P_4.qxd 4/15/2014 11:33 PM Page 1 c m y b 04 THE TRIBUNE GUIDE TO BEST COLLEGES Humanities FRIDAY | APRIL 18 | 2014 With a wide array of subjects and universally relevant courses that lead to understanding of human life and holistic personality development, humanities is the best bet for bright young minds TOP Humanities colleges The Art of Arts St. Stephen's College New Delhi B.L.Chakoo www.ststephens.edu Seats: English(Honours) 60; LTHOUGH humanities as a concept Economics(Honours) 100 has not been theorised to everyone’s Cut off: Over 97.75 per cent agreement, it is a fact that humani- USP: Besides English and ties is an English word with a known Economics, the college also offers etymology, with cognates in most honours courses in History, AEuropean and Asian languages, and with a Philosophy, Sanskrit, Mathematics, well documented semantic history. Howev- Chemistry and Physics. er, humanities should not be regarded as a class at all, but as an aggregate — an aggre- Lady Shri Ram College for Women gate of a highly complex and relative cul- New Delhi tural knowledge, acquired through experi- www.lsr.edu.in ence of modes of discourse that humanities Seats: 625 is supposed to include. In fact, since classi- cal times, it has been believed that human- Cut off: 96 per cent ities, which is written material such as liter- USP: A wide range of courses like ature, philosophy, sociology, etc., especially B.A. Honours in Economics, works of imagination characterised by English, Hindi, History, Philosophy, excellence of style and expression and by Political Science, Psychology, themes relating to the beliefs and values of Sanskrit and Sociology, B.Sc. Honours in Mathematics and society, is a form of discourse which has a Statistics., B.Com. Honours in special and significant relationship with Commerce and Professional the world. In fact, the knowledge it pro- Courses in Elementary Education, duces makes it a major instrument of ideol- Journalism & Mass Communication ogy and social force in human society. and a One Year Diploma course in Humanities is not now thought to be Conflict Transformation and conveying abstract, universal truths, but CLEAR PATH: HUMANITIES IS NO LONGER AN OPTION PREFERRED BY STUDENTS WITH A BLURRED VISION OF FUTURE Peacebuilding. is supposed to promote changes in soci- eties and readers, purging or integrating “delight” and “instruct” the reader. The key walls. Job opportunities could also be be too selfish and sterile to generate its MCM DAV College for Women, their emotions. term for the first half of the conjunction is available in bank, communication and own technology, too limited in scope to pro- Chandigarh Literature, which is often regarded as pleasure, defined in various ways: it could translation businesses. duce “joy in the heart and a song on the www.mcmdavcw-chd.edu one of most important and tempting be a feeling of the sublime, the relief of In the present context of humanities cours- lips.” In other words, both teachers and Seats: BA (800 ) courses in humanities, has, for example, cathartic purging of violent negative feel- es in our country, both literature and philoso- parents have to relearn to put the same Cut off: Over 65 per cent the useful function of instructing the ings, “a harmonisation of impulses”—the phy or, for that matter, sociology and history, “searchlight” on humanities as on contem- USP: State-of-the-art infrastructure reader. Wellek and Warren express it thus: studying of which is the business of philos- fit within the humanities model for the pur- porary science and technology. amply supported by high academic “literary language wants to influence the ophy. Thus the subjects of literature and suit of knowledge within the existing institu- Perhaps it is because of this negligence standards, job placements, remedial attitudes of the reader, persuade him, and philosophy should go hand in hand. tional framework. But what we see today is that our best educational institutes have so courses, bridge courses, counseling ultimately inspire him to discard the veil However, a corpus such as humanities the decline in credibility of such great sub- far failed to reach the standard of the best services etc. of average life perception and see the has objective and describable social, cul- jects, a decline that is in direct proportion to Western institutes, where students are world in a new light. The epigram for tural, economic and “institutional posi- the preeminence given to technology from encouraged to opt for courses in literature, Government College for Girls believers in the moral and civilising qual- tioning and links.” For example, literature the beginning of industrialisation to the pres- philosophy, history, ethics, women studies, Chandigarh ities of humanities was provided by (English literature in particular) has deter- ent revolution in information technologies. Oriental studies, cultural traditions, cre- www.gcg.org Arnold in 1880: “More and more mankind minate relationships with publishing No doubt, we need to grow and be effec- ative arts and music. Western people are Cut-off: BA (gen) 62 per cent will discover that we have to turn to (liter- industry, with other media, with business tive in science and technology to be truly aware of the fact that humanities shape ature, poetry in particular) to interpret sectors, with education. To say something independent, but we also need to restore researches and perceptions even among USP: In recognition of its outstanding all-round performance, life for us, to console us, to sustain us. more on the latter point, people are and strengthen students’ interest in litera- scientists about the proper scope and role the college has been accredited with Without poetry, our science will appear employed in schools, colleges and univer- ture, philosophy, history, social sciences of the sciences, as well as the sciences’ rela- A Grade by incomplete; and most of what passes with sities to teach English as a language and a and the world cultures — their distinctive tions to ancient literatures, ancient philoso- the National Assessment and us for religion and philosophy will be literature, and what is being taught has an and distinguished past. Without active phies, myths, legends and rituals. Accreditation Council (NAAC). replaced by poetry.” important national and spiritual role for involvement in humanities courses, no The writer is Professor Emeritus, Guru Nanak Dev In brief, literature has the dual goal to the population outside the institution’s excellent science will emerge: it will rather University, Amritsar DAV College, Sector 10 Chandigarh www.davchd.com Seats: BA (General) - 700 Blending of classical subjects and a modern ethos has made the arts stream a heady cocktail that Cut-off: Over 55 per cent USP: The college has been holding promises to equip students with a skill-set that makes them fit for every sector computer literacy classes for senior citizens free of cost. St Bede’s College, Shimla The Choices Multiply http://stbedescollege.in Seerat Toor Grewal Seats: 60 in each subject of the offers a 360? student enhancement and arts stream equips one for prestigious and noble profes- HE varied set of subjects and new inter- sions as in peace-keeping, human rights cells, USP: Still carries the British aura, known for English honours course disciplinary fields enhance the abilities NGOs, conflict management, media special- and famous alumni T of students of humanities stream to ists, etc. Lady Shri Ram College for Women appreciate and relate to every aspect of has a Diploma programme in this. Government College of Art, human-empowerment. A degree in humani- Chandigarh ties is way different from the professional Public Policy www.artcollegechandigarh streams that lead to default careers. It will The sinking morals and the perils in develop- Courses offered: Diploma, instead put you on a firm footing when you ment send clear signals to reinvent and reju- Bachelor and Master Degree courses pick up any career. A simple scan through the venate the policy environment in the govern- USP: Approved by All India Council top-most professionals around the world ing bodies. This not only demands of Technical Education, this reflects that humanities students have experience but also technical skills which can Institution is a platform where the proven their expertise in all areas of human be acquired through this subject. This field method of practice of Art can be endeavor. There are umpteen examples of aims to endow future policy-designers to get learnt by the up coming artists to successful politicians, professors, bureau- closer to real-time situations and be more real bring out their creative talents. It is crats, diplomats, top-brass in army, famous in dealing with them. Students pick up skills the only nucleus institution of its writers, actors, directors, singers, corporates, to assimilate, and compare relevant interna- kind in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal social activists, etc. who started their careers tional perspectives in determining and fram- Pradesh, with degrees in various streams of humani- In Fine Fettle ing requisite policies to ease out the uneven- Jammu & Kashmir ties. Some of the subjects that can set new ness caused by the distrust and shortage of benchmarks for your career goals are: The field of creative arts like applied art, painting, sculpturing and graphic design is the resources. Course is multi-disciplinary, cover- Government College for Girls, ideal path for those with a creative bent of mind and some inborn talent and skill in ing subjects like sociology, politics, econom- Ludhiana these areas. The Bachelor of Fine Arts and applied arts is an all encompassing course Psychology ics, law, history, philosophy and ethics, the [email protected] for the artistically inclined. The course curriculum and instructional route is entirely Seats:550 This traditional science of human mind is different from other disciplines as the focus is on honing the inborn talent of a student.