Harish and Bina Shah School of Humanities
The humanities offer vital ways of understanding human experience through the study of language, literature, history, philosophy, culture, and the arts. At Ashoka University, the humanities form a cornerstone of a liberal arts education, encouraging students to engage critically with ideas, interpret complex social and cultural realities, and develop thoughtful responses to the challenges of an interconnected world.
Established in 2024 through the generous support of the Harish & Bina Shah Foundation, the Harish and Bina Shah School of Humanities at Ashoka University advances excellence in teaching, research, and public engagement across a diverse range of disciplines. The School provides a vibrant intellectual environment that promotes rigorous scholarship, creative expression, interdisciplinary collaboration, and meaningful dialogue across academic fields.
Through its departments, centres, and academic programmes, the School seeks to cultivate intellectual curiosity, empathy, cultural understanding, and analytical thinking while contributing to broader conversations on society, culture, history, and the human condition.
Goals
The Harish and Bina Shah School of Humanities aims to:
- Advance excellence in teaching, research, and creative practice across the humanities while fostering rigorous scholarship and intellectual inquiry.
- Cultivate critical thinking, communication, creativity, empathy, and ethical reflection, enabling students to engage thoughtfully with complex ideas and contemporary challenges.
- Deepen understanding of human cultures, histories, languages, philosophies, and artistic traditions across diverse societies, places, and time periods.
- Promote interdisciplinary collaboration across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and computing, encouraging new approaches to knowledge creation and problem-solving.
- Create platforms for intellectual and cultural exchange through lectures, workshops, conferences, performances, exhibitions, and other public-facing initiatives that connect scholarship with wider society.
- Foster respect for diverse perspectives, values, and lived experiences while building meaningful partnerships with academic, cultural, philanthropic, and public institutions in India and globally.
