Introducing India to foreign students

Delhi University is going global. It is wooing foreign students with short-term courses. It is the first time the university has developed a variety of courses to be offered at the graduate level. Professor Rama Kant Agnihotri, who heads the Committee on Short-Term Courses, said, "It took us three years to conceptualise and plan the programme and it took several months to get it approved and cleared from the university's authorities.

"The basic idea is to introduce India to those who wish to get an insight into the different aspects of the history and culture of the country.

Although the courses are open to Indian students as well, we wish to create a useful space for foreign students who come to India for their abroad programme."

International agreement

DU has signed several MOUs with foreign universities and has welcomed many regular visits by officials from abroad. Moreover, it has received an increasing number of applications from foreign students and worked out courses ranging from a Beginner's Guide on Modern India and the Indian Economy after Independence to Indian Music, Literature, Politics and History and India's Environment, Science and Technology.

The varsity has drawn up curricula for introductory courses on Basic Hindi, Sanskrit Literature, English language, Indian Philosophy and Culture and South Asian Languages.

The courses

In the pipeline are courses including Intermediate Hindi, India as a Linguistic Area and Multilingualism in India.

Professor Agnihotri said, "It is too early to mention which courses are popular among foreign students. But some students have already been taking the Basic Hindi course and there have been numerous enquiries for a course on Sanskrit Literature."

For students of the UAE, Hindi and English were termed as beneficial, although Indian philosophy, music and art are also well liked, he said.

Course description

The courses will entail classroom lectures, field visits, performances, demonstrations and guest lectures. Each student must enroll in at least three of the courses offered.

The maximum number of courses for which a student can enroll is five.

The duration of a course will be 10 weeks, each course being about 40 hours.

The University of Delhi will facilitate arrangements for boarding and lodging but takes no responsibility.

Since the application process has already started, the first batch of students will be offered courses from this month. Subsequently, the courses will also run from October to mid-December every year.

Tuition fees

Courses on offer

Indian Economy after Independence
Overview of the process of economic development after the country became independent in 1947. It is one of the poorest countries with a rich civilisation to adopt adult franchise, parliamentary democracy and free press — assessment of 'what India is all about'.

History: Modern India I and 2
Divided into ten themes, the two papers are not meant to be a soft option course. It will provide a fair idea of the state of the art in the discipline of modern Indian history.

Indian Music
A rich art having a long tradition of both theory and practice, it has two streams — Hindustani and Karnataka. It would not only inculcate in students the appreciatiation of this pristine art, but also acquaint them with musical concepts in relation to their practical interpretations.

Indian Literature
It is meant to create an understanding of the complex dynamics of literature produced in India. A balanced combination of lectures in specific areas and readings of selected literary texts will introduce the backgrounds and trends of the literature in its critical and creative totality.

Literature in an Indian language
It is designed to provide an introduction to the literature of a particular modern Indian language, which shall be selected by the student in consultation with the course co-ordinator.

Politics in India
The purpose of this course is to explore new areas, which are enmeshed in the complex social, economic and political processes. Drawn on the argument that Indian politics cannot be understood without locating its sociopolitical roots, the course structure is innovative not only in terms of its content, but also in perspective.

Indian Literature in English
It offers a broad survey of the continuous and ever evolving tradition of literature over 3,500 years. It also provides an anthology of this literature, thereby describing the Indianness involved in different languages and times and how it gets hybridised through interaction with Central Asian and Western cultures.

Introduction to Sanskrit Literature
It is the oldest surviving record of humankind in literary form. It provides a glimpse into the variety and richness and an uninterrupted growth of Sanskrit literature over a period of 5,000 years.

Introduction to Sanskrit Language
It would provide a historical background of the language and introduce the structure of Sanskrit at all levels – sound, words and sentences.

Science and Technology in India
It will attempt to introduce the history of Science and Technology in India through the ages as well as give an overview of the current scenario.

It would develop an appreciation of the advances in the field of science and technology in ancient, medieval and modern times.

India's Environment: Past, Present and Future
It aims to introduce key themes to environmental histories and conservation challenges in India. The subsequent emergence of conflicts and projects related to nature conservation in the 20th century and their record forms a major part of the course. It would include debates on Project Tiger, fate of the elephants, big dam controversies and peasant and tribal land rights in the past, present and future.

Imagining India: A Visual Perspective
Visual culture will be the mode of representation through which the Indian nation will be explored. After a look at Pahari, Rajasthani and Mughal paintings, the course will move on to examine Colonial and Company art, art that reflected the rising tide of nationalism, the Bengal School and contemporary Indian art.