The Young India Fellowship attracts the finest academicians, practitioners and experts in the field to the classroom, and gives them the autonomy to innovate, create and craft curricula. This is a rare freedom within academia and ensures an unparalleled teaching and learning experience, not just for YIF, but across all programmes at Ashoka University.
The diversity in courses is also reflected in the varied styles of teaching and assessment, which includes discussions, seminars, field visits, presentations and group work. While catering to multiple learning styles, this allows you to learn from a range of perspectives, and prepare yourself to be a critical thinker - a key 21st century skill.
Ashoka has institutionalised the Socratic way of teaching: focusing on teaching students how to think rather than just what to think. YIF, as part of the University, encourages students to ask questions rather than just passively absorbing and churning information; and generate debate and discussion around issues rather than imposing a top-down model of knowledge dissemination. At the YIF, we want to change your perspective from the standard rote learning pedagogy and introduce in the classroom an innovative and interactive pedagogy which will lead to knowledge creation and creative thinking.
The YIF offers a dynamic range of courses every year that are carefully curated and offered by renowned faculty from India and abroad. Each course offering is from a distinct academic or professional domain. Disciplines range from sciences to social sciences and from leadership to the arts. Course offerings include public policy, art appreciation, gender and media studies, leadership, group dynamics, business essentials, Shakespeare, communication, and Indian elections.
As mentioned in the programme structure, Fellows study a total of about 20 courses during the programme. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
Course | Faculty |
---|---|
Foundations of Leadership |
Dwight Jaggard |
JM Financial Lectures on Reason and the Makers of Modern India |
Rudrangshu Mukherjee |
Economics and Public Policy: An Introduction to Applied Microeconomics |
AK Shiva Kumar |
Women, Society and Changing India |
Urvashi Butalia |
Heart of Leadership and Group Dynamics |
Kenwyn Smith |
Art Appreciation |
Anunaya Chaubey |
Mathematical Thinking | Maya Saran Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Ashoka University |
Leadership Lessons from the Road Less Travelled | Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Padma Shree Founder, Infoedge (Naukri.com); Founder and Trustee, Ashoka University |
Shakespeare and the World | Jonathan Gil Harris Professor of English, Ashoka University Madhavi Menon Professor of English, Ashoka University |
Indian Constitutionalism: Theory and Practice / The Rule of Law | Madhav Khosla Author, Ambedkar Visiting Associate Professor, Columbia Law School |
Problem Solving and Statistical Thinking in Modern Life | Santosh Venkatesh Associate Professor, University of Pennsylvania |
Indian Ecosophy / Global Ecosophy |
Aseem Shrivastava Environmental economist and activist |
Kabir: The Poet of Vernacular Modernity | Purushottam Agrawal Renowned Kabir and Bhakti scholar |
Indian Financial Regulation and Policy | KP Krishnan Former Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India |
Design Thinking and Innovation | Ranjan Banerjee Dean and Professor, SPJIMR, Mumbai Ruppal W Sharma Professor and Head, SPJIMR, New Delhi |
India and the World: A Strategic History Since 1945 |
Rudra Chaudhuri |
Philosophy and Cognitive Science | Ritwik Agrawal Doctoral Researcher, University of Missouri |
Indian Society: Imaginations, Structures and Identities | Surinder Singh Jodhka Professor of Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru University |
Whose Heritage Is It? | Shobhita Punja Art historian and independent scholar |
Making Sense of Indian Elections | Gilles Verniers Assistant Professor of Political Science, Ashoka University |
Totalitarian Century / The Ideology Seminar |
Dilip Simeon Author and Historian |
Issues in Social Democracy and Social Justice in India | Narendra Jadhav Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) |
What is Justice? | Pratap Bhanu Mehta University Professor of Political Science, Ashoka University |
Deconstructing Select Indian Foreign Policy Challenges and Responses: A Practitioner’s Perspective | Arun Kumar Singh Former Ambassador of India to the United States |
Morality and the Good Life |
Clancy Martin |
Building Careers, Habits and Institutions |
Pramath Raj Sinha |
Term | Duration | Dates |
Term 1 |
6 Weeks |
24th August - 03rd October, 2020 |
Term 2 |
6 Weeks |
05th October - 14th November, 2020 |
Term 3 |
6 Weeks |
16th November - 23rd December, 2020 |
Winter Break |
11 Days |
24th December, 2020 - 03rd January, 2021 |
Term 4 |
4 Weeks |
04th January - 30th January, 2021 |
Term 5 |
4 Weeks |
01st February - 26th February, 2021 |
ELM Week |
8 Days |
27th February - 06th March, 2021 |
Term 6 |
6 Weeks |
08th March - 17th April, 2021 |
Term 7 |
5 Weeks |
19th April - 22nd May, 2021 |
Term 8 |
5 Weeks |
24th May - 26th June, 2021 |
Graduation Week |
6 Days |
27th June - 02nd July, 2021 |
Convocation: Class of 2021 |
03rd July, 2021 |