the course enables students to benefit from the exchange of ideas and learn to adapt, adjust, and work with one another.
Course History
In 1997, Professor V.C. Patel (then-director of IIHR) initiated a short course to prepare water engineers for a global future: International Perspective in Water Resources Science and Management. During its first 12 years, the course engaged more than 230 students in unique study-abroad trips to countries all over the world. At that time, the course was an innovation in the engineering curriculum that enabled participants to study the effects of major water resources projects on society and the environment through short (2–3 weeks), intensive international trips. Each new course offering took the students to a new country to expose them to the multi-faceted issues surrounding the management of water resources.
