My Journey with American Universities

Early Feelings About America

Growing up in India during the 1970s, I had mixed feelings about America. I loved American writers like Ernest Hemingway. I enjoyed the music of Bob Dylan and Mississippi John Hurt. But I also remembered how Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger supported Pakistan against India in the 1971 war. This left a strong impression on me.

Moving to Calcutta and Changing Views

In 1980, I moved to Calcutta. My views turned to hostility. Influenced by my Marxist teachers, I became strongly anti-American. I disliked their brashness, commercialism, and actions in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

An Unexpected Chance

I never thought I would go to the United States. But in 1985, my wife, Sujata, got a scholarship to do a Masters at Yale University. I couldn’t stand in her way. With the help of historian Uma Dasgupta, I applied for a visiting lecturership at Yale. Surprisingly, I got it.

Arriving at Yale

Sujata left for Yale in August 1985. I followed in November. I arrived at the US Consulate early, remembering the long lines in Madras. But in Calcutta, there was only one person ahead of me. I realized that Bengalis were more anti-American than Tamils, who produced many engineers.

Learning and Growing at Yale

I reached Yale on January 2, 1986. I spent the next year-and-a-half teaching and learning. I met young Indian historians who had studied in America. Their work was influenced by fashion and Edward Said’s Orientalism. They preferred studying texts by dead white males rather than doing hands-on research.

Meeting Important Scholars

I was drawn to scholars who worked on the environment and social protest. At Yale, I had long talks with:

• William Burch, an environmental sociologist
• William Cronon, an environmental historian
• Timothy Weiskel, an ecological anthropologist
• James Scott, who had just published Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance

Outside Yale, I connected with:

• Michael Adas at Rutgers
• Louise Fortmann at Berkeley
• Donald Worster at Brandeis

Intellectual Growth

These scholars worked on Africa, Southeast Asia, and North America. They used different methods and disciplines. Unlike academics in Calcutta or Delhi, these American professors were free of hierarchy. They were happy to be called by their first names and have their ideas discussed openly.

Meeting these scholars and reading their works expanded my mind. I wanted to publish my PhD as a book and work on more books. I wanted to follow the example of scholars like Adas, Scott, and Worster, who had impressive and varied bodies of work.

Enjoying Yale Without Worries

Sujata and I enjoyed Yale because we knew we would return to India. Other Indians at Yale were desperate to stay. They were anxious about getting the right courses and jobs to secure a work visa and Green Card. We had no such worries. We could take full advantage of what Yale had to offer. We made close American friends, with whom we are still in touch.

Returning to the US Over the Years

In the four decades since we returned from New Haven, I have been back to the US many times. Most trips were short, but occasionally I spent longer periods at universities on the East and West Coasts. I have happy memories of a semester spent at the University of California at Berkeley. The students there were sharp and came from diverse backgrounds.

Teaching About Gandhi

I taught a course on Mahatma Gandhi. The interest shown by my Burmese, Jewish, and African-American students convinced me to spend the next decade researching and writing about Gandhi.

My Thanks to American Universities

I was entirely educated in India and have spent most of my life living and working there. Yet, I owe a great debt to the scholars and students I met in America. I also owe thanks to the libraries and archives in America, which contain priceless documents on Indian history unavailable in India.

Anguish at Recent Events

I feel deep sadness and anger at the damage being done to the American university system. Recent actions are causing great harm to a country that should be cherished.

Challenges in American Higher Education

It is true that in recent decades, the American higher education system has faced some issues. Two stand out:

• Giving in to identity politics, which has limited free discussion and debate on campuses
• Removing the retirement age, so that scholars in their eighties and nineties still teach smaller classes, maintain large offices, and have voting rights over future appointments

The Strength of American Universities

Most of the best universities in the world are still in the US. They have educated and influenced scholars from all over the world, enhancing America’s soft power. They have also fostered scientific creativity, making America the most advanced country in the world.

Final Thoughts

Before I went to Yale in 1986, I was a critic of American foreign policy. I still have my doubts about its government’s actions abroad. But American universities are different. They are a treasure to humanity. Attacks on them should be mourned by thinking people of all nationalities.

This article first appeared on The Telegraph.

Ramachandra Guha’s latest book, Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism, is now in stores. His email address is ramachandraguha@yahoo.in.