Join us for an exploration of the rich cultural diversity of India. Each week we will engage in interactive sessions with guest presenters including musicians, dancers, artists and scholars from the Indian sub-continent. Come listen to musicians trained in the classical and folk music traditions of India and see classical Indian dance. Specially invited artists will provide demonstrations to add to your appreciation of these art forms. Other speakers will introduce the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, as well as bring an understanding of the origins of Indian languages, which vary from state to state and even village to village. Class members will also be offered tastes of India, with food samples. Each session will add a new layer of culture and tradition.

Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi has a Masters in Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures, and a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and South Asian Studies, both from the University of California at Berkeley. He taught at UC-Berkeley, University of Virginia at Charlottesville and Duke University in North Carolina before joining the Voice of America in 1984. He held a number of management positions, including Chief, Urdu and Hindi Services; Director, North Africa, Near East and South Asia Division; and Director, South and Central Asia Division. He retired from the Federal Government in 2006.