I remember seeing what we used to call mimeographed sheets talking about Williams-in-India posted in Baxter Hall. And I got a phone call from Robert Gaudino inviting me to his office in Stetson Library for an interview. I had a beguiling lack of information. I simply thought that going to India would be cool. He […]

I entered Williams planning to be probably a physics major but would have been a bad scientist. I realized that. So I planned to take political science in the spring. In March, there was an announcement of a program that Robert Gaudino was behind called “Williams-in-India.” And this program was to be for the following […]

I failed a year in high school. And then I got into Williams by telegram three days before my graduation from high school. I had previously planned to become a pilot in the Navy. The Navy had applied for an ROTC scholarship for me at Miami of Ohio, where I’d fly in Vietnam after my […]

I was thinking maybe doing junior year abroad or something. I wasn’t quite sure. And then this was posted and I said “perfect.” Go to a completely foreign country with a person that I found very provocative. On the other hand, I think in part it was designed in order to get academic approval as […]

I recall having to fill out an application and then I recall an interview. I don’t know if anybody was rejected from being picked or not. Yes, he was asking about your family, where you were born, how you had been educated, how you felt about certain educational matters and those sorts of questions. But […]

I went to Williams never having had political science before and signed up for Poli Sci 101 and Gaudino was my professor. Of course he was one of these mesmerizing, charismatic, intimidating professors who clearly overwhelmed me. I hated being asked questions but I loved listening to him—I loved the little summaries he would give, […]

I guess my first encounter was a non-encounter. When they had the introductory session, I did not go. But two of my three roommates did, Bud Kaufman and Steve Kendrick, and they came back just sort of converted if you will. And that’s what sort of drew me in. I think I remember an interview. […]

Well, frankly the only thing we had in common was Gaudino and the interest in doing this India program. So they ranged from being sort of touchy-feely – ‘oh, India, that’s so exciting’ – to conservative people like myself and my roommate, Scott Miller, who viewed it as an adventure. So you had, “Oh, we […]

India is quite an experience, affecting everyone who spends time there. It brings out many things in the visitor. It is hard to remain neutral there. Insight and pain go together. I expect the year of study and the months spent in that country will have important effects on your son.

We never met until the first classroom day. There was a reading list for the summer. It was a gigantic list: history, literature, culture, arts. Thirty books.

CHAPTERS

Introduction
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3
4
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Final Note