“I think I’ve learned a lot about myself and my behavior—how I tend to act and react in situations. I’ve also become more assertive, courageous, and confident through this experience.”
Pune, India
Summer in India






- ABOUT
- ACADEMICS
- EXCURSIONS
- DAY-TO-DAY-EXPERIENCE
- DATES AND FEES
About Summer in India

Study the largest democracy in the world as you live and learn in Pune, a thriving city where you’ll find the combination of the spiritual and entrepreneurial fascinating. With opportunities to study public health, economics, gender studies, and more, you’ll find Pune the perfect backdrop for your academic endeavors. At the end of four or eight weeks of exploration with your IFSA cohort, you can let your new knowledge of India’s distinct and varied cultures shine in your future endeavors.
During your Summer in India, customize your study abroad experience by taking a single class during the four-week Session 1 or take a single class during the four-week Session 2. You can also extend your studies by enrolling in both Session 1 and Session 2. Combine study with an internship by enrolling in Summer in India Session 1 followed by the eight-week Summer Internship in India program.
Please note that Summer in India replaces our Summer in Pune summer program.
Academics at Summer in India
During your Summer in India, customize your study abroad experience by taking a single class during the four-week Session 1 or take a single class during the four-week Session 2. You can also extend your studies by enrolling in both Session 1 and Session 2. Combine study with an internship by enrolling in Summer in India Session 1 followed by the eight-week Summer Internship in India program.
SESSION 1 CLASSES
Contemporary India
This class introduces the society, culture, and politics of post-independence India as a complex yet unified multicultural democracy and rising global superpower. Topics include colonialism and nationalism; Gandhi and social activism in the 1960s; gender and caste; 20th century literary, religious, and philosophical movements; scientific and technological advances; and poverty and economic challenges. Students will develop an understanding of India’s diversity and contextualize current issues in India that they experience during their stay, through interactions with locals and personal observations. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)
Public Health
India faces unique and daunting challenges in the areas of public health, battling malnutrition, infectious disease, and high infant mortality. This class takes a multidisciplinary approach to public health in India, incorporating policy development, gender issues, social justice, health economics, epidemiology, behavioral sciences, and health services management. Students will interrogate how social, political, and economic factors facilitate or mitigate the production and transmission of disease and will evaluate ethical and practical consequences of policy and scientific initiatives. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)
SESSION 2 CLASSES
Gender and Indian Media
From Hindu mythology to the pages of Bollywood gossip magazines, Indian womanhood has been a constantly evolving site for the mapping of cultural norms, desires, and anxieties. The simultaneous exaltation and oppression of femininity is both reinforced and contested in the mass media – a key tool of communication in a diverse and complex democracy. Through critical exploration of gender in Indian film, theatre, television, and advertising, this class addresses timely and relevant questions relating to women’s issues in contemporary India. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)
Development Economics
The Indian economy serves as a complex, fascinating example of high technology, expanding trade, vibrant entrepreneurship, and a highly skilled workforce, co-existing in sometimes tenuous balance with widespread poverty, social inequality, and critical gaps in health care, education, and infrastructure. This class explores how India is seeking to address and reconcile these disparities, focusing on technological change, political economy, trade, social entrepreneurship and microfinance, and international aid as they are managed and applied within contemporary India. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)
After you return to the U.S., IFSA will send an official Butler University transcript to your home university with your coursework converted to the U.S. credit system. You will also have access to an unofficial transcript in your IFSA Student Portal. The transcript reflects courses taken, credits attempted, and grades earned during your term abroad. This service is included in your study abroad program at no additional cost.
Excursions

- Saras Baug: Visit this garden which features a Lord Ganesh temple in its lake. It is cultural practice to pray to Lord Ganesh as he is the god that removes obstacles.
- Food and Markets: Explore the octagonal shaped Mandai market with more than 500 fruit and vegetable stalls, Dorabjee’s self-serve supermarket dating back over 100 years, or the uniquely Indian very first fast-food restaurant in Pune.
- Copper Workshop: Visit Tambat Ali, a famous community of copper artisans, and learn how they are continuing traditional techniques while embracing modern design aesthetics and sustainable business models.
- Palkhi Pilgrimage: Each year, from every corner of Maharashtra, thousands of devotees to Lord Vishnu make the long walk to Pandharpur on the Deccan Plateau. The pilgrimage passes through Pune and the city streets come alive with exuberant devotional songs. Watching this procession is in itself a tremendous experience.
- Velhe Day Trip: Travel to the nearby village of Velhe to experience life in India. You will visit the Primary Health Care Center, interact with women and girls’ empowerment projects, lend a hand with agricultural initiatives at the local technical school, and learn about the traditional craft of making musical drums.
- Sinhagad Day Trip: Enjoy a morning trek to the ruins of an ancient fortress in the Sahyadri Mountains overlooking Pune. Literally “lion fort,” this historic hilltop features a memorial to 17th-century Maratha emperors and a temple to the goddess Kali.
Day-To-Day Experience
Dates and Fees









Meet Your Program Advisor

What Our Students Say

Taruni Donti
Student, India
Unpacked: Student Stories
Contact the IFSA Office at 800.858.0229 or 317.940.9336 Ask for a Health and Safety team member.
Contact the Butler University Police Department at 317.940.9999 The officer on duty will contact the appropriate IFSA personnel.