/College of Arts & Sciences
Mattoo Center for India Studies

Outreach

In addition to teaching and research, a major thrust of the Center is Outreach. The Center conducts educational programs on India at the invitation of educational, cultural, and civic institutions, a selection of which is given below. The host institutions include colleges and universities, schools and school districts, museums and public libraries, ethnic cultural organizations, multi-faith centers, business and civic groups. The Center also has an “In-Reach” program, which assists campus in their India-related initiatives. We also teach non-credit courses open to the public on campus. 

The Center provides an extensive range of services tailored to specific needs of institutions all over the New York metropolitan area and the United States. These services include, for example, language proficiency testing and placement for South Asian immigrant children in the region’s school districts; referrals to South Asian language interpreters for county and state government agencies, such as law courts, school boards, and social service agencies; referral of India experts for the media; briefing sessions for state and federal policy makers on India-related legislation and for candidates to state and national office; and assisting individuals with their informational needs about India.

On-Campus Programs

In order to create a better awareness of the historical and contemporary significance of India in world affairs, the Center works closely with many academic and student services units on campus to promote India-related initiatives. This cooperation ranges from co-sponsorship (including financial assistance) assistance in planning and program design, identifying resource persons, and providing publicity.

 

Non-Credit Courses for the Community

  • Past Years: Appreciating Indian Classical Music 
  • Wellness: Best of East & West 
  • Discovering India: a Children’s Odyssey 
  • Beginning Sanskrit

 

On-Campus Partnerships

The Mattoo Center has co-sponsored programs, activities, and events with the following departments.

  • Center for Excellence & Innovation in Education 
  • Charles B. Wang Center 
  • Club India (Undergraduate Student Organization)
  • Club OM 
  • Dean of Students Affairs 
  • Department of Africana Studies
  • Department of Anthropology
  • Department of Asian & Asian American Studies 
  • Department of Comparative Studies
  • Department of English 
  • Department of Economics 
  • Department of Linguistics
  • Department of Music
  • Department of Theater Arts
  • Department of Women’s Studies
  • Graduate School
    Humanities Institute
  • Hillel Foundation for Jewish Life
  • Indian Catholic Students Organization
  • Indian Graduate Students’ Organization
  • Interfaith Center
  • Office of International Academic Programs
  • Office of the Provost
  • Office of the President
  • South Asian Students Association (SASA)
  • Staller Center for Performing Arts
  • Technology Incubator
  • University Art Gallery
  • University Counseling Center
  • Project SAATHI: A web-based service to assist incoming students from India

 

Featured Past Event

Here is an example of the events The Mattoo Center hosts on campus. Click here to view photos from the event.

2012: An Interactive Conversation on Kannada Culture

Group of people sitting at a table
Kannada Culture Event flyer

 

Off-Campus Programs

  • American Institute of Indian Studies, New Delhi 
  • City University of New York Graduate Center 
  • Columbia University Center for Bioethics
  • Columbia University Teachers College 
  • Florida International University, Miami 
  • Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 
  • Hofstra University, Long Island
  • Hunter College, New York 
  • Kingsboro Community College, Brooklyn 
  • Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles 
  • Molloy College, Rockville Center
  • Nassau Community College
  • New Horizon Educational Institution, Bangalore 
  • New York University, New York 
  • Queens College, New York
  • Rutgers University, New Jersey
  • Suffolk Community College 
  • Surana College, Bangalore 
  • Tuoro Law College, Huntington
  • University of Georgia at Athens
  • University of Houston, Houston, 
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 
  • University of Pennsylvania 
  • Yale University

  • American Institute of Indian Studies, Chicago and Delhi
  • American Library Association Annual Convention, New Orleans
  • American Museum of Natural History, New York
  • ENCARTA Dictionary and CD ROM (Bloomsbury, London and Microsoft)
  • New Horizon Educational Institution, Bangalore
  • Queens Historical Society, Queens
  • Shastri Institute of Indo-Canadian Studies, Vancouver, B.C.
  • South Asia Forum of Southern California, Los Angeles
  • World Millennium Kannada Conference, Houston

 

Black and white photo of people sitting at a conference table

“An Afternoon of Indian Culture” Malloy College, Rockville Center, October 15, 2004 
Talks on India’s contribution to World Culture by KKS, Classical and folk dance performances by Stony Brook students, Mehendi paintings, calligraphy and scripts of regional languages and Indian cuisine. Over 100 persons, including faculty, students, and general public attended.

  • Arya Samaj, Queens

  • Asian American Higher Education Council (CUNY), New York

  • Association of Indians in America

  • Auburn Theological Seminary, Manhattan

  • Bhoomika (Kannada Literary and Theatre group), Maryland

  • Brookhaven National Laboratory India Association

  • Brooklyn Hospital, Brooklyn

  • City Hall, New York 

  • Girl Scouts of Nassau County, Inc. 

  • Indian American Intellectual Forum

  • India Association of Long Island

  • India Society at Stony Brook

  • Interfaith Center, New York, Manhattan and Chappaqua

  • Kannada Koota, New York, Inc.

  • Long Island Museum of Art, Stony Brook

  • NET-IP (Network of Indian Professionals

  • New Community Cinema, Huntington

  • Port Jefferson Documentary Series, 2010 

  • Newsday Community Forum

  • RBC Radio Talk Series (10 weeks)

  • Rotary Club of Babylon: ""Why Americans need to know about India" a talk by Prof. Sridhar

Three people smiling at the camera

(Photo: October 17, 2012. L to R:  Club President Kathy Moor, Dr Krishna Gujavarty, and Prof. S.N. Sridhar) 

  • Shanti Fund, Long Island
  • Stony Brook Hadassah Unitarian Church, Stony Brook 
  • Town of Huntington, Cultural Diversity Day 
  • Westchester County India Day Celebration 
  • Town of Hempstead, India Republic Day Celebration

Old black and white photo of people standing in a line

A number of slide and lecture presentations on topics such as, “India’s Contribution to World Civilization,” “Indian Children in American Schools,” “Teaching India in Public Schools,” “Sanskrit,” “India’s Pioneering Research on Language and Linguistics,” “Indian Languages in the U.S.,” “Science in India” and others have been given at numerous public libraries all over the New York metropolitan area, including, to name a few:

  • New York City Public Library (Branches in Queens, Brooklyn)
  • Emma Clark Library, Setauket
  • Queensborough Public Library
  • Peninsula Public Library
  • Hewlitt Woodmere Public Library
  • Shoreham/Wading River Library 

Workshops for teachers, teacher trainers, and administrators on the Language and Cultural Background of South Asian children.

  • Nassau BOCES (about 30 projects)
  • Suffolk BOCES
  • New York City Board of Education
  • New York State TESOL Convention 
  • Cedarhurst School District 
  • East Northport School District

Group of kids making funny faces in a classroom

  • Farmingville School District
  • Herrick School District
  • Hicksville Public Schools
  • Levitttown School District 
  • Long Beach School District 
  • Manhasset Junior High School 
  • Merrick School District 
  • Minneola Middle School 
  • Patchogue School District 
  • Port Jefferson School District 
  • Ridge School District 
  • Ross School, East Hampton, NY 
  • Riverhead School District 
  • Sachem School District 
  • Sea Cliff School District 
  • Searington School District 
  • Shoreham-Wading River School District 
  • Three Village School District 
  • Valley Stream School District
  • Ward Melville High School
  • West Islip School District 
  • Wyandanch School District

Black and white photo of kids standing in front of a sign that says "Center for India Studies"

The Center faculty assist schools and school districts in evaluating the language proficiency of incoming immigrant children from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Guyana, Trinidad, Fiji, and other countries, to ensure proper placement in schools. 

  • Cedarhurst School District
  • Brooklyn School District
  • Hewlitt School District
  • Herricks High School, New Hyde Park
  • Levittown School District
  • Long Beach School District
  • Patchogue School District
  • Port Jefferson School District
  • Royal Society of Arts, Cambridge Certificate Course in TEFL, Manhattan
  • Ridge School District
  • Riverhead School District
  • Sea cliff School District
  • Searingtown School District
  • Shoreham-Wading River School District
  • Suffolk County Community College, Selden
  • Supreme Evaluations, Inc., Brooklyn
  • Three Village School District
  • Ward Melville High School
  • West Islip School District
  • WordNet, Boston
  • Wyandanch School District

The Center faculty members have also administered Foreign Language Proficiency Tests in Hindi,Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada to hundreds of Stony Brook students, graduate and undergraduate.

Symposium on Doing business with India, co-sponsored with Long Island Import Export Council and the Consulate of India, New York Tech India Expo on Business Liaisons with India, co-sponsored with Long Island ListNet.

Large group of people at a conference table

The Center frequently assists from law courts and other civic bodies in finding suitable translators and interpreters of South Asian Languages, including Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Sinhala, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, and other languages. 

  • Natural Disaster Relief Efforts 
  • Gujarat Earthquake Victims Relief 
  • Asian Tsunami Victims Relief 
  • Hurricatae Katarina Victims Relief

In the Media

Woman dancing with the text "The Asian Indians in America"

The Center for India Studies was the principal advisor for the hour long documentary, "The Asian Indians in America" produced by Roman Brygeder for WLIW TV on Long Island and broadcast in all the major markets nationwide in 2004.

Watch The Asian Indians in America on PBS.

The Center has assisted numerous media organizations in their reporting and analysis of India and Indian Americans, including, among many others, the following:

  • BBC, London 
  • National Geographic 
  • New Yorker 
  • The Atlantic Monthly 
  • Entertainment Weekly 
  • Newsday

Newspaper with the article title "Thriving Center for India Studies"

  • New York Times
  • Newsday

Woman sitting at a table holding picture frames

  • The Village Voice
  • PBS Documentary on Asian Indians

Four people sitting at a table with laptops

  • PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
  • Sahara TV
  • Mumbai
  • Z TV
  • Bombay
  • Vision of Asia TV/ITV
  • Eye on Asia TV
  • News 12 Long Island
  • CableVision TV, Long Island
  • India Abroad
  • News India-Times
  • India Journal
  • India Post
  • India Tribune
  • India West
  • Indian Express Reporter
  • NRI India
  • Outlook
  • India Monitor, New York
  • Hinduism Today
  • RBC Radio
  • Silicon India
  • The Village Times
  • RBC Radio, New York
  • Three Village Herald
  • Happenings, Stony Brook
  • Statesman
  • Taranga (Bangalore)
  • Mayura (Bangalore) 
  • Vijaya E-Times