Liberal arts in India: Still a niche or the next big shift?

India Today

6 hours ago

Once considered a niche pursuit, liberal arts education is now slowly finding its footing in India's academic landscape. As the country shifts focus from rote learning to interdisciplinary thinking, the liberal arts promise a more holistic and critical approach to knowledge. But is this transformation reflected meaningfully in Indian universities? Are students and parents beginning to see value in a liberal arts degree amid a still-strong bias towards engineering, medicine, and commerce?To understand where liberal arts stands today in Indian higher education, IndiaToday.in spoke to Prof. Chandan Gowda, Professor and Dean of the School of Liberal Arts at Vidyashilp University, who has been at the forefront of shaping and advocating for liberal arts education in India.advertisementTHE GROWING RELEVANCE OF LIBERAL ARTS IN A CHANGING INDIAThe immense value of a liberal arts education in India cannot be in doubt. The social sciences and humanities offer a careful and critical understanding of the past and present of the country's social, political and economic institutions. In imparting this knowledge, they also help appreciate the diverse ways of knowing the Indian world: the work of historians, sociologists, political scientists, economists, psychologists, philosophers, novelists, artists, among others, illuminates the diverse perspectives through which Indian society can be understood. Liberal arts enable students to appreciate the depth and complexity of India - they are indispensable for higher education.HOW STORYTELLING SHAPES LEADERS AND CREATORSEthnography strives to make interpretive sense of cultural worlds. It has arrived at sophisticated means of doing fieldwork for understanding cultural practices in various fields. Ethnographic thinking, which heightens the awareness of and sensitivity to the cultural, political and moral lives of communities and societies, offers students a valuable intellectual orientation to the human condition. The core course in ethnography that all students do at Vidyashilp University acquaints them with rich ethnographic scholarship and field methods and helps them become empathetic and critically minded citizens, leaders and social observers.HIGHER EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY?advertisement
Sadly, the answer here is no. Students in the natural sciences, engineering, medicine, commerce, management, have little or no opportunity to encounter the sophisticated discussions in the liberal arts in their institutions of higher education. Even those who have chosen to study social sciences and humanities for their higher education do not usually encounter high quality curricula and learning environments in their colleges. The latter are essential for a well-grounded engagement with one's own society.BRINGING KANNADA STORIES TO LIFE IN THE CLASSROOMLiterature and cinema illuminate the complexities of the social world. Social science conversations gain immensely from engaging them since the latter help illuminate the diversity in the human self, in the imagination of community, in the experience of time, in the expression of critique, among others. Texts from Kannada - as well as from other language - literatures that explore these dimensions foster a rich and complex intellectual awareness among students.What kind of student does the School of Liberal Arts at Vidyashilp hope to nurture?A student with a solid appreciation of inter-disciplinary knowledge and an evolved capacity for critical thinking and deep regard for ethical practices.