Nilgiris Field Learning Centre Archives

The Nilgiris Field Learning Programme 2023: Notes From a 5-Week Course

The Nilgiris Field Learning Programme (NFLP) is a learning platform anchored by Keystone in partnership with Cornell University. For five weeks, students from Cornell University and youth from indigenous communities in the Nilgiris live, study, and work together during a part of the spring semester. An opportunity for field-engaged learning and research partnerships mentored by […]

NFLP

Keystone Foundation is hosting a group of five undergraduate students from Cornell University as part of the Nilgiris Field Learning Program (NFLP). This program has given various Cornell students the opportunity to work and learn in the Nilgiris for six weeks (June 9th- July 22nd, 2022), that focuses on “Mental Health, Healing Systems, and Community-Based […]

Seventh Week – Ecology

The final week of NFLC was about Ecology. The week started off with a CBE where the students each drew their environments, including trees, birds, water sources, and animals. These drawings and the vocabulary words attached to them created an overview for students to practice in English and Tamil language classes. The first session introduced […]

Sixth Week – Water and Waste

Week 6 of the NFLC program was a mix of Zoom classes taught by Neema Kudva from Cornell University, and field work. The topics discussed were water and waste, and the structure of this week was such that the theory learned was applied almost immediately to practice creating an all-round learning experience. The first day […]

Fifth Week – Governance, and Trade & Markets

Week 5 of the NFLC program was packed with two complex and extremely important topics: governance, and trade & markets. The week kicked off with a cross boundary exercise which involved students reflecting on their own lives in terms of what governs and influences them. Answers to this question were varied and ranged from values […]

Third Week – NFLC program on gender

While week 3 of the NFLC program focused mainly on gender, the week kicked off with a the NBR bus ride, a field trip to Satyamangalam Tiger Reserve. On this field trip, students visited a museum, an Elephant training center, and a Kota village. The first day of studying and discussing gender commenced with a […]

Week 1 – Getting acquainted

The Nilgiris Field Learning Course for 2022 has a total of 2 indigenous students, 1 student from Cornell university, and one translator/ intern. The first half of Day 1 was about getting to know one another and understanding the origins and goals of the NFLC program. The crossing boundaries exercise (CBE) following lunch began with […]

Week 9_Field Recce Week

After the spring break for a week, the plan was to do a field visit, a kind of a pilot and recce dry run to tweak and revise their actual research method and tools as needed. However, with the spread of the corona virus across the globe and in India, the uncertainty about the future […]

Week 7_Language wraps up & recall

This was the final week before the students left for spring break. The students finished their language classes which culminated in a short assessment for both English and Tamizh that covered verbal and written aspects of the language. With that out of the way, the rest of the week was spent with the students revisiting […]