Advertorial, Education Promotional Feature

MONDAY | JULY 1, 2013

PORTALUPDATE/www.educationtimes.com

ALERTS

Animal worldGuru Angad DevVeterinary andAnimal SciencesUniversity invitesapplications forBVSc and AH/BTech (dairytechnology) programme

> For more details, visitwww.educationtimes.com/alerts

SUBJECT WISE★★★

BANGALORE EDITION

Right choice

YOUR VOICE

COUNSELLOR FORUM

Online PollShould B-schools in India grant extramarks to women applicants at the pre-interview stage as adopted by instituteslike IIM Calcutta to increase the numberof women-students in class?

Humanities has for long been misun-derstood and perceived as a weak-er sibling of science and commerce.

A discipline, meant for the less-eligible,for those who failed to make it to the tech-nical fields, and for those whohad little choice to make it big intheir careers. But, breaking thismyth, there has been a markedresurgence in the number of stu-dents opting for the social sci-ences or humanities courses. Themindset has changed. Students,well-versed with their passionand areas of strength, are nowbeginning to follow their dreams.

Among the universities that of-fer humanities or social science courses,Delhi University (DU) heads the list as a‘popular choice.’ Earlier, under the three-year UG programme, the university offeredcore humanities courses like political sci-ence, sociology, psychology, English, philos-ophy and social work and history coupledwith a Bachelor’s in language courses.

With the introduction of the four-year UGprogramme in DU, courses like ethics, soci-ety and justice, geographic diversity, Bud-dhist studies, romance studies, Africanand East Asian Studies offer furtherchoices to students.

For Uma Pal, a student of LSRDelhi, it is the age of interdisci-plinary courses. Clarity ofthought and an analytical ap-proach are what characterises hu-manities students. “Literature courses arebroad in spectrum and even include studyof the Mahabharata. Concurrent courseslike philosophy also provide us with awider perspective,” she says.

EXTRA EDGEHumanities as a discipline has a lot to offerfor a fruitful future. Choice of subjects plays

an important role. RashmiTikku, professor of Englishand Women Studies andconvener at LAD College(Nagpur University),

points out that UG inhumanitiesencapsu-lates a holis-tic approach to-wards anythingoral, visual orwritten. From writingreports, teaching, journalism toresearch; every aspect requiresa humanities student.

While careers as engineers and doctorsstill predominate the Indian jobscape, stu-dents are beginning to think differently. Forinstance, according to Arya MP, a literaturestudent of MG University, Kerala, a choice isalways a part of one’s life. We have a paper,he says, on Gandhian philosophy, which in-cludes extensive teachings of MahatmaGandhi. Also, women and literature or eco-criticism are recent fields, which are dealt

with in contemporary curricula.Corroborating his view, Nikita

Solanke of St Mira’s College, PuneUniversity, adds, “UG in humanities has

a lot of scope. A psychologist, sociologistor an economist are indispensable to anyorganisation. It is a more applicable fieldas compared to others.”

In fact, liberal arts courses provide stu-dents with a skill-set that enables themto think critically and out-of-box. As Kani-ka Khandelwal, associate professor, de-partment of psychology, LSR, puts it, it isa myth that studying humanities does notlead to good careers, a misconceptionthat leads many students to take up com-merce or science.

Adds professor Shibashis Chatterjee ofJadavpur University (JU), “The faculty coun-cil of arts offers both conventional and un-conventional courses in all programmes andprovides dynamic opportunities.”

METHODOLOGYSt Xavier’s College (SXC), Kolkata (au-tonomous) encourages in-depth analysisover pedantic learning. The English Acade-my, presided by the head of the depart-ment, Chandrani Biswas has seen a gamutof exchange programmes where students ofother reputed colleges have performedplays like Twelfth Night, Macbeth, A Street-car named Desire, and the like.

Says Biswas, “We are not only focusedon teaching and research, but the syl-labus also gives expansive exposure tothe language. Prescribed texts, besidesproviding theoretical thrust, improve cre-ative writing and broaden the knowledgeof literature.”

According to Zaid Al Baset of the depart-ment of sociology, SXC, pertinent topicsare introduced to rekindle interest in thesubject and break away from the mun-dane. Also, the department offers courseson sexuality and the body, which doesaway with rote-learning.

Broad in Spectrum

Today, students opting for humanities at theundergraduate level are spoilt for choice when itcomes to choosing a course that is a blend of the

heart and the mind. Aditi Guha reports

>> CLEAR FAVOURITEEconomics, for years, has largely been associatedwith the science stream. However, its growingrelevance in social sciences cannot be ignored.Many colleges such as LSR or JU are known fortheir BA programme in economics. Otherfavourites among students include journalism andmass communication, film studies, public relationsand advertising, animation, multimedia,photography and documentary filmmaking. “Anintensive course at this institute increases theoutcome levels of students and helps themmaximise their potential with corporate exposure,”says Urvashi Athavale, UG student at SIMC.

>> COURSE TRENDS■ Cinema and ideology, comparative

mythology, living with climatechange, and understanding Indianclassical music, at the departmentof liberal arts, Symbiosis University

■ Human rights, human andcommunity development, theologyand social work at DU and privateuniversities such as Amity in Noida

■ Foreign languages like Spanish,Arabic, French and Italian at DU,Russian at Calcutta University

■ Courses highlighting the culturalheritage of the place, like TagoreStudies at JU

■ Theatre studies and gender studiesas part of the UG curriculum of thedepartment of English at JU

■ Journalism and film studies at StXavier’s College (autonomous)Kolkata and JU

(Indicative listing)

INSIDE PAGES >MORE ON HUMANITIES

PIC

:SO

HA

M P

ISAT

,G

RAPH

IC:V

AID

EHI A

HER

NEXT WEEKEverything you need to

know about postgraduationin humanities along with studenttestimonials, admission alerts,scholarships and course details

UG in humanitiesencapsulates a holisticapproach towardsanything oral, visual orwritten. From teachingto journalism, everyaspect requires ahumanities student

> To vote, visit www.educationtimes.comand click on ‘Poll’

A panel of experts will clear yourconfusion and guide you to make theright choice. Post your queryon www.educationtimes.com/counsellorforumYou don’t have to wait forMonday, Education Times isnow available 24x7

Follow us on

*EDUB10713/ /01/K/1*

*EDUB10713/ /01/K/1*EDUB10713/1R1/01/K/1

*EDUB10713/ /01/Y/1*

*EDUB10713/ /01/Y/1*EDUB10713/1R1/01/Y/1

*EDUB10713/ /01/M/1*

*EDUB10713/ /01/M/1*EDUB10713/1R1/01/M/1

*EDUB10713/ /01/C/1*

*EDUB10713/ /01/C/1*EDUB10713/1R1/01/C/1

K erala Kalamandalamhas added threepostgraduate pro-

grammes in KathakaliChenda, Carnatic musicand Mridangam. With thislatest addition, the univer-sity now has six PG coursesto offer. The reasons cited forstarting these courses were,“sufficient infrastructure, includ-ing a well-planned syllabiand qualifiedstaff. Besides,there are ahigh numberof studentslearningthese threesubjects at thedegree level in Keralaand this prompted usto begin postgraduatecourses,” says PNSuresh, vice-chancellor,Kalaman-dalamdeemeduniversity ofart and cul-ture, Thrissur.

The threecourses havea demand inthe professional field with manyjob opportunities available. Ac-cording to V Kaladharan, deputyregistrar, “Most of the art disci-plines taught at Kalamandalamrequire specialised platforms,unlike the newly-introducedcourses. For instance, those whoreceive advanced training inChenda can enter other genreslike Melam and Thayambaka,which have a strong audienceboth in Kerala and other states.Kathakali Chenda is not as flam-

boyant and anartist can partici-

pate in temple rit-uals to earn more.” Since its inception,

the institution hasbeen at the forefront

of nurturing artforms like Kathakali,

Thullal and Mohiniyattam. Theinstitution prides itself in retain-ing the Gurukul system of im-parting art education despite allodds. But, the university is cur-rently at the crossroads. Someartists and critics are scepticalabout the decision to introducemore general subjects at the ex-pense of reducing time for train-ing in the art forms at Kalaman-dalam.

In order to lay a strong foun-dation for research in the field of

performing arts, the universi-ty also plans to add coursesin cultural studies andjournalism, multimedia,mass communication,women studies anddocumentation.Accordingto Suresh,this willfacilitate exchanges atacademic and culturallevels.

Kalamandalamrecently con-ducted a six-day workshopon sage Bhara-ta’s Natyasas-tra. Over 70 stu-dents from Ker-ala, Karnataka,Pune, Chennai and Dubai partic-

ipated in the workshop guidedby the Natyasastra scholar andaesthete, professor PappuVenugopal Rao.

MK Narayanan, governor,West Bengal, and rector,

Viswabharati University,visited Kalamandalamto facilitate culturaland educational

exchange programmesbetween the two

institutions. Last year,Prime Minister

Manmohan Singhvisited Kalamandalamand laid thefoundation for amuseum displayingartefacts used insouth Indianperforming arts.

COURSECURSOR

Three courses inKathakali Chenda,Carnatic music andMridangam are likely toequip students withviable professional skills.Poonam Jain reports

SMART STEPS

Course requirements� ELIGIBILITY:BA degree in the subjectconcerned

� CURRENT BATCH:5 students for Carnaticmusic, 2 for KathakaliChenda and 2 forMridangam.Maximum intake for PG programme: 4

� FEES:Rs 3750 + 1000

� MORE INFORMATION:www.kalamandalam.org/courses.asp

FOR ANOBEL TIMESubhendu Roy and Debasish Manna,from the Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore, are attending the 63rd NobelLaureate Meeting in Lindau, Germanyfrom 30 June to 5 July

Poonam Jain / TNN

Subhendu Roy is an integrated PhD student, doinghis research in the department of inorganic andphysical chemistry. His aim is to get an insight into

the chemical reactions and exploit it for further benefitof mankind “This branch of chemistry, which is knownas computational chemistry, can help research im-mensely where experiment fails,” he says, hoping tosoon arrive at feasible ways of doing an experiment,which may otherwise, seem improbable and thus limitthe unwarranted expenditure.

Inching closer to a cure for thyroid is Debasish Man-na, also pursuing his research in the same departmentas Roy. He, along with the other scientists, are attempt-ing to develop a new drug molecule that could combathyperthyroidism. “My research work primarily focuseson understanding the mechanism of inner and outer-ring deiodination of thyroid hormones by IDs using sim-ple chemical models,” says Manna. If successful, itwould be the first molecule to come out of an Indian labfor hyperthyroidism.

Both, Roy and Manna, are currently rubbing shoulderswith the Nobel Laureates and other researchers fromacross the world at the Lindau Meeting. “This is one ofthe rare opportunities that will allow me to interact withthe best scientific minds in the field of chemistry and al-lied interdisciplinary areas,” says Roy, adding that theinteraction with the Nobel Laureates will help him bet-ter his thought process.

Manna has been select-ed to present his researchwork on thyroid at the Uni-versity of Regensburg dur-ing the study tour organ-ised by the German Re-search Foundation. “I hopethat our recent findings onthyroid hormone deiodina-tion will be criticallyjudged, as it would im-mensely benefit the futuredesigns of anti-thyroiddrugs,” he says, eagerlywaiting to get a glimpse ofthe German culture duringthe visit.

RESEARCHROUNDUP

Debasish MannaSubhendu Roy