Alliance University’s new School of Liberal Arts to offer transdisciplinary UG programme

NEW DELHI: The Alliance University, Karnataka launched a new School of Liberal Arts on Friday, February 18 which will offer a one-of-a-kind undergraduate programme with the freedom for the students to choose subjects and design their degrees with majors and minors of their interest. The School was launched in an online event graced by reputed Indian writer, Chetan Bhagat.

Also Read | Former NIT Surathkal director Karanam Umamaheshwar Rao takes charge as NIT Rourkela director

The Vice-Chancellor Anubha Singh, marked out transdisciplinarity as the unique feature of the liberal arts programme at Alliance University. Given the complexity of 21st-century challenges like climate change, she spoke about the need for a reinvention of pedagogy that goes beyond mere interdisciplinarity, as per a statement from the university.

“The Alliance School of Liberal Arts curriculum is uniquely designed to help students develop overall personalities by enhancing their critical thinking, logical analysis, and fostering creativity. The Faculty of Liberal Arts will prepare students to be future-ready and improve their life skills,” the statement said.

Also Read | IIT Guwahati launches master's programme in Liberal Arts; first batch from July 2022

The School aims to promote student development through holistic exposure to subjects such as sociology, political sciences, literature, philosophy, or Indian culture.

Alliance University fellowship programme

Along with the undergraduate programme, the university is also offering a one-of-a-kind postgraduate fellowship programme called the “Global Leaders’ Alliance” (GLA) fellowship.

The fellowship programme aims to train and mould young thinkers with the potential for excellence to address the unique and multifaceted challenges of the twenty-first century. The taught phase of the fellowship will be offered by a group of foreign faculty members from top-rated universities from across the globe including Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard.

Also Read | Delhi University conducts Covid vaccination drive for students, teaching, non-teaching employees

The undergraduate majors offered by the School of Liberal Arts include English, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Public Policy, Economics, Data Science, and Applied Mathematics. Students who enter the programme will also study a broad set of foundation courses, which would help them develop their fundamental skills in critical thinking, research, and ethics. They will also have the option of studying a foreign language of their choice. The students will have the privilege of attending classes led by international faculty. These students will also have an inside track into the GLA fellowship programme at the end of their undergraduate studies.