Professor Amar Sawhney is an Urbanist, Architect, and Educator with a rich experience spanning 53 years at Miami-Dade College, Boston Architecture College, and Cornell. He graduated from the College of Architecture in Chandigarh, India (Punjab University) and holds a Master's degree in Architecture, Urban Design, and Urban Planning from Cornell University. Additionally, he completed 56 graduate credits in Urban Planning and Education from the University of Miami and Florida International University.

For his bachelor's thesis, Professor Sawhney worked on the Delhi High Court, while his master's thesis focused on the "Development of New Towns in the Syracuse-Utica area in NY." He received guidance from Professors Colin Rowe and Professor Unger at Cornell University, with undergraduate mentorship from Professors Malhotra, Professor Bhatti, and architectural luminaries Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, and Doshi.

In recognition of his contributions, Professor Sawhney received a Digital Field Trip grant, a follow-up grant, and attended the Faculty Development Seminar in 2019, all awarded by the American Institute of Indian Studies. Currently, he volunteers to lead the 2024-2025 American Institute of Indian Studies alongside Jessica Barnes of Northern Arizona University. As a Fulbright specialist in Urban Planning and Architecture, he plans to lead a Rainwater Management Project to address flooding issues in Alexandria in 2024, collaborating with Alexandria University and the government of Egypt.

Over his 51 years at Miami-Dade College, Professor Sawhney earned the Endowed Chair twice and secured a $10 million grant as part of a consortium by the Department of Labor. He facilitated study abroad studio programs in Europe at Miami-Dade College for 25 years, collaborating with various European universities and architecture schools.

Professor Sawhney has presented his work at the National Geographer Association, the International University Teaching Conference in Georgia and Malaysia, and his research on Indian settlements was accepted by the Association of Collegiate School of Planning. He has actively participated in the Earth Ethics Institute at MDC and various campus organizations, serving as a consultant to city governments in Miami and being appointed by the Mayor of Pinecrest to various committees.

A Rotarian for 25 years, Professor Sawhney has directed international projects in South Asia, Bhutan, and Nepal. He is also the President of the Global Urban Sustainable Center, a global non-profit based in Miami and Chandigarh, India. Involved with the UN Human Settlement Program for decades, his non-profit aims to inspire young professionals in Architecture and Urban Planning within minority communities in the US and India.

Professor Sawhney's interests lie in enhancing communities for all citizens, eradicating poverty through the Urban Planning process, focusing on economic development for underserved communities, and addressing climate impact on global underserved communities and Indian tribes in the US. He is passionate about guiding young architects and urban planners to work in inner cities, fostering poverty eradication in both the US and India. His interest extends to artwork in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, aiming to cultivate stronger bonds between the US and India, the two largest democracies.

Proficient in four Indian languages, Professor Sawhney can fluently converse in Arabic and Spanish.

Jessica R. Barnes is an Associate Teaching Professor in human geography at Northern Arizona University and an adjunct online instructor at Southern New Hampshire University. She teaches courses on regional geography, global development, and human environment relations. As a teaching-focused faculty member, she built on her graduate minor in college teaching to earn an Association of College and University Teachers certification in Effective College Teaching. Her most recent research and scholarly work includes utilizing course-based undergraduate research,
creating online virtual fieldtrips for course content, and considering strategies to overcome hopelessness in environmental education.

Jessica was a participant in the 2019-2020 Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) and American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) Faculty Development Seminar – “Exploring Urban Sustainability through India’s Cities.” The seminar gave 16 faculty members from minority-serving institutions the opportunity to travel to India for two weeks, experience local culture, connect with local scholars and activists, and hear from leading specialists in order to build their experiential knowledge of the Indian context and development international curriculum. She and Amar Sawhney of Miami- Dade college were awarded additional funding from the (AIIS) to support return travel to India to develop curriculum for geography and planning classes using multimedia and map-based exploration of segregation and inequality in informal urban settlements. Jessica brings these learning tools into courses she teaches at NAU on world geography, development, and environmental sustainability. She is honored work Amar as co-directors for the upcoming CAORC AIIS Faculty Development Seminars.
 

Jessica earned her Ph.D. and served as a teaching associate at the Department of Geography at Ohio State University. Her doctoral research was on how crafter's work fits into lives and livelihoods in Columbus, Ohio and was supported by a Coca-Cola Critical Difference for Women Grant. She earned her M.A. in geography from Ohio State in 2009 for her work examining how print journalists localize climate change. She earned her B.A. in geography and English from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, minored in journalism, and worked as a reporter and editor at the student newspaper and as a reporter at a regional daily. In 2006, she won best undergraduate student paper awards from the Geographic Perspectives on Women Specialty Group of the AAG and the Wisconsin Geographical Society. Her research interests include alternative/cultural economies, development, independent work / informal economies / platform economies, governmentality, feminist geographies, media representations, sustainability, and college pedagogy. 
 

She lives with her family in Flagstaff, AZ in a retro music recording studio where you might find her practicing yoga, playing music, or writing.