CONFERENCE ON INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES :
A two-day conference on “Integrating Knowledge: The Challenge
of Interdisciplinary Studies” was organised by Gargi College
at the India International Centre on Tuesday, January 24 and
Wednesday, January 25, 2006. A number of distinguished speakers
participated in the conference, which drew a large audience
of scholars from various academic institutions and research
organisations in Delhi. The conference was sponsored by the
University Grants Commission, Indian Council of Philosophical
Research, Indian Council of Historical Research, British Council,
Air India and Indian Airlines. It was jointly organised by the
departments of English, History, Philosophy and Elementary Education,
and supported by the department of Political Science.
The aim of the conference was to re-examine the philosophy of
interdisciplinarity in higher education, in the context of the
new courses recently introduced into the B.A. curriculum of
the University of Delhi. Can interdisciplinarity complement
specialisation? How can departmental functions be reinvented
to transcend the customary turf battles over ownership of specified
“areas of knowledge,” to promote instead the idea
of the curriculum as a process rather than a structure? What
new skills must the teaching faculty acquire, to transcend their
customary monodisciplinary training, in order to equip themselves
for the new pedagogy? What teaching strategies are required,
to promote a curriculum that would train the student to seek
knowledge of the world rather than mastery over it?
The conference sought to address some of these issues bringing
together a panel of speakers from diverse fields of intellectual
activity. Prof. Deepak Pental, Vice Chancellor of Delhi University,
inaugurated the conference. Our Principal, Dr. Meera Ramachandran,
in her welcome address, spoke of her own interdisciplinary approach
to the teaching of English literature. In his keynote address,
Prof. Krishna Kumar, Director, NCERT, highlighted the need for
a holistic approach to higher education. The conference ended
with a lively panel discussion on the new interdisciplinary
courses in the B.A. curriculum of the University of Delhi. Throughout
the proceedings, the audience played an active role, generating
debate on concerns that will continue to occupy the centrestage
in the field of pedagogy today.
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