Page 15 - Southern Magazine-Winter/Spring 2013

winter-spring 2013 / 13
T he new “Service-Learning in Bylakuppe, India” course, taught by Assistant Professor of Religion
Dr. Mark McClish and Bunting Center Coordinator Jackie Saneholz-Walker, took BSC students across
the ocean to be immersed in the culture and history of the Tibetan community in exile. This
diasporic community of Tibetans was formed in India 50 years ago after many fled the Chinese
occupation of their homeland. Pictured in traditional Tibetan clothing are (front row, from left): Rachel Morgan,
Kelsie Overton, Katie Green, Shelby Kile, Ginny Nix, Sarah Gilkerson, and Saneholtz-Walker; (back row) Colin
Hills, Kemian Carson, McClish, and Joe Stanford. The group had just attended the weekly morning Satsang
ritual, during which the whole camp assembles to give offerings and pray in traditional clothes. The students got
to know many of the people in Bylakuppe and learn from their stories and experiences.