डॉ. बी. आर. अम्बेडकर विश्वविद्यालय दिल्ली 
| Course Type | Course Code | No. Of Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Discipline Elective | SES102403 | 2 |
Course Coordinator and Team: SES Faculty
Email of course coordinator: pcbabed@aud.ac.in
Pre-requisites: No
Course Description: What is India? Has it always been there? What is its political nature? Who are its people and what makes them Indian? How do they inhabit India? How does one understand India in a global context? In a programme that seeks to prepare future teachers with a holistic multidisciplinary understanding of not only content and pedagogy but also of the Indian context, it is important to think through these questions. This course, Understanding India I, aims to develop a programmatic space to reflect on the idea of India – its geographies, ecology, people, cultures, arts and politics – and how these have changed over time.
Course Objectives:
- To reflect on the idea of India and inquire into its characteristics and different aspects.
- To appreciate the shared history and diversity of the people of India.
- To understand India’s/our contemporary context in an engaged fashion
- To encourage independent inquiry and reading in the area by familiarising the students with a wide range of writings and resources on India
Course Outcomes:
- Critically appreciate the complex idea of India
- Demonstrate awareness of shared history and diversity of the people of India
- Independently reflect on and inquire about India’s historical and contemporary context and developments
Brief description of the modules:
Module 1: Historical, social and geographical contexts This set of sessions will engage the students with the idea of India exploring its historical origins and connecting these with its modern identity as a nation-state. These sessions will present a broad overview of the critical phenomenon, factors and actors that have shaped the idea of India over centuries. In this process, the group will discuss the different connotations of India and the underlying meanings. It will also focus on the diversity of India’s geography and its relationship with India’s social and political context. The ecological context of India will be discussed along with the ongoing environmental issues and debates.
Module 2: India’s people, cultures and knowledge traditions These sessions will engage with the diversity of people of India and engage with the meanings of and questions around their identity as Indians. These discussions will present an overview of the diversity of cultures, languages, knowledge traditions, while also reflecting on the structures of caste, gender, class, and religion that underlie the complex social fabric of India.
Module 3: Indian democracy and development These sessions will focus on the nature of Indian democracy and the tensions that shape it thinking-through the questions of political representation, participation and citizenship and engaging with the framing of a citizen in the constitution. The module will focus on reading of specific sections of the Constitution to discuss the concepts/ideas of federalism, sovereignty, rights, equality, justice and decentralisation.
Module 4: Economy and development These sessions will familiarize the students with the broad contours of the economic development story of India. It will discuss economy, economic growth, development and inequalities, the role of the state, non-state actors and economic institutions in different sectors.
Module 5: India in a global context This module will involve a review of some key issues related to India’s status and position vis-à-vis the rest-of-the-world on certain selected parameters, such as income and poverty, hunger, gender parity, climate change, literacy, educational outcomes, investment in education, and other aspects related to the quality of life. These discussions will help engage with the question of India’s current status, its global aspirations and possible futures. This will be explored in greater depth in the second part of the course.
Assessment Plan
- Short assessment at the end/during each of the modules (30%x 2).
- End semester exam covering all modules (40%).
Readings
- NCERT. 2006. Position Paper: National Focus Group on Art, Music, Dance and Theatre. NCERT.
- NCERT. 2006. Position Paper: National Focus Group on Heritage Crafts. 2006, NCERT.
- The handbook on Art Integrated Learning (AIL). (2023). National Council for Educational Research and Teaching. Retrieved from: https://ncert.nic.in/deaa/pdf/ArtIntegratedLearning-Handbook-Classes%20I-V.pdf
- Awasthi, S. 2001. Performance tradition in India. NBT.
- Contractor, M. R. 2001. Creative drama and puppetry in education. NBT.
- Prasad, D. 2001. Art: The basis of education, https://archive.org/stream/Art- TheBasisOfEducation-DeviPrasad/art_djvu.txt
- Alkazi, R. 1993. Ancient Indian costume. NBT.
- Khanna, S. 1981. Dynamic folk toys. Indian toys based on the simple application of principles of science and technology. Available at: http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/dynamicfolktoys.pdf
- Berger, J. 1977. Ways of seeing. London and New York: Penguin Books.
- Hauser, A. 1951. The social history of art. London: Routledge & K. Paul.
- Gombrich, E. H. 1969. The story of art. London and New York: Phaidon.
- Skaler, R. 2002. A world history of film. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
- Rajadyaksha, A. Phalke era: Conflict of traditional form with modern technology.
- Nandi, B. 2010. Modern Indian theatre: A reader. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
- Bial, H. 2004. The performance studies reader. London and New York: Routledge.
- Jain, N. 1992. Indian theatre: Tradition, continuity and change. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.
- Schechner, R. 2002. Performance studies: An introduction. London and New York: Routledge.
- Zarrilli, P, et. al. 1990. Indian theatre traditions of performance. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
- Krishna, T. M. (2021). The spirit of enquiry. Penguin. (Chapter 1: Art & artistes)
- Karnad, G. (1989). Theatre in India. Daedalus, 118(4), 330–352. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20025275
- Jalil, R. (2022. May 25). 80 years of IPTA – An Indian theatre movement truly ‘for the people’. The quint. https://www.thequint.com/opinion/80-years-of-ipta-an-indian-theatre- movement-truly-for-the-people#read-more