Director's welcome
Science is not only for scientists and engineers, but permeates all of our lives. The scientific method can be applied to virtually every academic and career pursuit (or even tasks in our everday lives, for example - consuming the news). PSIL is an education outreach program that emphasizes and demonstrates this by delivering a liberal arts and sciences curriculum with the scientific method as its foundation.
Through PSIL, I aim to share with high school students in India, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds, one of Harvard's most valuable resource - some of its best minds, the undergraduates. I assemble a team of Harvard undergraduates with a diverse range of academic interests and together we develop a curriculum to expose high school students in India to the liberal arts and sciences.
For context, I was born in Manipur, spent 16 years of my life there, before moving to Gujarat, where I completed up to my Master's degree. I went to the University of Cincinnati for my PhD and did my postdoctoral work at Harvard, where I currently teach and advise students. From my personal journey and speaking to educators in India, I have identified specific skills that would hugely benefit high school students in India. At Harvard, I saw students eager for experiential learning through service programs. I set up PSIL as a platform that brings together Harvard students with college students and underprivileged high school students in India. I coach Harvard undergrduates who are passionate about teaching in developing teaching modules addressing these skills. The Harvard team travels to India to deliver the curriculum over an intensive 5-day period in a residential setting. The residential setup is critical for maximum cross-cultural learning.
In setting up PSIL, I had decided early on that the program should be free of cost for the three student groups (Harvard undergraduates, Indian college and high school students). Therefore, PSIL relies on local partners and sponsors. PSIL '23 was made possible by the successful collaboration between BC Welfare Telangana State, Osmania University, and Harvard.
Dominic Mao, PhD (Lecturer, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard)