Kolkata’s acclaimed Presidency University’s has decided to give its students a new taste of learning to add spice to their otherwise monotonous curriculum. With the onset of the coming New Year, Presidency University will become the country’s only privileged institution to provide interdisciplinary studies programme to its students.
The introduction of the new scheme of things will empower the students to choose course subjects like “Love” which indeed is off the beaten track in context of Indian academics. The visionary step is expected to act as a breather for the students and provide room for their multifaceted development in academics.
Malabika Sarkar, the vice-chancellor of the university divulged the details of the new programme’s introduction as an added part of the university’s curriculum to the media in this regard. Interestingly, the step helped Presidency College enter the annals of Indian academics for being the first educational institution to provide academic education on subjects beyond their major subject. This interdisciplinary approach to education will assist students in developing their knowledge and academic base besides upholding the liberal views of the university pertaining to education.
“The course based on love is set to be taught by our university’s sociology department. It will deal with the theoretical aspects of love and enrich the students with literary knowledge and sociological implications of this side of the human perspective,” said Sarkar while speaking on the new course on love.
The university had earlier taken a deeply analysed and premeditated step in the month of July towards the introduction of the new interdisciplinary course. They began introducing students to various diverse topics irrespective of their majors subject to initiate the programme with élan. This programme will help them to take up subjects which they could not till now owing to academic constraints put on the choice of only specified subjects pertaining to each stream.
The current scenario will help any science student to indulge in a subject belonging to mainstream liberal arts or any humanities student can get a taste of science without much ambiguity. “This is the first initiative of its kind in the history of academics in India. We have decided to juxtapose the streams so that students take up the two required pass subjects with seriousness. We have just replaced the pass subjects with the help of the programme,” said professor Raychaudhury, HOD of the university’s physics department.
The scheme of things to take up pass subjects is now much easier and interesting for the students compared to earlier times. Instead of two pass subjects, the students now have a set of ten papers which they have to take during their entire curriculum. The science students are required to take at least two arts subjects and vice versa the arts students need to take up two science subjects as well.
The entire process is expected to get educationally interesting in all respects according to one and all. Introduction of offbeat subjects like “Love”, “Physics in Everyday Life” and many more will add spice to the programme. Students belonging to other streams can thus easily opt for the course on love to learn a few knickknacks on the subject.