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American-Sikh Shares Her Experiences With CSUS Students
Hansine Ingoglia 

SACRAMENTO: Ethnic Studies Department and Asian American Studies of California State University Sacramento introduced ETHN 122 Sikh American & Globalization upper division GE course for its students. The course covers the origin of Sikhism, Sikh history/religion/culture/social institutions and social relations, direct and secondary migration, race and ethnic relations, second-generation identity issues, and global Diaspora of Sikhs.  The class started on a big note with an encouraging response from students of diverse backgrounds. Lectures, Discussions, Videos and Guest speakers form the set of instructions and interaction.

Department of Ethnic Studies invited Siri Pritam Kaur Khalsa to speak to our class as a representative of the American Sikh, a derivation of the traditional Punjabi Sikh culture that normally serves as the focus of our class discussion. The American Sikh religion has its center, the original 3HO Foundation, in Espanola, New Mexico. Siri Pritam Kaur Khalsa came to New Mexico during the 1960s (or the 1970s-she wasn’t quite sure) and came under the instruction of Yogi Bhajan, the founder of 3HO. She was exposed for the first time to the Sikh faith, which she continues to practice today.

Because Siri Pritam Kaur Khalsa spoke largely about her own personal experience, this lecture did not focus on the contrast between the traditional Punjabi Sikh interpretation of faith and the transnational interpretation of the American Sikh. Rather, the story of Pritam’s personal journey served as an illustration that the practice of Sikhism, regardless of interpretation, reflects a person’s desire to be close to God, and to manifest this desire in thought, action, and appearance. The differences between American Sikh and Sikh Americans is not the central desire, therefore, but the process by which the faithful pursue that desire.

Ms Hansine Ingoglia is enrolled in Ethn 122 Sikh American & Globalization Course at California State University Sacramento. (CSUS)

1 April 2009
 

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