Hamilton College clearly offers a communal environment; however, the communal environment that Brian Tilley '05 will encounter this summer will be vastly different from that of College Hill. Tilley, the recipient of a Freeman scholarship, a student-faculty short-term travel research grant offered by Hamilton College, will be traveling to India for three weeks this summer. He plans to examine the relationship between Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists in India, and the coexistence between the various religious sects.
In many parts of India and in surrounding countries, like Kashmir, violence is very much a part of life, and exists due to religious divides. Tilley states that he will use his grant to study the "inter-communal engagements" between Hindu and Muslim families from the Indian perspective. Most specifically, Tilley hopes to find an answer to a question inspired by University of Michigan professor Ashutosh Varshney: In a region known for religious strife, how do examples of peaceful coexistence fit the pattern of violence?
Traveling with the Himalayan Health Exchange, a humanitarian service organization, Tilley will take part in the "Tibetan Borderlands Anthropology Field Expedition" in June and July. Exploring the northern Himachel Pradesh state in India, Tilley will have the opportunity to conduct research in India's cities of Dharamsala, Narkanda, and Sangla. These cities, historically and culturally known for the coexistence of Muslims and Hindus, will offer Tilley the resources necessary for his research. He says that he will be able to "work with the local program leaders to examine first-hand how the Hindu/Buddhist relationships are formed in Himachel Pradesh," and anticipates that they will facilitate his interaction with the villagers.
Tilley plans to continue his research in India this coming year, as he plans to participate in a study abroad program to south India. Anticipating that his experiences in the south will be quite different from the north, he will highlight these differences in a senior project. Tilley, a mathematics major at Hamilton College, says that he finds himself increasingly drawn to social sciences, such as anthropology and Asian studies and would like to continue studying the region of southern Asia after graduation from Hamilton in 2005.
