Anthropology Today: Its Applications

This course teaches students the bases of applied anthropology and the various issues it tackles, ranging from public health and nutrition to sports anthropology and ergonomics. It discusses the changing nature of application of anthropological knowledge through the 20th century to the present and an insight into the dilemmas of ethical implications and the anthropological perspective. It surveys the broad field of activity that an anthropologist is involved in, through individual / group study of real life situations. It includes identifying contemporary situations that can be and should involve anthropology within its working principle and then studying them in detail so as to present the problem beyond the research to the practical workings that would benefit the people.

 

Ballroom and Latin American Dances

The international prominence and recognition that modern ballroom dancing has gained, makes it an important life skill, apart from being an art form.  This elective course teaches the standardization that has been achieved in the form through the basic steps and the technique that governs them. With an emphasis on partner work and technique, the course teaches both the theory and performative aspects of the following forms – Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Rumba, Samba, Cha cha-cha and the Jive.

 

Conversational Skills in Chinese

Designed with a view to imparting conversational skills, this elective course teaches students to construct and use simple sentences for various situations in daily life.  It teaches them to read and understand simple texts and solve questions based on the same. It also teaches them to understand and respond to basic questions and partake in simple conversations. They will be able to write informal letters, messages, or posts on social media. The course helps develop cross cultural skills along with language skills. With minimum usage of English or any other language, students are motivated to speak and understand the foreign language with the help of visual aids. Role plays and games are conducted to evaluate and help students apply the knowledge acquired. Cultural sensitization is undertaken through various activities. Grammar is taught functionally.

 

Conversational Skills in German

Designed with a view to imparting conversational skills, this elective course teaches students to construct and use simple sentences for various situations in daily life.  It teaches them to read and understand simple texts and solve questions based on the same. It also teaches them to understand and respond to basic questions and partake in simple conversations. They will be able to write informal letters, messages, or posts on social media. The course helps develop cross cultural skills along with language skills. With minimum usage of English or any other language, students are motivated to speak and understand German with the help of visual aids. Role plays and games are conducted to evaluate and help students apply the knowledge acquired. Cultural sensitization is undertaken through various activities. Grammar is taught functionally.

 

Critical Writing: Writing as Resistance, Writing as Recovery

Writing is an essential and often challenging component of a liberal arts education. This elective course advises and trains students to write systematically and coherently, express themselves with clarity and precision on diverse topics, in a variety of modes/forms. The intention is to enable students to learn meaningfully from a wide range of texts in a way that will simultaneously help them develop independence of thought, judgement and feeling. 

 

English Romanticism

This course broadly encircles the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and traces the political, social, philosophical and cultural changes at the end of the eighteenth century, to discover the themes that dominated the period, such as spirituality, imagination, nature, language, human desire, art, the artist, morality and gender. The pedagogical approach includes, class discussions, use of articles, newspaper clippings and videos, analyses and recurrent evaluations. While German romanticism is introduced, the focus of the course remains on the romantic poets - William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Gothic novel, Frankenstein, will also be studied.

 

Environmental Studies: Our Common Earth

This core course draws from anthropology, geography, development studies, public policy, law and the sciences among others, and takes a multi-disciplinary approach to understand the environment students inhabit. The course aims to inculcate a sense of social responsibility and awareness amongst students and ethical considerations in prospective industry professionals. The pedagogical approach to this course consists of classroom teaching, presentations, documentaries and videos, case studies, narratives and field visits. 

 

Film Appreciation

An elective course, Film Appreciation, introduces students to the world of cinema. Students are required to watch films created by other students across the world. This allows them to identify with the films and the standards they are required to achieve. This course helps students to perceive images and sound, and learn about people and their stories. The students will also learn in detail about how film images are formed and how certain narrative and performative traditions have given rise to specific film traditions — form and style — in different countries.

 

Fundamentals of IT

This core course is designed to help students address their present and anticipated needs with regard to personal, academic and professional skills. Starting from basics like Operating Systems, file handling and other technical skills needed during their tenure at SSLA, this course will also develop the knowhow of students in the basics of Coding, Artificial Intelligence and the latest developments in the technological world such as Machine Learning and the Internet of Things. The pedagogical approach will comprise lectures, group assignments and research-based projects. 

History of Ideas 

A core course, it has been devised to acquaint students with concepts and ideas that are fundamental to the growth of disciplines, the evolution of ideas, and the growth of structures such as nations and constitutions. This course serves a foundational purpose in the understanding of history and humanity, scientific enquiry, conception of rights and development of critical thinking: all essential precursors to a constructive and rewarding undergraduate education. 

 

Indian Language: Urdu Paper 1

This elective course is an introductory course to Urdu and has been created for beginners to equip them with basic communication skills, using the four skillsets of: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Students learn to read and write Urdu alphabets, words and sentences and build up a basic vocabulary. The course also helps students to identify an essential working vocabulary, allowing them to communicate within a limited range of solutions. It also helps students explain and apply basic grammatical construction.

 

Introduction to Hindustani Classical Music

The roots of Hindustani music can be found in Vedic literature of ancient India, like the Sama Veda and the Natyashastra. This ancient yet progressive, Indian yet universally appealing art form has evolved through centuries, assimilating within it a wide range of local folk, Arabic and even Persian influences, to acquire its present form.  Raag and taal are the two foundational elements of Hindustani music. The former comprises the fabric of the melodious structure, which along with the latter, which is the rhythmic time cycle, form the framework, which combined with the freedom of expression, ornamentation and aesthetics, bring out the rasa or the essence of a raag. This elective course seeks to develop an interest and appreciation amongst the students for this rich art form, by imparting knowledge about the various aspects of Hindustani classical music.

Introduction to Social Work

Social work is described as a helping profession that enables people to help themselves. Social work draws extensively upon the knowledge base from various streams in order to achieve the goal of helping people to help themselves. This elective course aims to enable students to understand the historical and ideological background within which the social work profession is situated. It also aims to touch upon the professional values and ethics that a person is expected to hold in social work, and expose students to different intervention skills required at different levels of intervention, be it the individual, family or the community.

 

Introduction to Women and Gender Studies

Patriarchy as an institution along with notions of masculinity has been the basis of discrimination and inequality. This introductory paper to Women and Gender Studies gives an insight into the global view of women’s movements and an introduction to feminism in the Far East, Europe and USA, Latin America, South Asia, Africa and West Asia and other areas. The paper also links the movements with the theoretical understanding posited by the academia, which allows the study of movements that happened in real life to be brought to the classroom. The course also covers basic concepts of identity, intersectionality and engages in discussions around narratives and images whereby gender is represented and stereotyped.

 

Legal Awareness 

Legal Awareness has been devised as a core course, to acquaint students with the nuances of legal approaches to socio-economic problems of contemporary India. The primary objective is to impart a clear understanding of the fundamental concepts of law and its function. Students will be exposed to academic lectures as well as interactive activities to assist them in their learning. The pedagogy is committed to cultivating the depth as well as broadening the scope of legal awareness – an essential asset in our world today. 

 

 

Linear Algebra

Many systems can be modelled mathematically using systems of linear equations, vector spaces, and matrix transformations in these vector spaces, and the subject of linear algebra deals with these ideas. The systems of interest for models constructed using linear algebra are not limited to those within the natural sciences and mathematics, but also include those in fields as varied as economics, machine learning, game design, and digital photography, to name a few. This course in linear algebra is suitable for students seeking an introduction to such mathematical modelling. Combined with computational techniques, linear algebra forms the basis of much of modern data analysis and students will gain an introduction to such techniques. There is also an integration of Python programming with all modules of the course.

 

Living with Climate Change

Climate Change is upon us – from floods and droughts to fires and heat waves, from melting glaciers and ice-caps to rising sea-levels – all across the world. This elective seeks to acquaint us with the science behind the consensus on Global Warming and its impacts; the politics that drives the global action to combat this soon-to-be catastrophic phenomenon; the technological developments that can avert this catastrophe, but do not find widespread traction; and the socio-economic forces that thwart systemic change, in spite of considerable popular support.  We explore and analyse the appropriateness and adequacy of a range of actions - international, national, local and personal, given the scale of the problem; and develop a perspective on living with changes that could perhaps be relentless and beyond catastrophic.

 

Multicultural Worldviews

The broad objective of this course is based on the need to develop a fine-tuned and multidisciplinary appreciation of the construction and significance of diversity and multiculturalism. It highlights the need to comprehend historical power asymmetries, their influence on present experiences of power and privilege, and the responses of various agencies and institutions to manifest multiculturality. This module focuses on the application of a multidisciplinary and multisectoral gaze to reflect upon the impact of diversity and multiculturalism in shaping life opportunities and experiences – thereby, examining the diverse experiences of local and global communities. The pedagogical approach to this course consists of discussions in the classroom, projects on experiences of diversity, multiculturalism, and alternative scenarios.

 

Natyashastra

Composed by Sage Bharata, Natyashastra is an ancient Sanskrit text which is said to have been derived from the four Vedas, namely: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda. It delineates a sophisticated and stylish technique of performing arts. Apart from Bhava, Rasa, Raga and Tala, the text also covers the aspects of drama, dance aesthetics, stage design, abhinaya, makeup, mathematical and rhythmic footsteps, eye movement, arm movement, music and audience. This elective course seeks to introduce different elements of Natyashastra to students and provide practical instruction.  The course seeks to spread awareness as to how the Natyashastra, helps connect the body with the mind.

 

Reading the Classics

Classic Literature usually involves literary works that are universally accepted as being exemplary pieces, either through lists of various reputed and established institutions, or through a reader's own opinion. This elective course will cross timelines from the mid-18th century to early 20th century, cross borders and boundaries from the British Isles to North America. It will contextualize the classics keeping in mind the times that they were written in; juxtapose them against present-day realities; translate the problems and issues faced in the contemporary world vis-a-vis the plot, characters, circumstances narrated in the classics; and seek probable resolutions through the lessons learnt from the classics studied.

 

Scientific Inquiry and Learning Science

Learning science is often equated with the familiarity of technical terms and laws combined with the ability to manipulate formulae and equations (e.g. f = ma) or having ‘information’ about various disciplines of sciences e.g. physics, chemistry, biology. Inquiry means investigation, the process of finding out something through one’s own thinking, reasoning and/or observation. ‘Scientific inquiry’ refers to the mode of investigation that is characteristic of science. In this elective course, the focus will be on understanding scientific concepts and propositions and integrating ideas across disciplinary boundaries. The pursuit of inquiry offers us a learning process through observing, thinking, and reasoning like scientists and developing agile minds that will know ‘How to learn’.

 

Short Stories from Around the World

The objective of Short Stories from Around the World is to closely read some of the short stories from across the world and different periods in history to explore the form, cultural motifs, ramifications of literary style and the times. This course explores how stories act as the channel of time and live within a literary space, along with its linguistic tropes (often reinterpreted through translations), imageries, portrayals, and narrative strategies. It explores the innate need to articulate the human experience through the means of storytelling. The pedagogical approach to the course consists of interactive class discussions on concepts, narrative styles, historical positionings, comparative study of multiple texts, and pertinent theoretical debates.

 

Sustainability for the post-2015 World

The year 2015 was a watershed year for the concept of sustainability. The world saw a culmination of the international efforts under the Millennium Development Goals, and the framing of the Sustainable Development Goals. An international agreement on climate change mitigation and adaptation was also achieved after prolonged negotiations that had been going on for more than 5 years. The year also saw an escalation of terrorist activities across the world, leading to an international refugee crisis, which continues to impact sustainability issues across the world. This elective course is aimed at understanding the implications of these events from the perspective of a sustainable future for humanity. The broad focus of the course will be on global issues of food-water-energy security, green business processes, urbanization, among others. Specific challenges faced in the Indian and local (Pune) context will also be addressed.

 

Urban Studies: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives

This course has been designed in such a way that students can use the research methodologies they learnt in previous papers and apply them to the new and contemporary topic of Urban Studies. The objectives of this paper are to delineate the historical origins of urbanization in India, to situate contemporary Indian urbanization within the western discourse, to discuss interdisciplinarity in studying urbanity and to understand the city from the practices of academics and city planners across the disciplines of history, sociology, anthropology and geography. The course will also offer students the chance to learn about the different perspectives in urban planning from the greats in history like Max Weber, Karl Marx and George Simmel.

 

Writing Across Genre: Freeing Creativity

This core course has been designed to invoke the writer’s ability to be spontaneous, creative and imaginative. Students are expected to observe and analyse their surroundings, read and consume the works of other writers, and create deeply personal and varied works. The course takes an experimental pedagogical approach which includes classroom discussions, group discussions, screenings and in-class activities to name a few. It aims to acquaint students with their perceptions of themselves and their world, while reflecting on their own creative process as a writer.