Students at Jadavpur University Campus
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri
Teaching about the many Indias to Indians and also to others, Jadavpur University, in collaboration with the University of East Anglia, has just started a month-long online course focusing on aspects of India studies that are often ignored, particularly the country’s plurality and heterogeneity.
“This course was started on the understanding that academics have a larger responsibility towards society, and it is important that they meet that responsibility by designing courses that focus on the Indian reality, as indeed the National Education Policy 2020 encourages,” Sayantan Dasgupta, Professor, Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, which is holding the course, said.
The course began on November 3 and will continue till December 5.
“This is part of the larger move towards internationalisation of education in India, where experts from various parts of the world can collaborate and contribute their expertise. We want to project a more holistic idea of India to students, researchers and faculty. Most participants are from India but they may not have a holistic interdisciplinary idea of India, or an idea of the complexities of multilingualism in India,” Prof. Dasgupta said.
The course, he said, emerges from a project undertaken by him and Prof. Jon Cook of the University of East Anglia, focusing on the importance of minority traditions as part of their Academic Social Responsibility. The project has been working with communities using the Nepali, Lepcha, Bodo, and Kudmali languages in West Bengal.
A key highlight of the course would be the interdisciplinary approach being rapidly embraced by the study of the Humanities. It will also include lectures that focus on gender issues, both stereotyping and resistance, and will also have several speakers addressing issues related to the syncretic nature of the Indian civilisation and questions of democracy and decolonisation in various fields.
“Literature today is inextricably intertwined with the study of history, politics, film, economics and even music. And vice-versa. Also, it is very important in this globalised world not to lose sight of minority traditions. We have so many linguistic communities in India about which we know so little. Many of them are endangered today, some of them may face extinction soon. It is very important to disseminate these traditions and educate ourselves,” Prof. Dasgupta said.
Published – November 06, 2025 06:26 pm IST
