For bright and brilliant

Dr Sanjay Modi

The misconception that humanities graduates face limited career prospects doesn’t hold water anymore. The growing popularity of the humanities among students and industries is a proof that students of humanities courses get opportunities and salaries similar to those from other streams.

Humanities is regarded as a cornerstone of education, fostering critical thinking, empathy, and a deeper understanding of human experience.

When it comes to finding the right course, students of humanities stream have a plethora of options to choose from.

4-year Degree Programme

• The four-year undergraduate programmes will be the new normal as per NEP 2020. The academic calendar is split into two semesters per year of 90 days each.
• It will allow for multiple entry, exit and re-entry points into the higher education system, as well as opportunities for students to switch between offline, ODL (online distance learning), online and hybrid models of study.
• The four-year programmes will have two semesters of 90 days each year. The full course will consist of eight semesters in the credit-based system.
• In the first two semesters, students study courses in four broad disciplines—majors, minors and two multi-disciplinary courses. After the first year, students can opt to change their majors within the broad discipline.
• In the year two of the programme, students can choose their courses of interest in major and minor subjects. They also study language skill programmes and other skill-augmenting courses, as well as vocational training.
• In year three students take up higher-level courses in their major discipline and in related courses.
• In the seventh and eighth semester students take up advanced-level courses in both their major and minor disciplines. Students are also required to choose a research component.

History, political science, literature, economics and psychology are the key subjects for UG degree courses.

Students of this stream also have the freedom to choose between traditional and the new-age subjects. Disciplines like social work, library science, art, production, creative writing, publishing, social work, archaeology, visual arts, law, digital marketing, etc. have also emerged as popular choices in college.

Students getting into these courses need a comprehensive and experiential approach to learning. You can’t score just by memorising from the book, you need experience of life and knowledge outside the classroom to excel in this stream.

Why choose humanities

Fostering critical thinking: Different programmes in the humanities help to nurture critical thinking, analytical skills, problem-solving abilities, and understanding of human behaviour — highly sought-after skills in various professional fields.

Cultivating cultural understanding and creativity: It helps the students to understand the history and culture of different regions and countries. Apart from the knowledge of literary arts, performing and visual arts enable students to express creativity through various forms of graphics, visuals, poetry, dance, music, and painting. Students of these courses learn how society interacts using history, art, music, religion, and culture.

Shaping society: Humanities graduates can also shape the minds of future generations after becoming educators and researchers. Bachelor’s degrees in English, History, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Hindi; BA Hons. Political Science, Economics, Geography, etc. can pave the road for fulfilling careers in academia and research.

Expanding scope

There is an increasing awareness now that competencies such as interpersonal and organisational sensitivity, planning, teamwork and communication skills that are given more emphasis in the study of humanities are needed for science and technology related courses, too. In fact, the IITs are also recognising the immense value of these subjects and have introduced them in the engineering curriculum, too.

Besides the regular three-year degree courses, the students also have an option to take up diploma and certificate courses to add an extra punch to their degree. Some universities are providing diploma courses of one-year duration like diploma in digital marketing, diploma in photography, diploma in various languages, diploma in event management, diploma in public administration after Class XII.

Subjects

Some of the subjects that humanities stream students can choose in the UG course are:

Geography: Students can take up the study of geography through both the science and humanities routes. A BSc in geography would mainly cover the physical aspects of the earth, it climate and topography, while the BA in geography deals with its influence on human society, and the management of its resources.

Philosophy: This subject involves the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. Students of philosophy make good lawyers and CEOs of business ventures.

Psychology: BA Psychology is an undergraduate programme designed for students interested in understanding the complexities of human behaviour.

Sociology: It is the study of human society’s development, structure, and functioning. The curriculum covers the study of specialised fields, namely applied sociology, comparative sociology, cultural sociology, collective behaviour, crime and delinquency, community, and behaviour.

Foreign languages: Students interested in foreign languages like French, German, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc., can opt for foreign language programmes at UG level. These languages are an add-on subject in courses like mass communication, hotel management and tourism courses. You can become an expert in different foreign languages and find opportunities as a trainer, teacher, translator, or writer on a national and international level.

Many of these subjects have been given a more ‘applied’ twist in the form of training a student for ‘Social Work’, ‘Counselling’, ‘Survey Research’, ‘Action Research’ etc. Another emerging trend in humanities is the inter-disciplinary approach where different disciplines are studied together to find solutions to new challenges facing society. A few examples of these are: Environmental humanities, digital humanities, medical humanities.

Humanities graduates and post-graduates can work at thrilling interfaces of science and society, hubs of media activity, political hotspots, national policy making center and in governance. They also have the option to work with the underprivileged, tribal communities, and vulnerable groups. With a degree in humanities, one can carve out a career in education, health, governance, media, research, social work and even in non-arts areas.

Humanities courses, thus, offer immense potential in terms of social impact, professional success, and personal growth.

A degree that works

A Liberal Arts course breaks the rigid boundaries of different disciplines to allow a synergy between different subjects. A degree in Liberal Arts equips students with greater knowledge and a stronger foothold in the job market.

With the implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP) Liberal Arts courses are becoming more relevant in the Indian context. Under the NEP, technical universities are required to include courses in humanities and social sciences whereas universities that primarily provide humanities courses are required to integrate their curriculum with science and management courses.

Most liberal arts institutes provide BA or BSc degrees across disciplines, offering courses such as Media Studies, International Relations, Philosophy, Physics, English, Mathematics, Biology, Gender Studies, Film Studies, Political Science, Economics, Business and more.

Some of the universities offering courses in Liberal Arts are : Ashoka University, Sonipat (BA); Christ University, Bengaluru (BA); FLAME University, Pune (BA/BSc. in Liberal Arts); NMIMS University, Mumbai (BA (Hons) in Liberal Arts and Humanities); OP Jindal Global University – Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Sonipat (BA (Hons); Symbiosis Int’l University – School for Liberal Arts, Pune (BA/BSc)

The writer is Pro Vice-Chancellor, Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara