Ashoka University: Leading Liberal Arts and Sciences University

Innovative Pedagogy

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.

Watch Listen

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 20 courses during the year-long programme. Most of these courses are taken by all 100 Fellows, while a few courses are taught in groups of about 25 Fellows, as choice-based Special Seminars.

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.

K. VijayRaghavan

Former Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India

Rudrangshu Mukherjee

Chancellor, Professor of History, Ashoka University

D.Phil. Oxford University

Malabika Sarkar

Principal Academic Advisor & Professor of English, Ashoka University

MA University of Cambridge, Fellow of the English Association (FEA), UK

Dipankar Bhattacharya

Head of the Department, Physics,
Sunanda and Santimay Basu Professor of Astrophysics, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru

Madhavi Menon

Professor of English,
Director, Centre for Studies in Gender & Sexuality,
Director of the PhD Programme in English

Ph.D. Tufts University

Jonathan Gil Harris

Head of the Department, English and Professor of English, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Sussex

Amit Chaudhuri

Professor of Creative Writing, Ashoka University

DPhil in English, Oxford University

Kathryn Hardy

Head of the Department, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

Shahid Jameel

Visiting Professor, Trivedi School of Biosciences,
Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship,
Ashoka University

Wellcome Trust International Senior Research Fellow. PhD Biochemistry, Washington State University, USA

Bhismadev Chakrabarti

Visiting Professor of Psychology, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Trinity College, Cambridge

Debayan Gupta

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Yale University

Kenwyn K. Smith

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. Yale University

Dwight Jaggard

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. California Institute of Technology

Neela Saldanha

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

Ranjan Banerjee

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. Carlson School of Management

Arun Kumar Singh

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

MA University of Delhi

Pramath Raj Sinha

Chairperson, Board of Trustees, Ashoka University
Founder and MD, Harappa Education
Founder and MD, 9.9 Group
Founding Dean, ISB
Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

KP Krishnan

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Santosh S. Venkatesh

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. California Institute of Technology

Urvashi Butalia

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Publisher and Founder, Zubaan Books Reader at College of Vocational Studies, University of Delhi

A. K. Shiva Kumar

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. Harvard University

Sanjay Kathuria

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. Oxford University

Anunaya Chaubey

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. Patna University

Purushottam Agrawal

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. Jawaharlal Nehru University

Sanjeev Bikhchandani

Founder and Vice-Chairman, Info Edge (Naukri.com)
Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

BA, St. Stephen’s College
MBA, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

Mekhala Krishnamurthy

Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University College, London

Deepak Mehta

Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Delhi University

Clancy Martin

Professor of Philosophy, Ashoka University

Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin

Gilles Verniers

Assistant Professor of Political Science, Co-Director of the Trivedi Centre for Political Data, Ashoka University

Ph.D. Sciences Po

Rudra Chaudhuri

Visiting Professor of International Relations, Ashoka University
Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Ph.D. King’s College London

Ritwik Agrawal

Visiting Faculty, Young India Fellowship

Doctoral Researcher, University of Arizona

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Courses at the YIF

Please note that several courses change year on year, and the following non-exhaustive list of courses from is appended below for the reader to get a sense of the kinds of courses that are offered at the YIF:

Courses by Ashoka University Faculty

Course	Ashoka University Faculty
JM Financial Lectures on Reason and the Makers of Modern India	Rudrangshu Mukherjee Chancellor and Professor of History; DPhil, University of Oxford
John Keats, Poetry and Intensity	Malabika Sarkar Vice Chancellor and Professor of English; MA, University of Cambridge; Fellow of the English Association, UK
The Universe and Us	Dipankar Bhattacharya Head of the Department, Physics and Sunanda and Santimay Basu Professor of Astrophysics; PhD, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
Shakespeare and the World	Jonathan Gil Harris Professor and Head of the Department, English; PhD, University of Sussex Madhavi Menon Professor of English; PhD, Tufts University
Khayal, North Indian Classical Music, and the Modern Song: A Story of the Trajectory of Modernity	Amit Chaudhuri Professor of Creative Writing; DPhil, University of Oxford
Language, Politics and Society in India	Kathryn Hardy Assistant Professor and Head of the Department, Sociology and Anthropology; PhD, University of Pennsylvania
Understanding Pandemics	Shahid Jameel Visiting Professor, Trivedi School of Biosciences; PhD, Washington State University
Science of Emotion and Empathy: A Toolkit of Concepts and Techniques	Bhismadev Chakrabarti Visiting Professor of Psychology; PhD, Trinity College, University of Cambridge
Who Governs India?	Gilles Verniers Assistant Professor of Political Science; PhD, Sciences Po
Morality and the Good Life	Clancy Martin Professor of Philosophy; PhD, University of Texas at Austin
Crowds of Occupation, Crowds of Protest	Deepak Mehta Professor of Sociology; PhD, Delhi University
Anthropology Today	Mekhala Krishnamurthy Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology; PhD, University College, London
The New Geography of the Information Age	Debayan Gupta Assistant Professor of Computer Science; PhD, Yale University

Courses by Visiting Faculty at the YIF

Course	Visiting Faculty at the YIF
Climate Change and the Future of Health, Food and Agriculture	K VijayRaghavan Former Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India
India and the World: A Strategic History Since 1945	Rudra Chaudhuri Senior Lecturer, Department of War Studies, King’s College London
Heart of Leadership and Group Dynamics	Kenwyn Smith Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Behavioral Science in Development	Neela Saldanha PhD, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Leadership Lessons from the Road Less Travelled	Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Padma Shri Founder, Infoedge (Naukri.com); Founder and Trustee, Ashoka University; MBA, IIM Ahmedabad
Issues in Social Democracy and Social Justice in India	Narendra Jadhav Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)
Design Thinking and Innovation	Ranjan Banerjee Dean and Professor, BITS School of Management
Deconstructing Select Indian Foreign Policy Challenges and Responses: A Practitioner’s Perspective	Arun Kumar Singh Former Ambassador of India to the United States
Building Careers, Habits and Institutions	Pramath Raj Sinha Founding Dean, ISB Hyderabad; Founder and Chairman, Harappa Education; Chairperson, Board of Trustees, Ashoka University
Indian Financial Regulation and Policy	KP Krishnan Former Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India
Kabir: The Poet of Vernacular Modernity	Purushottam Agrawal Renowned Kabir and Bhakti scholar
Problem Solving and Statistical Thinking in Modern Life	Santosh Venkatesh Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Art Appreciation	Anunaya Chaubey Artist and Provost, Anant National University
Women, Society and Changing India	Urvashi Butalia, Padma Shri Author, Publisher and Founder, Zubaan Books
Foundations of Leadership	Dwight Jaggard Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania
Economics and Public Policy: An Introduction to Applied Microeconomics	AK Shiva Kumar Development Economist and Visiting Professor, Harvard University and ISB Hyderabad
Philosophy and Cognitive Science	Ritwik Agrawal Doctoral Researcher, University of Missouri
India’s Economy: Past, Present and Near Future	Omkar Goswami DPhil, University of Oxford
Trade, Trust and Peace in South Asia	Sanjay Kathuria DPhil, University of Oxford