DU professor claims psychology syllabus faced scrutiny at standing committee meeting

NEW DELHI: A member of the Delhi University's Academic Council has raised concerns over what she described as undue scrutiny and interference in the psychology syllabus during a meeting of the university's Standing Committee on Academic Matters on Friday. No immediate response was available from the university.

According to Monami Sinha, Associate Professor at the Kamala Nehru College and a member of both the Academic Council and the standing committee, several key areas of the syllabus were questioned, particularly for the inclusion of western perspectives and politically-sensitive topics. The "Psychology of Peace" course was a major point of discussion, especially Unit 4, which deals with conflict and conflict resolution through case studies like the Israel-Palestine conflict and the Kashmir issue.

Debate over kashmir unit

Sinha claimed that there were calls to remove this unit altogether, with assertions that the Kashmir issue was "already resolved" and that teaching the Israel-Palestine conflict was unnecessary. It was proposed, she said, that the unit be replaced with Indian philosophical texts, such as the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita, to reflect indigenous perspectives on peace.

Sinha also said objections were raised against content related to social media and dating apps, which form part of another elective. The argument, she said, was that such topics were not appropriate for Indian classrooms and that the curriculum should reflect traditional family values instead. This, despite the relevance of such topics in light of growing mental health concerns and recent incidents involving youngsters and online platforms.

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Minority stress theory dropped

She further claimed that proposals were made to drop the Minority Stress Theory from the syllabus -- a key framework for understanding the psychological experiences of marginalised groups. Additionally, she noted objections to the inclusion of themes like caste discrimination, misogyny and prejudice under "Psychology of Diversity", with suggestions to adopt a more "positive" approach instead.

"These are deeply-relevant issues in contemporary Indian society," Sinha said. "Understanding the psychology of oppression, discrimination and evolving youth behaviour in the age of AI and social media is essential. Diluting these topics undermines the academic depth of the discipline," she added. Sinha expressed concern that the department's academic autonomy is being compromised. "The nature of the objections appears politically motivated. Academic decisions should be based on pedagogy and research, not ideology," she said.