UNIVERSE OF HUMANITIES
Culture, Identity and the Body
This course introduces students to scholarship on the history of the body and the shifting political and cultural contestations over understandings of the ‘natural’ and ‘normal’ body. Through readings in postcolonial studies, literature, gender and sexuality studies and history, it shall explore changes in the ways in which human bodies have been conceived and represented. It shall explore questions which consider the interconnections between identity and body, race and body, the disabled body and bodies that are ill and notions of beauty. Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which fictional works have represented bodies, focusing on the racist classification and exotic representation. It will also consider the ways in which bodies authenticate and/or trouble imagined national communities. The course will familiarize students with key texts that focus on the theoretical perspectives on the interplay between culture, identity and the body.
Introduction to Indian Art
The course introduces students to the historical understanding of India art from Prehistoric to Mughal period. The aim of the course is to inculcate an awareness of Indian cultural history and stylistic analyses of Indian painting, sculptures and architecture through various historical periods such as Early civilization, Mauryan, Gupta, Kalchuris, Rashtrakutas, Chalukyans, Pallavas, etc. Students will learn to identify key monuments and their role in shaping Indian cultural history through historical periods.
Indian Painting
This course enables students to have an in depth study of Paintings from the Mughal to Contemporary Indian Painting. Students will learn to analyze different styles of Painting from the Mughal period i.e. Babur to Aurangzeb. Besides this, students will also learn to critique and analyze contemporary Indian Painting of well-known artists such as MF Hussain, Jamini Roy, Tagore, K. G. Subramanium, Raja Ravi Verma, Ram Kinker Baij, etc.
Arts of the Indian Subcontinent
This course provides an introduction to the arts and architecture of the Indian Subcontinent from the Indus Valley Civilization (ca. 2300 BCE) to the present times. It takes into consideration representative works of Indic art and architecture to understand the development of artistic traditions in response to cultural formations, religious practices, and political dynamics. It will also explore the formation of cultural and social identities as reflected in the artistic production of the Indian Subcontinent. To that end, the main goal of the course is to familiarize students with the sweeping historical compositeness of Indian artistic traditions which set the tone for approaches to art in our own times.
The Aesthetics of the Imperfect
This course explores the idea of beauty in objects, images and thought, which emerges as sensory and extrasensory perceptions of the hidden and can be experienced through the processes of interaction - with asperity (roughness or irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, illusion, modesty, symmetry, asymmetry, intimacy - and appreciation of the ingenuous characteristics of natural objects, spaces, events and situations, as essential requirements of existence. Embodied through an experiential understanding of various tenets essential to understand the ‘beautiful’ as inherently observed in non-western traditions, and abstract ideas, this course explores various philosophies, events and traditions that allude to the idea of objects and practices that can be traced even on Western aesthetics and have made a lasting impression on contemporary societies.
In observing philosophies and traditions from across non-western world, students will identify and explore worldviews representing acceptance of simple objects and ideas, assemblages and the transience of objects and spaces as a sense of 'beauty' and recognize that "nothing is perfect”. This course formulates a universal appreciation for aesthetic qualities resplendent in objects, visuals or spaces that are artistically complete yet simple and often imperfect in nature. Following this line of thought, the course overviews popular perceptions regarding 'perfection and imperfection' and explores socio-cultural behavior and personal involvement in the process of non-acceptance or acceptance of such objects and creating an appreciation for these.
The course provides students an opportunity to experience underlying concepts through a combination of academic research, philosophical thought and studio-based creative processes. Students will engage in studio-based exercises and experiments leading to an experiential understanding of ideas using various mediums and simple techniques. The course outputs will be a set of visual images, compiled and collated as an illustrated manuscript bringing together each student's experience and understanding of aesthetics of imperfection through alternate approaches and a final exhibition.
Realism to Post-Impressionism
This course enables students to have an in depth study of Western art movements such as Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism and Post Impressionism movement. The course would help students to critically analyze works of art on the basis of stylistic analysis through various art historical works by well-known artists such as Goya, Daumier, Turner, Constable, Courbet, Daumier, Millet, Manet Monet Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, Paul Gaugin, Seurat, Cezanne, Matisse Picasso, etc.
Communication Theory
The course aims to explain the development of media theories and how they link with historically important social, political and technological events/issues in the field of mass communication; to acquaint students with the nature of communication processes; to develop a critical understanding of the strengths and limitations of basic theories of mass communication and the ability to apply those theories in research and practice and to provide an appreciation of the multiple perspectives available in literature to understand communication theory and process.
Introduction to Literary and Cultural Studies
TThis course offers an introductory view of the application of literary and cultural studies in India. This inter-disciplinary field of study is useful to understanding the relationship between cultural texts and social forms by situating social analyses in the context of India.
Reading Popular Culture
This course focuses on popular culture, how we see it and how it impacts us. In reviewing the different forms of popular culture, the course explores chaalu films, sitcoms and reality shows as programs, events and experiences that are generally termed as ‘mirror of society’. The course reviews popular media for its impact on everyday life and reflects on the formative influences it has on our socio-political position in society.
Iconography: Meaning and Myths of Icons
This course provides an overview of the iconographic representations of the various forms of deities in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, and seeks to study the meanings and myths of these icons. It explores the rich heritage of Puranic mythology, the historical development of multiple religious traditions of India and cultural adaptations as evident in the icons.
Mahabharata: Reflections of Ancient Indian Society
This course introduces students to the Mahabharata Epic focusing on manifold socio-cultural traditions. It explores various stories to understand diverse customs, social institutions, traditions, and norms of a culture that was experiencing transition from rural, clan like structure to more complex, urban set-up. Issues of date, authorship, interpolations and varied interpretations of Mahabharata are also discussed.
Comedy: Forms, Theories, And Techniques
What is comedy? What are the forms, theories, and techniques specific to comedic practices, from Greek times till Stand-up? These are the two broad questions this course will address and urge the students to take stances upon via the research work/writing the course will culminate in.
Basics of Creative Writing
The objectives of this course are to develop students’ abilities to explore thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences and communicate these effectively, to develop students’ abilities to respond creatively to a stimulus and to communicate the response using the written word as a tool and any medium (print, theatre, TV, film etc.) as a platform, to encourage enjoyment of and develop proficiency in writing, reading, speaking, listening, viewing, and representing using different media and to promote personal growth and social development through developing students’ understanding of, both, the language and the human condition.
Introduction to Film Appreciation
To be updated
Indian Society through Ages
This course introduces students to India’s cultural history from around 15th century BCE to 12th century CE. It explores the political traditions, social institutions and economic scenario of different periods and focuses on cultural changes over time.
Introduction to Modern World History (1300-1800)
This course explores the beginnings of the early modern world in 14th century Europe. European civilizations laid the foundations of contemporary political and social life including democracy, literacy, secularism, rational thinking, scientific enquiry, technology and ideas of human progress in a series of developments that constitute watershed events and milestone achievements in history. In the course which focuses on the period 1300-1800, we will explore some of these events and their political, cultural and historical contexts both within and outside Europe. The impact of these on the rest of the world (which is what makes European history World history) will also form a vital strand of enquiry in the course.
Dawn of Civilization: Beginnings in River Valleys
This course introduces students to the civilizations of the ancient world such as Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Harappan and Chinese. Beginning with human origins, it traces the journey of human progress from Stone Age to Civilization, focusing on the distinct character of each of these early civilizations with unique system of polity, economy and religion.
Ancient Civilizations: Persian, Greek & Roman
This module seeks to explore the ancient worlds of Persian, Greek and Roman civilizations, focusing on historical narratives and contemporary cultural milieu. It studies culture specific trends in polity, economy, social norms and religious practices, and explores the legacy of these cultures
Introduction to Journalism
Print Journalism is considered to be the mother of Electronic and online journalism. Knowledge of newspaper journalism will, therefore, help the students understand various aspects of media practices and allied disciplines of communication and management.
Introduction to English Literature
Teaching literature is teaching how to read. How to notice things in a text that a speed-reading culture is trained to disregard, overcome, edit out, or explain away; how to read what the language is doing, not guess what the author was thinking ... (Barbara Johnson, "Teaching Deconstructively," in Writing and Reading Differently, ed. G. Douglas Atkins and Michael L. Johnson, University Press of Kansas: 1985).
This course aims to introduce students to the fundamental concepts and history associated with the reading, analysis and appreciation of literary works. Students will be exposed to the major literary genres of narrative fiction, poetry, and drama and examine the interrelationships between language and aesthetic experience. We will also look at critical concepts with an emphasis on better understanding and appreciation of Literature beyond the freshman perspective.
Reading Literature
To be updated
European Literature
This course aims to introduce students to some of the finest works of Literature spanning several centuries in Europe beyond the English speaking world by focusing on specific aspects of Literature, Culture and Critical theory. From Medieval to Modern, we will survey expressions in myriad literary genres and simultaneously students will be oriented to movements in literary thought like Absurdism, Naturalism, and Symbolism amongst several others. Diverse in language, culture and history, European Literature is representative of an interesting amalgamation of subject matter and styles and this course will endeavour to familiarise the students with this wide diversity in thought and narratives that characterizes the literatures of Europe.
Poetry: From Sonnets to Slam Poetry
This course shall survey poetry in English since the Renaissance till contemporary times. It seeks to introduce students to the variety of poetic forms and themes that echo the varieties of the spoken word through the history of the English language. Several poetic movements shall be highlighted towards demonstrating the innovations that occurred in the poetic forms. Some of the poets we shall read include Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Auden, Pound, Eliot, Browning, Thomas, Plath, Ginsberg and Larkin. Secondary readings will include critical commentaries and historical overviews.
Introduction to Modern Indian Drama
The course will provide a broad introduction to theoretical and historical debates that stand at the centre of modern Indian drama evolved in the post-independence period. A selection of plays will be read, discussed and analysed in order to become familiar with the major writing styles, techniques, and conventions that characterise modern dramatic literature. In the course, students will also understand ‘roots’ of modern drama by studying dramatic traditions of pre-independence period. Although the course is on modern drama as a literature with an emphasis on interpretation of drama as a literary text, given the performative and collaborative nature of drama, students will think of drama more broadly as a ‘text’ that can be analysed in dynamic ways considering its performative dimensions.
Introduction to Philosophy
This course will be a broad introduction to Philosophies from around the world. It will introduce core concepts and explore central questions that have engaged philosophers down the ages. The course will focus on the five central philosophical areas of Metaphysics, Logic, Epistemology, Ethics and Aesthetics. The students will need to explore, through reading, and engage with, through group discussions and personal reflection, varied concepts and ideas.
Why Art Matters
This course is intended as an introduction to the diverse ways in which art can function. It is neither intended as a connected historical development of art nor as an introduction to great master artists. Rather, it seeks to explore the significance of art, and the representative themes through which it can be engaged. It intends to draw works of art from various civilizations, of diverse media, thinking of art not just as a product of a region or time-frame but of humans worldwide. It commences with upholding the idea that we all live in an interdependent global environment and that the world has always had strong global relations. In that respect, this course seeks to explore art within the framework of how it expresses ideas related to the sacred, religious iconography, political authority, and so on.
Graphic Novels
In this course, we will be reading and interpreting graphic novels. A graphic narrative is the combination of images and texts to convey meaning. The graphic novel, specifically, has gained legitimacy as a literary form in the twenty-first century. In this course, we will develop and exercise techniques for combing visual and textual analysis through the careful reading of graphic novels from around the world. In addition to close reading and analysis, we will work to contextualize the recent surge in the graphic novel’s mainstream popularity, examining themes such as identity and play, nostalgia, reportage, and cultural memory. We will also think critically about the term “graphic novel,” examining its key texts and limit cases.
Introduction to Digital Humanities
This course introduces students to humanities research in a digital environment. The question of pedagogy greatly concerns us in liberal arts classrooms at FLAME University. As digital pedagogies are explored, this course seeks to offer a familiarity with new models that suit contextual needs, defy hierarchies of access, and engage with transitions to digitality.
The first point to remember though is that digital literacy does not necessarily come automatically to those who are called “digital natives.” So, while on the one hand to become a learner in a digital environment is to learn forms, techniques, and skills—from creating wordpress sites, audio documentaries, timelines etc.—on the other hand, questions of authorship in an environment of re-mixing history are also related to questions of propriety and proprietorship. Practices of collaborative work privilege co-operation and challenge discrete models of creation. To be culturally specific to an Indian model is to also be sensitive to varied models of creation and reception.
To this end, this course aims to introduce students to several techniques spanning archiving, data visualization and textual and spatial analysis. We will survey a variety of tools through our assignments and this course will endeavour to familiarise the students with the wide diversity of cultural analysis through a historical framework in the Indian context.
Film Genres: Horror
This course offers an introduction to genre studies through the lens of one specific genre: namely, horror. Horror films have often been considered among the most profitable, popular and exploitative of cinematic genres. Despite such criticisms, the horror genre is more complex than it initially may seem to be; lurking beneath the bloody surface are unique insights and commentaries on the various contexts in which such films were produced. Critics from a variety of fields have recognized that horror films provide a complicated but popular forum in which social tensions may be interrogated. This course will serve as an introduction to major films within the genre, from the 1920s to works released in recent years. Through weekly screenings and critical readings, students will consider how the horror genre has served as a barometer of sorts for cultural anxieties at particular historic moments. Additionally, students will focus on the numerous aesthetic choices and filmmaking techniques that are evident throughout our course films in order to reveal both continuity, growth and transnational influences within the genre.