Course Groups
Biology
Courses in Biology, Mathematics and Physics. iThink Biology: Our free online textbook to study and teach Biology.Climate Studies
These courses will help you develop the knowledge necessary to understand the earth’s climate systems. You will examine and analyse the role of human activity on the earth’s climate and its effects on the present and future climate scenarios, and identify the effects of climate change on biodiversity through the lens of historical changes in the Holocene. We hope you will apply systems thinking to examine the origins of the climate crisis and proposed solutions and grow comfortable with civic engagement and transfer of knowledge and resources for climate solutions at different levels.Computational and Integrative Biology
This track is designed for students who are keen on understanding molecular and cellular scale processes through multiple perspectives including computational analysis and physical laws. Students will be able to appreciate why multiple perspectives are needed to study phenomena operating at a range of time and length scales (such as development).Concentrations
Choose 4 elective courses of 12 credits in total covering a specific theme or topic in development.Core Economic Courses
Our core courses train you in foundational knowledge and skills necessary for understanding economics from the developmental context of contemporary India. The courses cover traditional economic theory and methods, as well as the institutional developmental and ecological concerns we face in India.Creative Expressions
In this set of courses, you will explore embodied ways of learning through a sustained practice of an art form or a sport. You could choose from a variety of interests including, but not limited to woodwork, martial arts, music, theatre, dance, yoga and visual art.Cultural Studies
Actions, thoughts and expressions related to different aspects of our lives — nation, gender, religion, family — are involved in continuing contestations. How do we understand all these aspects of ‘culture’? These courses will take you through different kinds of texts and teach you how to read them from different disciplinary locations.Data, Democracy and Development
The set of courses will orient you to think about data as an essential part of building empathy and democratic values. We ensure you have the requisite tools for data collection, analysis, presentation, and dissemination so that you can construct the right platforms and build technologies that embody democratic principles. These courses will foster a culture of investigation with data, keeping in mind questions of ethics and politics.Development
Development aims to create social conditions for individual and social well being. How are development issues framed and what issues are involved in bringing about social change? What are the theoretical, conceptual and practical contestations around the political project that is development? This set of courses explores the many interdisciplinary fields like the humanities, social sciences, science and technology that inform development challenges.Development Studies
Development aims to create social conditions for individual and social well being, How are development issues framed and what issues are involved in bringing about social change? What are the theoretical, conceptual and practical contestations around the political project that is development? This set of courses explores the many interdisciplinary fields like the humanities, social sciences, science and technology that inform development challenges.How do we address these continuous issues in a country that upholds equality in its constitution? We explore the many challenges of India and its social inequalities. India has high school dropout rates in rural and tribal communities,…Early Childhood Education
You will learn about the appropriate experiences and practices necessary for young children that foster overall development. You will understand how to work with the age group of 3 – 8 years, mainly the preschool and early primary years of schooling. You can also choose to conduct an independent study in which you work with a faculty mentor to draw up a plan of study that is theoretical or field based. You will have to create a rigorous proposal and produce a scholarly article, a teaching learning material, a research report or project proposal.Ecology and Environment
This track is designed for students who are interested in ecology and environmental biology. It will build upon fundamental concepts of ecology covered in the Introduction to Biology courses and allow students to gain a deeper understanding of methods used to study our natural surroundings and the effect of human activity on our environment.Economics
We live in a world with economic data and models as a central part of public service and life. With these courses, you will benefit from using your philosophical abilities to the discipline of economic thought. You will work with constructing models, evaluating economic policies and work with data.Economy, Labour, and Environmental Histories
Using well-established historiographic approaches and subfields in the discipline of history, this set of courses explore key social, economic and political processes that have had impacted labouring peoples and historically marginalised social groups across time.Education
You will apply your philosophical capacities to the discipline of education.Education
In this set of courses, you will learn the nature and content of education, and its context and structure, especially in India. We begin by a broad overview of what a democratic conception of education entails, and what the values and ethics that define educational structures are. We examine aspects of education that encourage learning and the role of a teacher in the learning process. will explore and evaluate classroom practices and environments and learn how educational processes determine what is worth teaching.Foundations
Courses to strengthens critical thinking, logical reasoning and trains you in effective verbal and written communication.Foundations
These courses will help you develop a toolkit to prepare for your undergraduate study. You will develop your critical reading and writing skills and communication abilities. The key areas you will work on are language capacities, reading, writing and speaking. We will work with different forms of writing, ranging from autobiographical writing to mappings and note-taking. These classes will include classroom discussions, presentations, collaborative works, group work and practicums.Global and Connected Histories
Courses in this cluster of electives will expose students to history in an interconnected and global perspective. They break away from a nationalist mooring of the discipline of history (and its implicit Eurocentrism) to ask questions about shifting territorial and fluvial frontiers, oceanic worlds, diasporas and migrations, and the travel of people, cultures, and ideas across the globe.Independent Study
Students also have the possibility of taking an independent study under the guidance of an economics faculty member on a specialized topic of interest for additional credits. This will include intensive self-study, or a extended essay and research report. The option of an independent study must be exercised in consultation with the concerned faculty member and will be evaluated and approved by the economics faculty on a case by case basis.Intellectual and Cultural Histories
This is a set of courses that look at the meta questions of history and the everyday and material aspects of social life across different time periods. These courses explore intellectual and conceptual history, the history of ideas, the philosophy of history and historiography. These courses are concerned with theoretical movements in the humanities and social sciences, especially anthropology which looks at culture.Interdisciplinary Studies
You can choose one interdisciplinary area of study of four courses and a field practice of two weeks. These courses are about current Indian and global scenarios, whether social, political, cultural or ecological conditions.Internship
The Masters Internship is one of two optional tracks available to all students. It has two components, namely a Master’s Internship and Community Engagement. The Master’s Internship entails an eight-week engagement, typically with a civil society organisation or government official to gain insight into economic work in the development sector. In Community Engagement, students spend two-weeks with local communities to bring about an improvement in some social or environmental outcomes. With an internship, you will be able to put your knowledge into practice in a context and do real economic analysis in the world.