Professor Williams Whiting brings the traditions of India to class

Students in Professor Janice Williams Whiting's Humanities 2001 class get to experience tradition firsthand. For six years, the professor of art has worn an Indian silk sari to class to showcase the popular dress worn by Indian women.

"I think a lot of students appreciate the fact that I want them to see something that is real," says Professor Williams Whiting. "Sometimes we’ll take the students to the Hindu Temple, and sometimes I’ll wear my sari. The women there are always sweet and always want to rewrap my sari."

Professor Williams Whiting and her husband, Dr. Ray Whiting, professor of political science, went to India on their honeymoon last year. There, they met fellow ASU professors, Dr. Steven Weiss, assistant professor of philosophy, and his wife, Dr. Sudha Ratan, chair of the Department of Political Science.

"We all went sari shopping, and my husband bought me two new silk saris as a wedding gift," she says.

Professor Williams Whiting says that part of what she loves about the country of India is the abundance of color there. She also brought a bronze Shiva to class. Shiva, the destroyer and the restorer, is one of the main deities of Hinduism.

"Anytime we can take something to class that is physical, it seems to bring to life what they’re learning," says Professor Williams Whiting.

She will have more items to share with her classes, as the late Eugenia Comer, assistant professor Emerita of art education, left Professor Williams Whiting all of her Indian sculptures.

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