YIF Faculty and Courses

Innovative Pedagogy

The Young India Fellowship attracts renowned 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.

Ashoka has institutionalised the Socratic way of teaching: focusing on teaching students how to think rather than just what to think. Each course offering is from a distinct academic or professional domain, while several are interdisciplinary in nature. Course offerings include public policy, art appreciation, statistics, data, psychology, philosophy, gender studies, group dynamics, design thinking, communication, international relations and more. Broad course domains are as follows:

Fellows study a total of 19-20 courses during the year-long programme. Several of these courses are taken by all Fellows, while several are taught as choice-based Electives and Seminars in smaller sections.

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 Fellows to learn from a range of perspectives, and prepare themselves to be critical thinkers who can connect the dots.

Faculty at the YIF

Renowned faculty from Ashoka University and partner institutions (such as the University of Pennsylvania), and practitioners from leading institutions globally teach at the YIF. The following is a non-exhaustive list of current and recent faculty at the YIF.

Courses at the YIF

Below is a list of core and elective courses from the previous academic year. Please note that several courses change year on year, and the following is appended for the reader to get a sense of the kinds of courses that are offered to the Fellows:

Cross-Registered Courses

Fellows can now pursue credit-bearing courses offered by different departments at Ashoka University, supplementing what they learn through the YIF curriculum. These cross-registered courses encompass a wide range of subjects, and presently Fellows undergo a brief selection process to partake in this opportunity. At present, this opportunity is available both for the Monsoon and Spring Semesters of the Academic Year, in parallel to the YIF Academic Calendar. Appended below is a list of cross-registered courses taken by Fellows: