Page 25 - EducationWorld March 2023

be historicized. This will require all their studies at BMU in August 2023, perspectives, while being grounded
students to develop an understanding SoLS will offer Majors and Minors in in their parent discipline so they will
in social and natural sciences such the Social Sciences and the Humani- have expertise in a chosen Major
that, though they might not Major in ties. Each of the Majors are designed and at the same time have a critical
a particular field, they will have an by established academicians from perspective towards their specialisa-
informed opinion about how their across India and will equip students tion as well. Thus for example, a
own practice is interconnected to with the core disciplinary ground- Biology Major shall know the social
other fields and how their actions ing, professional skills, and hands-on situation of the world which allowed
can impact the history and future of experiential learning they need to a Darwin to emerge and his theory
humanity. thrive. BML faculty are recruited to be accepted. She shall also be
At BMU, the BA(H) in Liberal from leading universities worldwide expected to know the various ways
Arts is anchored in our Foundational who will bring their expertise to offer his ideas were used by various groups
Courses (FCs). These interdisciplin- a truly international perspective to – for example, how they were used by
ary courses, common to all first-year each of the courses. Nazis in their ethnic cleansing or how
undergraduates, allow students to The uniqueness of SoLS, within it was used to undermine the basis of
explore the methods, debates, history an ecosystem including professional racial separation or how it taught all
and politics involved in the natural schools of management, engineering of us that we are all part of the same
and social sciences. FCs serve two and law, also means that SoLS is able human species. Similarly a Sociology
primary purposes for SoLS. First, to make use of the expertise of facul- Major shall know the developments
they introduce students to the guiding ties from across schools at BMU. in digital technology, how technology
principles of Liberal Arts. Second, Thus, SoLS will also be offering enables global surveillance and at the
they equip them to undertake the interdisciplinary Minors in Math- same time, how scientists have used
project of education as a lifelong ematics, Data Science, Computer technology to inform us about climate
activity. This process is not merely Programming and Physics. We plan change.
additive, with students simply ac- to increase this list of interdisciplin- Making this complex connection
cumulating new knowledge into their ary Majors and Minors in the coming requires SoLS to design a Liberal
pre-existing framework and subjec- years. Arts course that can create criss-
tivities. Rather, FCs aim to displace SoLS students will be equipped to crossing pathways between speciali-
the existing categories that students weave together diverse disciplinary sations. This interconnected course-
are familiar with and encourage them work must be grounded in students’
to take a qualitative leap into unfa- SoLS students will be lives, enabling them to develop
miliar territory. equipped to weave concepts and theories that help them
Since the BA program revolves make sense of their life experience.
around the Majors, FCs also serve to together diverse Therefore immersive fieldwork,
introduce students to the Majors, giv- disciplinary perspectives internships, student-led seminars, in-
ing them an opportunity to appreciate while being grounded in novative assessments, and a dialogic
the strengths of other disciplines. their parent discipline classroom atmosphere are all crucial
For the initial cohort who will begin components of our BA program.

EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2023