Interdisciplinary School Science (IDS): Savitribai Phule Pune University

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B.A.(Liberal Arts)

1. Liberal Arts Education

In an increasingly integrated and interconnected world, the ability to connect information dots and integrate knowledge driven insights has become very crucial in many walks of social and professional life. Developing such ability is not an easy task. It requires an education that helps to see the world beyond the tight disciplinary boundaries.

The liberal arts education holds a great promise to develop a mindset which seeks harmony in different knowledge fields without diluting their substance. This was, in fact, the most natural way of learning for a very long period in time before the modern education shifted to a ‘specialist’ and ‘disciplinary’ mode. Liberal arts education focuses on understanding the latent but vital links between the science, humanities and arts. It reflects the spirit of ‘Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram’ wherein the the fundamental quests of truth and beauty remain eternally connected with larger social good.

Liberal Arts education does not to deny the value of disciplines and specialization. It simply seeks the freedom to creatively move across the fields of specializations with a view to develop a more humane version of knowledge. Liberal arts education thus exists in the enriching contradictions between disciplines and freedom. It is an enabling and enriching education which help develop a vision that sees the links between different fields of knowledge. It seeks deep and personal engagement with the full range of human knowledge and experience. If specialization is desired, it should ideally follow liberal arts education. It is an education which prepares students with the intellectual abilities and societal capacities to contribute to, and be successful in a globally engaged milieu.

2. B. A. Liberal Arts at SPPU:

Considering the growing importance of liberal arts perspective in academics and industry worldwide, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has launched a three years Bachelor’s degree course in Liberal Arts i.e. B. A. (Liberal Arts) from July 2019. Conducted by Interdisciplinary School of Sciences (IDSS) the course aims to help students develop an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to knowledge and problem solving. It is the first full time programme in Liberal Arts conducted by a public/state university in Maharashtra. It is also among the handful of bachelor’s programmes run on the SPPU campus.

The programme is spread over three years i.e. six semesters. It offers an exciting combination of diverse subjects. Here, music can be studied along with mathematics and microbiology can be discussed alongside media. Here physics can converse with philosophy and anthropology can talk to atmospheric sciences. The course offers an opportunity to students to make an interesting combination of subjects from the given set of electives and tracks. However, it doesn’t mean that the student ends up becoming a jack of all trades and master of none. From the second years onwards, students engage intensely with a subject of their choice from the given set. Called as ‘major’, this intense engagement brings student at par with the graduation level knowledge in the chosen subject. This enables student to pursue a Master’s course in that subject.

The course is designed keeping in mind the broad demographic, educational and psychographic profile of 12th pass student. It offers various inputs to improve the writing, presentation, performance and analytical skills of the students. The course also incorporates various subjects and skills required for the digital age. Being on the University campus, the course enjoys the company of more than 50 Departments and Centres conducting courses and research in a huge variety of subjects. The opportunity to interact with the faculty and students of these Departments on daily basis is a great advantage for the liberal arts course.

Following are the B.A. Liberal Arts course:

To offer a robust and broad-based academic exposure at graduate level

To enhance integrated and holistic outlook towards knowledge and problem solving

To strengthen analytical and applied skills

To develop various writing, presentation and digital skills

To prepare a fertile ground for various post graduate courses.

To improve employability of students.

Besides the option of doing a masters in one subject, the course is also designed to enhance various skills and perspectives required for better employability. The course opens up many windows for various skill-oriented subjects and experience-based learning. This multi-dimensional learning paves way for career in various industry verticals.

3. Course Structure:**

(** Some information under this section may change in the final program)

The three-year B. A. (Liberal Arts) course is spread over six semesters. The course is based on the choice-based credit system which allows students to earn a part of their course credits by selecting subjects of their choice.

The course is for a total of 120 credits wherein each semester accounts for 20 credits. The structure of the course is based on the following basic pedagogical/ learning units:

• Core Papers- Provide broad interdisciplinary orientation by introducing key ideas, concepts and perspectives from various subjects. Nine compulsory papers.

• Major Subject- Focussed on specific knowledge area. Includes 10 papers which are interrelated and progressively arranged. Students can select their ‘Major’.

• Minor Subject- Focusses on specific knowledge area. Includes 5 papers which are interrelated and progressively arranged. Students can select their ‘Minor’.

• Electives Papers- Introductory in orientation. Broad based. Can form ‘clusters’. Students can select their elective papers from a range of subjects.

• Skill Based Papers- Demonstration and practical oriented. Focussed on skills for necessary for employability.

• Experience Based Papers- Learning through internship, workshop, seminars, community work, field visits.

• Project- Application and problem solving. Students select their topic/theme for project and work on it under supervision/mentoring of experts.

‘Major’ and ‘Minor’ papers come into picture from second year i.e. third semester onwards. The emphasis on these papers increase gradually till the final semester. Core papers appear more in the first two semesters and then gradually make space for papers under ‘Major’ and ‘Minor’. Elective and Experience Based papers are placed throughout all the semesters.

Core Papers: Together the nine Core Papers cover academic inputs from Humanities, Science and general analytical abilities. These Core Papers are spread over first five semesters. Each Core Paper is for 3 credits. The core papers offer inter-disciplinary inputs from the perspectives of the following subject themes: History, Philosophy, Sociology, Economics, Digital Humanities, Law, Natural Science, Environmental Science, Health and Psychology and Research & Analytical Orientation.

Major Subjects: Following subjects are proposed to be included in the list of ‘major’ for the course. Students can select one of these subjects as their ‘Major’. Each ‘Major’ subject will be covered in 10 papers spread across four semesters (from 3rd to 6th Sem). Each paper under the ‘Major’ subject is for 3 credits. Depending on the response, feedback and availability of resources, subjects can be added to or deleted from the following list:- Psychology, Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Media and Communication Studies, Digital Humanities, Anthropology, Geography, Maths & Stats, Environment Science, Health Science.

Minor Subjects: Following subjects are proposed to be included in the list of ‘minor for the course. Students can select one of these subjects as their ‘Minor’. Each ‘Minor’ subject will be covered in 5 papers spread across four semesters (from 3rd to 6th Sem). Each paper under the ‘Minor’ subject is for 3 credits. Depending on the response, feedback and availability of resources, subjects can be added or deleted from the following list: Literature in Indian Languages, Indian Agriculture, Business Studies, Education, Bioscience. Besides, students can take up six appropriate papers from one of the ‘major’ subjects for their ‘minor’ track of subject.

Elective Papers: Following subjects are proposed for inclusion in the list of ‘electives’ for the course. Based on feedback, response and availability of resources, the list can be changed. Elective papers are for two credits. Each elective is for 2 credits. The paper titles under the electives will be related to the following subject themes or cluster. Students will have to select five subject / clusters and each cluster will be covered in two papers of 2 credits each. The subject/clusters are: Law, Language & Literature, Film Studies, Philosophy, Indology, Performing Arts, Networking, Computing, Physics, and, Chemistry.

Skill Based Papers: Following subjects are proposed for inclusion in the list of ‘Skill based Papers’ for the course. These papers can be of 1 or 2 credits. Each skill subject will be covered in two or three papers. Students are free to take up any combination of the papers. These papers will be taught primarily in Demonstration/ Practical mode and the assessment will be entirely based on the practical performance of students. Depending on the response, feedback and availability of resources the following list could be changed at a later stage: Writing (Creative and Applied), Presentation (Formal and Professional), Software (Research/ Visual), Visual (Photo/ Video), Network (HTML Prog/ Social Media), Event.

A subject and a paper under Major, Minor, Elective and Skill component will be run only if a certain minimum number of students officially enrol for it. The students will be asked to register their preferences of papers and based on the response and resources, subjects or papers will be taken up for that semester/ batch. The minimum number of students required for conducting the paper will be intimated to students in advance.

4. Career Prospects:

The Liberal Arts course aims to give students a competitive edge by training them in a diverse set of skills, besides offering discipline centric knowledge and training. Individuals with Liberal Arts education are sought by in various professions which value communication skills, analytical mindset, multicultural views and sensitivity towards diversity. This implies that Liberal Arts course opens up opportunities of career particularly in-

Content development and analysis
Journalism, Anchoring
Digital media
Studies of economic, political and social trends
Public relations
Marketing
Human resources
Development sector
Community engagement through Non-Governmental Organization
Sustainability studies
Entrepreneurship

And of course, a graduation in Liberal Arts builds a strong ground for higher studies in various interdisciplinary courses as well as in courses taken up as major at graduation.

5. Eligibility of the Course and Intake of Student:

Students who have passed their Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC/Std. 12) examination from any stream (i.e. science, commerce, arts etc) are eligible to apply. The Liberal Arts program is looking to admit students who are curious, analytical and eager to explore beyond the boundaries of specific disciplines.

The course would admit 40 students per batch. The admission of the students is governed by the reservation and quota related rules and regulations instituted by Government of Maharashtra from time to time.

6. Admission & Entrance Examination:

The admission for the course will be based on an online Entrance Examination based on multiple choice questions. The exam comprises two sections. The first section of 20 marks is based on general aptitude whereas the second section of 80 marks is based on questions drawn in from various subjects from Science and technology, humanities, commerce & management and interdisciplinary subjects. It will also include questions on current affairs and general knowledge.

The Online Entrance Exam for the course is scheduled in July. The exact schedule and venue of the examination will be declared on the admission portal of the University. The candidates should apply online. The online application form will be available on the website of SPPU: https://campus.unipune.ac.in/CCEP/Login.aspx

Admissions to the course will be governed by the statutory provisions related to reservation and quota as mandated by the Government of Maharashtra.

Syllabus of the Online Examination for B.A. Liberal Arts: The Online Entrance Exam- 2019 for the B. A. Liberal Arts will be based on the following units. The description here is meant to provide only a general idea and scope of the unit. It does not intend to suggest a highly specialized knowledge of the unit. The units are not mutually exclusive and the list of points therein is not exhaustive. The general benchmark for the level of expected knowledge/ awareness about unit number ‘i to ix’ is pegged at the 10th Standard examination.

Literature and Art: Important books, performing arts, painting, artefacts, folk arts, authors, artists, styles, developments, historical phases, movements etc in the context of Maharashtra, rest of India and the world.
History: Concepts, people, places, events, issues, stages, turning points, wars, treaties, artefacts etc which have a historical significance in Indian and global context.
Geography: Earth, places, people, flora & fauna, climate, mountains, rivers, various geographical features, maps etc in Indian and global context.
Religion and Culture: Mythology, holy scripture, places, people, practices, celebrations etc related to various religions and, traditions, customs, practices, values, artefacts etc related to various cultures.
Politics and Civic Life: Concepts, practices, forms of governance, movements, parties, people, events, quotations etc related to politics in Maharashtra, rest of India and the world. Rules & regulations, norms and practices etc related to civic life in India. Basic information about the Constitution and public administration in India.
Economics: Concepts, people, events, issues, developments, ideas, status, debates etc related to various fields of business and economy in Indian and global context.
Science and Technology: Concepts, ideas, laws, theories, experiments, inventions & discoveries, scientists, scientific bodies, awards, debates etc in various field of science and technology.
Environment: Concepts, issues, people, places, debates around the environmental issues in India and the world.
Health: Concepts, issues, practices, norms, debates related to human health and medicine in Indian context.
Indian Agriculture: Concepts, issues, practices, debates, policies, status etc related to Agriculture in Maharashtra and India.
Media: History, concepts, institutes and bodies, content, personalities, technologies etc. related to various media in India and in the world.
Current Affairs: Various issues, events, awards, people, developments, inventions, controversies etc related to various fields/ walks of life that were in the limelight in the preceding two years.