Charting a new path
PREPARING FOR FUTURE
Ashoka University Sonipat, Haryana
www.ashoka.edu.in
The academic journey for Ashoka University began in 2010 with the Young India Fellowship Programme even before it got a campus in 2014. "We want to make a difference by being a university completely dedicated to liberal arts education, and we will continue to do so. We won't have institutes of technology, business management or a law school," says Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Chancellor, Ashoka University.
At Ashoka, one needs to do a set of foundation courses before opting for a major out of the 11 subjects at hand including four basic sciences, or pursue an interdisciplinary major such as economics and finance, computer science and entrepreneurship, or do a minor course alongside. Classes are discussion-driven and the faculty is free to design individual courses. Ali Imran, VP, External Engagement says, "It's more about co-creation of knowledge than streaming from the professor," adding that the objective is to help students think and analyse problems, and question and communicate.
Mahesh Rangarajan, professor of history, says, "Students get to attend critical thinking seminars and creative workshops on writing." Not all courses have end of term exams-a student is evaluated based on projects, group exercises or class participation. "Ashoka never sleeps," is how Deboshruti Roychowdhury, Dean of Student Life, describes the uniqueness of the campus, with students engaged in group studies and post-midnight discussions. Several students get financial aid of some kind, and some even get full scholarships.
-By Harshita Das
GOING BEYOND CURRICULUM
Apeejay Stya University Gurgaon, Haryana
www.university.apeejay.edu
With the focus on research, innovation and liberal arts, Apeejay Stya University (ASU) follows a multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach enabling students to pursue interests in other disciplines without compromising on the core degree. According to S K Salwan, Vice-Chancellor, ASU, "We are trying to integrate the new age advanced courses such as cloud computing, data management, and internet of things in the curriculum to produce job-ready professionals for the future." The faculty has a lesson plan and a substantial part of the curriculum is taught by industry experts at the university. Frequent workshops are conducted on contemporary issues such as science, technology, business and media to help the students stay abreast of latest developments. With a learner-centric, experiential and technology-based teaching and learning method at ASU, the university also provides a platform to foster a culture of entrepreneurship. ASU has collaboration with associations such as the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). After the classes get over, students are often spotted at -By Aishwarya Chattoraj
