The Office of International Public Service and Outreach will host the conference “Interconnected Future: India and Georgia” April 2–3 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education Conference Center and Hotel. The fee to attend the entire conference is $35; students can attend for $20.
The conference will focus on foreign investment in Georgia from Indian firms and Indo-American business relations for economic development as well as educational partnerships for UGA and Indian institutions of higher education.
“This conference was designed to engage participants by describing a population of new Georgians who have an economic, social and cultural impact on Georgia,” said Art Dunning, vice president for public service and outreach. “Understanding the Indian economic story is essential for Georgian students and community leaders who want to keep abreast of globalization issues relative to India and Georgia.”
The conference will open on April 2 at 6 p.m. at the Paul D. Coverdell Center with a lecture by Meera Narasimhan from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Director of the Division of Biological Research of the department of neuropsychiatry and behavioral sciences, Narasimhan will give a talk entitled “India and Public Health.” Her presentation is sponsored by the College of Public Health.
Keynote speaker for the conference is Beheruz N. Sethna, president of the University of West Georgia. He will give a talk entitled, “Understanding Indian Higher Education and Implications for America” on April 3 at 12:30 p.m. Sethna earned his doctoral degree in business from Columbia University, and he holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.
A consul of the Indian Embassy in Washington, D.C., will give a talk entitled “Strategy Dimensions of U.S.-India Engagement” on April 3 at 9:30 a.m.
The conference will conclude with a dance performance at 3 p.m. and a reception at 3:30 p.m. for the photography exhibition My India: Personal Reflections and Captured Memories. On display in the Hill Atrium of the Georgia Center until April 30, the exhibition features images by Eric Berg, a 2006 UGA alumnus who works in Los Angeles as an art director for films and commercials, and Farley Richmond, director of UGA’s Center for Asian Studies.
