History Study Abroad Programs in India

Going to Bengaluru was an amazing time. I truly enjoyed the classes, the campus, and all of the inclusive cultural immersion that was included in my program. My program director was a great help at all times, and I truly consider him a great friend now. I wish I could have done an entire semester instead of just the summer program. It was a wonderful trip but it really felt too short!

Ashoka University has been an amazing place to learn and grow. As an International Relations student, I enjoyed interesting classes, learned from inspiring professors, and met people from different backgrounds. The experiences, friendships, and opportunities I found here have helped me grow both personally and academically, and I will always value my time at Ashoka.

Ashoka University has been an amazing place to learn and grow. As an International Relations student, I enjoyed interesting classes, learned from inspiring professors, and met people from different backgrounds. The experiences, friendships, and opportunities I found here have helped me grow both personally and academically, and I will always value my time at Ashoka.

I graduated from high school a semester early, and the only way I wanted to spend my semester was by being abroad. I've known about Semester at Sea for around 6 years and I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. I searched up the requirements to be accepted and luckily fit all the requirements most importantly being 18, so immediately I applied. I then got an email back the next morning saying I got accepted into the program and that email brought me to tears in the middle of one of my classes. I couldn't wait to board the MV World Odyssey and embark on this journey of a lifetime. On the ship, I gained so much knowledge about different cultures and I was able to be fully immersed in them, not just sticking to the touristy things offered. Semester at Sea does an amazing job keeping the students' safety in country as a priority with having mandatory “Pre-Port meetings” the night before arriving in a country, and offering field programs which are ship run excursions with ship faculty leading them. The community on the ship was nothing I have ever experienced before. We were so close knit and it felt like I was truly in a connected, caring, and welcoming environment. I met the people I never imagined I'd connect with, and they ended up becoming the best connections I've ever made with people. Semester at Sea also helped me get out of my comfort zone which led me to have experiences I would have never imagined I'd have, best example being running a half marathon in Vigo, Spain even though I'm not a runner and have never been a runner. Semester at Sea has given me the world and the opportunity to appreciate it to its fullest. I left the ship with my passport full, but my heart is even fuller with people, memories, and connections I will forever cherish. Semester at Sea was truly the best experience I have ever had and would recommend it to anyone as it was life changing.

My time at Ashoka University exposed me to diverse perspectives and broadened the way I think. The flexibility to choose courses across disciplines, combined with exceptional faculty, encouraged me to explore interests beyond my primary field of study and develop a wide range of skills. Beyond academics, campus life is vibrant and engaging. The student body and administration organize events almost every weekend, creating a lively and welcoming community. The campus also places a strong emphasis on safety, ensuring a secure environment for students. I would highly recommend Ashoka University to anyone looking for a world-class academic experience while immersing themselves in a vibrant and unique cultural environment.

Ashoka University has provided me with a stimulating academic environment and valuable learning opportunities. I appreciate the diverse community, diverse choice of courses and faculties available and the opportunity to participate in an international exchange programme. Overall, it has been a meaningful experience.

What I like most about Ashoka is the balance between academics and campus life. The university encourages you to think critically, explore new interests, and engage with people from diverse backgrounds. The professors are accessible, and there are many opportunities to gain practical experience through internships, research, and extracurricular activities. Overall, it's been a very enriching experience.

Ashoka University is a great place to come for a semester abroad. It offers a unique liberal arts education that encourages interdisciplinary learning, critical thinking, and close interaction with faculty. Beyond academics, its vibrant campus life, student-led clubs, and diverse community make it an enriching place to experience Indian culture while building lifelong friendships.

Ashoka University is a great choice for a semester abroad. The huge range of interdisciplinary courses makes it easy to try subjects outside your main field, which keeps academics interesting. Campus life is just as exciting, with guest speakers, cultural events, club activities, and something happening almost every day, so there's never a dull moment. The community is also one of the best parts—everyone is friendly, welcoming, and open to meeting new people. Overall, Ashoka offers a fun, engaging, and well-rounded experience that makes a semester abroad both memorable and rewarding.

I'm so glad I went to Nepal for my study abroad semester. As an international studies major with a focus in religious studies, it was a great place to combine these two interests. I learned a lot about the geopolitics of the region and the fascinating religious landscape there. The highlight of the program was our excursion to Upper Mustang. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been and I had the opportunity to engage with women in several different villages, talking to them about their experiences with Buddhism. I don't think I'll ever have an experience like that again. It was also lovely to live with my host family and meet local students! They were all some of the kindest people I've met. I am also grateful for the opportunity I had in the final month of the program to intern/volunteer with a women's organization in Kathmandu. I received a warm welcome, learned about the experiences of women in Nepal, and got to know some amazing women who have been working to support women and their rights for decades. The semester was definitely not without its challenges (it's difficult to be in a place where you're clearly an outsider for so long, and I had my fair share of the classic stomach issues), but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

One of the most underrated aspect of semester at sea is the ship campus itself. Being able to live so close to your friends and just walking a few flight of stairs to your classroom and being able to sit down with your professors for lunch is such an amazing experience. It's eternal sunsets, it's endless travel stories from your friends, it's lifetime of memories. Highly recommend. One of the best decisions I made. And still day dream about this experience, still talk and travel to meet my SAS friends 4 years later.

I have not experienced anything like semester at sea before, therefore giving me a whole lot of different lenses to look at the world with. I completely enjoyed my experience and understand the importance of understanding others concerns, communication, communities, and countries. A overall wonderful experience that has changed my views as well as the way I live and who I am as a person.

The student life at Ashoka alongside the curriculum which is in line with the latest happenings in the world makes it a standout institution in India. There are so many collaborative research opportunities that one will find themselves in. It's a vibrant community for a summer programme.

It was such an incredible opportunity to study at Ashoka. The faculty at Ashoka University is incredible and helpful. They're very approachable and help you navigate the academics. If you're thinking of doing a semester abroad, I'd say just go for it and apply to Ashoka University and make India your study abroad destination.

I had an amazing time during my semester at Ashoka. I was able to take very different courses from different disciplines and further explore my interests. The classes were also unique and interactive with a focus on critical thinking. Campus events are truly an experience, along with plenty of sports activities available to participate in. The top-notch infrastructure and residential campus meant that I didn't have to worry about accommodation at all. I am grateful to have had the chance to experience this and visit India. 10/10, would recommend.

Incredible faculty, facilities, and exposure. Truly a dream come true. People from all backgrounds, I got the chance to interact with. Incredible place, would suggest all! No regrets. Food was incredible too. The office of global affairs was great as well!

I recently completed the SIT Nepal: Tibetan and Himalayan Peoples program and am so grateful for the experience, connections made, and time spent in Nepal. While there were so many highlights to my experience with SIT in Nepal, among my favorite memories/takeaways were my homestay (whom I am still in contact with), fabulous and welcoming Tibetan gen-las (teachers), and excursions to Dharamsala, India and Manang. Throughout this program I felt the SIT staff encouraged me to challenge myself but were also incredible resources for my overall well-being. I felt especially supported by SIT as I embarked on my ISP where I spent 19 days in the Solukhumbu (Everest) region conducting ethnographic research on the Sherpa population. I am so grateful for this truly once-in-a-lifetime experience and know it will shape the remainder of my life. I cannot recommend this program enough and look forward to remaining connected with friends/teachers from the program for years to come.

All the courses and classes are different from usual classes here. Its interractive, interesting and each class feels like something new. The campus is a safe place to express yourself safely and there is help available everywhere for everything. Students are really helpful and I did not have a hard time settling down even a bit. The office assists in everythinga nd solves all problems for us. There is always something new happening on campus- clubs, society events, fests concerts and talks. It is an all round experience which I 100 percent reccommend to everyone qho is condsidering.

I just studied abroad with SAS in spring of 2025. To say this experience changed my life would be an understatement. I cannot recommend this enough. The learning opportunities are amazing, the staff and faculty do everything they can to make this your home away from home, and the traveling experiences are ONCE IN A LIFETIME!

Study Abroad Report In general, I can recommend contacting your university or faculty early on about a semester abroad. I had already spoken to the RUB's Student Advisory Service and International Office in spring 2023 about spending a semester abroad in India. They weren't able to help me much, but in the end, a professor of mine helped me. He put me in touch with a professor friend at Ashoka University. This wouldn't have been necessary, but since Ashoka University is very new, I wouldn't have applied there without the contact and the experience. I also applied to IIT Delhi, but they didn't seem particularly interested in international students. In addition, I believe there were other reasons that spoke against IIT Delhi. Since I had serious reservations about both universities, I flew to Delhi in March 2024 and visited both Ashoka University and IIT Delhi. I then applied to Ashoka University as a visiting student. My visa application was very complex, and I think it can be helpful to re-register within Germany to apply for the visa at a different consulate. Theoretically, the process should be the same for all consulates, but this doesn't match the consulates' own statements and my experience. In general, the earlier you apply, the better. However, there are absolutely no guarantees, and it's entirely possible that you won't be allowed to enter or leave the country in time. With a tourist visa, however, you can enter the country very easily and, in my experience, get a visa quickly. Since I paid all the fees within one calendar year, which amounted to over €10,000 within one calendar year, I had to report this payment to the Deutsche Bundesbank. I only had to call once. It was very easy. I completed three modules in the monsoon semester: In the Probabilities and Statistics module, I attended slightly less than half of the lectures and discussion sessions, which definitely put me among the more engaged students. My impression is that at Ashoka University, few students generally voluntarily attend classes that start before 10:10 a.m., as was usually the case with the Probabilities and Statistics lectures. Nevertheless, I was shocked at how many mistakes most students made and how easy it was to pass with just a little work. In the Introduction to Comparative Politics module, I was taught the basics of comparative politics. It essentially focuses on how different forms of government (e.g., autocracy/democracy) and their resulting consequences for the population interact. The Introduction to Political Theory lecture focused on selected influential theories in political theory, with the topics of state theory, Marxism, feminism, and racism taking up the most space. Since there were only about 40 students in the lecture, there were many lively discussions, which I enjoyed. The people also came from extremely different countries and backgrounds, which I think enriched the discussion. In the spring semester, it was significantly more difficult to find suitable courses. As a result, I only took the Nature and Nation and Social and Political Thought in Modern South Asia courses. In the Nature and Nation course, almost all of the work involved reading texts and writing essays. I found it striking that, compared to my experience at Ruhr University, neither the lecturers nor the students adhered to deadlines. Since I had already attended school in Amritsar Punjab for a year during my high school years, many things that are different in India already seemed familiar to me. I lived on campus, and all students shared rooms. The dorms are segregated by gender. However, members of the opposite sex are allowed to enter the dorms until 1:30 a.m. after registering. I rarely left campus during the semester. Most students who didn't have family in the area did the same. While there was a kitchen and two refrigerators, which I shared with 25 people, for these reasons, among others, it made more sense to eat three meals a day in the cafeteria. While the food there was cheaper than in Germany, there was also much less choice and very often the same food. I ate mostly bread, rice, cucumbers, and carrots. There are very few proper supermarkets, but food delivery services are much more common and cheaper than in Germany. In general, I I didn't spend much money during that time, spending about €250 a month on food, drink, and accommodation. It was also difficult to spend much more than that, as shopping and going out involved considerable effort. Since not many houses have been built yet in the new development where the university is located, there aren't as fast delivery services as is usual in India. Tuition fees for six months of lectures were approximately €13,000. That's a lot in the Indian context. However, considering that many professors hold degrees from Ivy League colleges or German universities, it's relatively inexpensive. One should be aware that an extremely high number of people are emigrating or have emigrated from some parts of India, and the other people there are also very likely to be directly or indirectly dependent on remittances. This is especially true in the big cities, but also throughout Punjab and Kerala. For many of my fellow students, in particular, it was a conscious decision not to emigrate. What I personally find very impressive is the speed with which India is changing. I can only really speak for the last five years, but based on reports from my host father, I assume it's been this way for about 20 years. Even though I don't have the impression that most people are earning more for their work or that there are fewer poor people, it is striking how quickly the big cities are growing, how much more crowded and larger the streets and trains are, and how much higher the quality of life is in the centers of the big cities. What I personally found challenging was that many of the students came from wealthy families. They generally also expected that they could still achieve a good degree with very little effort. Organizing the stay abroad was very exhausting, and I also believe that I wouldn't have been sick as often in Germany during the same amount of time. Nevertheless, I believe the stay was worthwhile. There are simply so many people living in northern India and Bangladesh that the experience can be profitably applied in so many places. I also believe there are very few places where you can learn so easily in an interdisciplinary way.