INTERVIEW WITH AMIT SHARMA

Amit Sharma is a passionate professor working at Pennsylvania State University, He has enjoyed a rare experience that led him from his studies in India, France and the United States to the discovery of infinite variety in tourism and hotel and restaurant management. He has a financial approach perfected in his early international career devoted to tourism in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mali…) at the World Bank.

We had the pleasure of meeting him to hear his story on his recent visit during which he led a seminar for 3rd year students in International Hotel and Restaurant Management.

“As soon as I arrived at Institut Paul Bocuse and before I even started to teach, I was touched by the students’ attitude; they are already very professional in their behavior, serious, with a sense of discipline that doesn’t prevent them from being very enjoyable and personable young adults…
When I started teaching them, I was immediately impressed by their experience in the hotel and restaurant professions as well as by their knowledge of the realities of the business world. That undoubtedly comes from their first internships and from the teaching at Institut Paul Bocuse which is a direct reflection of the professional environment.
The students ask a lot of questions; they are open, curious and enthusiastic. They want to share experiences which enable us to bridge any language barriers – my teaching is in English – without any big difficulties.
It is especially important for me to observe that the students are receptive to my teaching. First of all, because it is a subject that is a bit difficult to grasp: it requires a solid background in economics, tourism and a good understanding of the world that surrounds us and the key stakes… It is also a sign that these questions are important to them.
I believe it is fundamental in their training because balanced development cannot be envisioned as a source of progression (economic and social) for all the stakeholders involved without this awareness. This questioning and the interest shown are very positive not only for these young people themselves and their direct future but also for all the populations who will still be dependent on the progression of tourism in the future.”

These questions are addressed in Amit Sharma’s seminars and he is also concerned by questions relative to food buying behavior at the individual level. “It is important to know how choices concerning foodstuffs expenditures are made within households and what this implies in terms of well-being and health. With this in mind, I am looking forward to the beginnings of the doctoral research that will be conducted at the Institut Paul Bocuse Research Center, and the framework that I am going to be involved in.”

Conversing with Amit Sharma was a great pleasure … his pedagogy and passion make it easy to understand the discipline that he teaches; this is very valuable for Institut Paul Bocuse students for their professional knowledge as well as for questions regarding ethics that they need to ask themselves so that their professions may also be a source of equitable progress.