Program
Program
Study Center and Administration
The ISLE Program Study Center located in Dangolla is the hub of program activity. It contains an extensive library collection, now numbering over 4,000 titles, which supports ISLE's diverse academic course offerings. The library is open at least six days a week during daylight hours. Lending privileges are extended only to ISLE students. According to University of Peradeniya faculty, it is now one of the very best English language libraries in upcountry Sri Lanka. Library privileges for ISLE students are also extended through an arrangement with the International Center for Ethnic Studies (ICES) and on a more limited basis with the University of Peradeniya.
ISLE Program Study Center, Kandy, Sri Lanka (campus representatives visiting the center in the foreground)
The ISLE Program Study Center also contains an outdoor pavillion or classroom where language classes are conducted, a study room with TV and VCR, a collection of contemporary American literature and travel guides, and a beautiful and expansive garden.
An outdoor classroom at the center.
Study room.
The Center also houses the program's business office, and is the residence of the program director, the program assistant(s), and some of the program staff.
The staff at the ISLE Center, from left to right: Rosemary (manager), Rupa (chef),
Sree Padma Holt (Administrative Director), Violet (chef), Sumanasena
(transportation facilitator), Maya (domestic support), and Gabriel (gardener).
2008 Fall and 2009 Spring Programs
Dr. Nancy Wilkie will direct the program in fall 2008. Wilkie, the William H. Laird Professor of Classics, Anthropology, and Liberal Arts and co-director of the archaeological concentration at Carleton College, is a past President of the Archaeological Institute of America. She has spent extensive time in Sri Lanka and Nepal, and currently serves on the Cultural Property Advisory Committee of the U.S. State Department. Professor Wilkie previously directed the ISLE Program in 1997.
Dr. Larry Lutchmansingh will direct the program in spring 2009. Professor Lutchmansingh taught History of Art and Architecture at Bowdoin College and the Graduate Institute of Art History of the National Taiwan University. In 2003-04 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Peredeniya, where he taught courses in Social Theory in the Department of Sociology. In 2000, he directed the South India Term Abroad (SITA) Program in Madurai, India, and in fall 2007 he directed the ISLE Program.
Dr. Sree Padma is ISLE's Administrative Director. Her office is located at the program's agency institution (Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine). With the program's Faculty Board of Directors and the Faculty Resident Director, she is responsible for all aspects of program planning and implementation. She can be contacted for any questions about the program.
Board of Directors
The ISLE Board of Directors holds plenary meetings annually at one of the member colleges. The board consists of faculty representatives from each of the consortium colleges, and three Off-Campus Directors from three of the colleges. Bowdoin College Dean of Academic Affairs Cristle Judd is an ex-officio member of the board. Professor John Holt, of Bowdoin college, serves as consultant; Professor Holt founded the ISLE Program in 1982.
At this meeting, the board receives reports from the administrator, review policies, and entertains proposals.
The 2007 meeting was held in April at Carleton College.
ISLE FACULTY BOARD MEMBERS' MEETING, 2007: Left to right, front row: Ms. Helena Kaufman (Director of Off Campus Studies, Carleton), Professor Bardwell Smith (Carleton), Ms. Pam Percy, Prof. Roger Jackson (Carleton), Prof. James Fisher (Carleton), Dr. Elizabeth Ciner (Associate Dean of the College, Carleton), Dr. Sree Padma Holt (Administrative Director, ISLE Program, Bowdoin), Prof. Beverly Nagel (Associate Dean of the College, Carleton).
Back Row: Prof. Todd Lewis (Holy Cross), Mr. Brittain Smith (Assistant Director of Off-Campus Studies, Holy Cross), Ms. Naomi Ziegler (Assistant Director of Off Campus Studies, Carleton), Prof. John Strong (Bates), Prof. Steve Soderlind (St. Olaf), Prof. Katheleen Ryor (Carleton), Mr. James Smith (Carleton), Dr. Richard Ashford (Whitman), Prof. Scott Bierman (Dean of the College, Carleton).