The Bachelor Degree Programme in the discipline of Political Science aims to provide students with both a conceptual and a practical grasp of the discipline, and to encourage them to draw connections between Political Science and other Social Science disciplines by offering courses of an inter-disciplinary nature.
The Core Courses offered by the Proggramme are designed to equip the student with a robust foundation in Political Science, whereas the Discipline-Specific Electives are designed simultaneously around classically important areas of enquiry, and newly emergent ones.
The Skill-Enhancement Courses acquaint the students with the applied aspects of the discipline, allowing them to use their skills learnt to solve problems that arise in the real world. The courses offered in the programme, taken together, equip the student to pursue higher studies, and also to make her/his way outside academics-whether in the government or non-governmental sector.
The Programme aims to make the student proficient in Political Science as well as in certain inter-disciplinary areas, through the transfer of knowledge in the classroom, and practical knowledge obtained through real-world interactions and field experiences. An interactive mode of teaching will be used. The student will be encouraged to participate in discussions and make presentations on various topics. The emphasis will be on problem-solving and on the inculcation of analytical and critical capacities in the student. Theoretical analysis will go hand in hand with a stress on the practical which will make for a fuller and more grounded understanding of concepts.
Students will participate in field trips, workshops, and seminars. Students’ association with governmental institutions and/or NGOs and/or research institutes in the capacity of interns will facilitate an understanding of the applied aspects of the Programme, and further allow them to gain exposure to sites of possible future employment and work.
After pursuing B.A. (Hons) in Political Science a student embodies a curiosity towards the political puzzles that confront her/him and s/he is endowed with the ability to apply various tools to solve them. The course encourages raising questions and a problem solving thought process in the students. This is central to the idea of shaping an informed graduate student and an active citizen.
The programme imparts a strong training in foundational concepts enabling them to distinguish and delineate features of each of these concepts. This level of inquiry is further upgraded as they proceed through the curricular semesters; enabling them to engage in systematic reflection of a kind which is different from the understanding of a lay person.
The course shapes graduate sensibilities such that students are alert to instances of discrimination and deprivation; difference and diversity which they not only identify but can also persuasively argue about.
A graduate in Political Science is well aware of the unique location of the discipline within the social sciences and can contextualize one’s learning within the disciplinary boundaries while simultaneously and consciously using inter-disciplinary methods and concepts to understand inter-connected social, economic and political realities.
After completing this course the graduates acquire adequate skill through rigorous training in academic writing which includes writing logical and coherent essays as well as longer research articles in terms of term papers, classroom debate and discussion. Political Science graduates are encouraged to think independently; sharpen their articulations to argue persuasively. The students are also introduced to a variety of writing including commentaries and original manuscripts; government’s reports and alternative assessments.
The students, after completing the course, would be empowered to distinguish between various ideological orientations; the multiple lens that may be used to make sense of the same political event or issue and thereby side-step biases and partisan positions in presenting their findings. They will also be inculcated with a culture of academic honesty and investigative rigour to ensure authentic analytical outcomes.
The graduate students of Political Science will also be encouraged to get hands on experience of how research in the discipline is conducted. They are encouraged to draw up research questionnaires, select the field and decide on sample size and method of selection, conduct interviews with respondents as well as focused group discussions and finally translate the responses into a coherent write up. These exercises are primarily conducted to teach the student how to transit from the level of policy to the practice of politics.
The graduates of the discipline are uniquely positioned as the course also imparts extensive understanding of International Relations and Global Politics which allows them to move beyond the traditional area and concerns of the discipline. It not only introduces them to various theories and concepts within international relations but also includes detailed discussion of contemporary international events and decisions made by state and non-state actors apart from also looking at the functioning of global and multinational organizations and institutions.
The comparative perspective which students imbibe through courses in two semesters highlights the differences in states mapped along various devices such as development trajectories and state formation. In addition to a richer understanding of select areas students are also encouraged to reflect and think critically about Western frameworks of knowledge and understandings as well as learn how these may be challenged by alternative frameworks emerging in what is broadly referred to as the ‘Global South’ Courses on Public Administration. A Political Science discipline student learns about the concepts of organization and management and their application which is extremely relevant to unraveling the intricacies of large public organizations and corporate bodies.
The B.A. Programme in Political Science aims to provide students with both a conceptual and a practical grasp of the discipline, and to encourage them to draw connections between Political Science and other social science disciplines by offering courses of an inter-disciplinary nature.
After completing the Programme, students will have a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental concepts, theories and processes underlying this academic discipline, its different subfields (Political Theory, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Indian Political Thought, Public Administration and Indian Politics), and its linkages with other social science disciplines.
Students will develop the capacity to undertake analytical and critical thinking vis-à-vis specific issues and problems in Political Science, as well as other related fields of study, including wider inter-disciplinary ones.
Students will be able to both choose and employ appropriate methods to conduct research, make political forecasts, and undertake political analysis of significant contemporary developments.
Students of the discipline will be able to leverage their knowledge and skills to craft solutions to problems they encounter in the real world, which will allow them to take up work within the academy and outside – in administration, politics, policy making, diplomacy and the courts. They will be equipped with both the procedural and substantive knowledge to evolve into professionals engaged with a wide range of issues- human rights, environment, gender justice, law, foreign policy and global relations- and will be well-placed to take up employment in these fields and to pursue a diverse range of work in both the state and non-state sectors, in the country and abroad.
