Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

Sanjit ‘Bunker’ Roy, Meagan Fallone to Visit Central New York April 21-22

Thursday, April 14, 2016, By Rob Enslin
Share
College of Arts and SciencesEventsSyracuse Symposium

Syracuse Symposium continues its yearlong “Networks” theme with a rare University appearance by social entrepreneurs Sanjit “Bunker” Roy and Meagan Fallone, on Thursday and Friday, April 21-22.

Sanjit "Bunker" Roy and Meagan Fallone

Sanjit “Bunker” Roy and Meagan Fallone

Roy is founder and director of the internationally acclaimed Barefoot College in India—the only college built by and for the rural poor. Fallone is CEO of Barefoot College International.

The duo also will visit Cornell University on Tuesday, April 19, and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) on Friday, April 22.

Roy and Fallone’s program is titled “’Barefoot’ Solutions: Networking Rural India and a Global Initiative,” and includes a public lecture on April 21 at 5:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium and a sold-out mini-seminar the following day at 9 a.m. in 341 Eggers Hall. For more information, contact the Syracuse University Humanities Center, based in the College of Arts and Sciences, at 315-443-7192, or visit http://syracusehumanities.org.

In addition to the Humanities Center, their visit is co-sponsored by the South Asia Center (SAC) in the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, the South Asia Program at Cornell and SUNY-ESF.

Additional support comes from the College of Arts and Sciences; the School of Architecture; the School of Education; the Whitman School of Management; the Women in Science and Engineering program; the Democratizing Knowledge Collective; The Renée Crown University Honors Program; the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics; the departments of Geography and Art & Music Histories; and the Department of Philosophy’s Undergraduate Ethics Program.

Romita Ray

Romita Ray

Lead organizer Romita Ray considers Roy and Fallone’s visit a “historic opportunity” for the area. “Their ‘barefoot solutions’ have transformed the lives of more than 3 million rural people across 75 countries in the developing world,” says Ray, associate professor of art history. “These ‘solutions’ center on solar energy, water, education, connectivity, health care, handicrafts and the empowerment of women.”

Ray adds that the program coincides with Earth Day (April 22), during which Roy and Fallone will participate in ESF’s “Moonlighting Discourse Series” with ESF President Quentin Wheeler and Syracuse Philosophy Professor Samuel Gorovitz. The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in ESF’s Gateway Center.

The duo also will travel to Cornell, where they will discuss “India’s Barefoot College: Women and Community Solar Energy Development” on April 19 at 4:30 p.m. in the G10 Biotechnology Building. The event is free and open to the public.

Kevin Rudd, president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York City, is likely to attend one of the events. Known for his work in various political, environmental and social arenas, the former Australian prime minister is a Barefoot College patron.

Humanities Center Director Vivian May is excited about the program. “With their commitment to education and grassroots organizing, ‘Bunker’ Roy and Meagan Fallone redefine how we think about addressing environmental questions, fulfilling community needs and combating structural inequality,” says May, also an associate professor of women’s and gender studies. “We are delighted to partner with numerous colleagues across campus and the region in presenting this acclaimed duo, who have carefully crafted approaches to sustainability and to education that eschew top-down models and, instead, focus on empowering thousands of people.”

Adds Ray: “This program marks the culmination of almost a year of planning, some of which was carried out while I was overseas on research leave. I couldn’t have done it without vital support close to home.”

She is undoubtedly referring to a handful colleagues at Syracuse and Cornell: May and Gorovitz; Cathryn Newton, dean emerita of A&S, who is Syracuse’s only professor of interdisciplinary sciences and a Provost’s Faculty Fellow; Susan Wadley, the Ford Maxwell Professor of South Asian Studies, professor of anthropology, and director of SAC, all in the Maxwell School; Emera Bridger Wilson, SAC’s associate director and outreach coordinator; Tula Goenka, associate professor of television, radio, and film in the Newhouse School of Public Communications; S.P. Raj, Distinguished Professor of Marketing in the Whitman School; Shobha Bhatia, the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence in ECS; Stefania Ianno, an administrator in Syracuse’s art & music histories; and William Phelan, program manager and fellowship coordinator of Cornell’s Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Barefoot College

Barefoot College empowers communities toward self-sufficiency.

“Anyone with an interest in empowering communities toward self-sufficiency will resonate with what ‘Bunker’ Roy and Meagan Fallone have to say,” Wadley explains. “For more than four decades, Barefoot College has decentralized and demystified technology, placing it in the hands of those whom need it the most.”

Indeed, Roy and Fallone owe a considerable debt to Mahatma Gandhi, whose spirit of service and thoughts on sustainability permeate their work. From solar energy, water, education and health care to rural handicrafts, Barefoot’s “solutions” are unique, as exemplified by the award-winning architecture of Barefoot College itself. “It’s designed and built by villagers for villagers,” Ray says.

Using a social justice approach, Barefoot College encourages the rural poor to have a voice in the design and innovation of their own technologies. For instance, the college has trained grandmothers from developing countries to be solar engineers, enabling them to bring electricity to their remote villages.

“Barefoot College demonstrates the power and impact of modern technologies within rural settings,” Bridger Wilson says. “’Bunker’ Roy and Meagan Fallone are committed to improving everyone’s basic quality of life. This is something that’s innately human and transcends all racial and socioeconomic barriers.”

  • Author

Rob Enslin

  • Recent
  • Former Blackstone LaunchPad Duo Shine in Forbes 30 Under 30 Awards with OthersideAI
    Thursday, December 7, 2023, By Cristina Hatem
  • Life Trustee Daniel D’Aniello ’68, H’20 Honored With Keys to the City of Florence, Italy
    Thursday, December 7, 2023, By Kathleen Haley
  • From Boland Hall to Broadway, Colleagues and Friends Produce ‘How to Dance in Ohio’
    Thursday, December 7, 2023, By Kim Infanti
  • 2023-24 Winter Break/Orange Appreciation Days Operating Schedule
    Thursday, December 7, 2023, By News Staff
  • Expert Insight: Senate Disagreement Imperils Aid to Israel and Ukraine
    Thursday, December 7, 2023, By Vanessa Marquette

More In Arts & Culture

Life Trustee Daniel D’Aniello ’68, H’20 Honored With Keys to the City of Florence, Italy

Alumnus, philanthropist and Life Trustee Daniel D’Aniello ’68, H’20 was recently celebrated by the city of Florence, Italy, for his dedication to the city and his support of the Syracuse Abroad program in Florence. In a ceremony hosted by the…

From Boland Hall to Broadway, Colleagues and Friends Produce ‘How to Dance in Ohio’

Two Syracuse University alumni are opening their first Broadway musical as lead producers, “How to Dance in Ohio,” and the Dec. 5 preview performance included close to 200 Syracuse University leaders, alumni, parents and friends. Producers Ben Holtzman ’13 and…

Pink to Perform at JMA Wireless Dome Oct. 6

Pink will bring her high-energy musical, dance and aerobatic performance to the JMA Wireless Dome on Sunday, Oct. 6, as part of her 17-city 2024 Summer Carnival Tour. The tour will feature special guest, friend and award-winning artist Sheryl Crow,…

Art History Professor Receives NFAH Fellowship for Work on Modern Pueblo Painting

Historically, studies of early 20th-century Pueblo painting focused on the role non-Native anthropologists, artists and patrons played in fostering and marketing Pueblo art. In the last two decades, there has been a shift in approach spearheaded by scholars in the…

A&S Professor Wins Mentorship Award

Gwendolyn D. Pough, dean’s professor of the humanities and professor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, is the latest recipient of the 2023 Ede Mentoring Award from the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric &…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.