M.A. in Society and Culture

The two-year, 80-credits M.A program in Society and Culture at IIT Gandhinagar aims to provide analytical lens and theoretical perspectives in disciplines including History, Culture Studies, Literature, Translation Studies, Sociology, Political Science and Anthropology. The MA curriculum combines core learnings in theory and methods with a range of advanced electives in specific disciplines. That is, students interested in particular disciplines may take specific tracks/sub-fields (see below) that allow them to deepen their knowledge and critically engage in the contemporary body of scholarship shaping the humanities and social sciences intellectual traditions. As a capstone project, all MA students complete a Master’s level thesis that allow them to work closely with a faculty advisor in the students’ preferred field of specialization. Given the strong research interest in India and South Asia at large, the program draws illustrations from that field, however, students are welcome to go beyond specific regions and histories with personalized guidance from the faculty. Overall, the MA program trains graduate students in independent research allowing them to pursue an advanced academic degree (e.g. PhD) and also prepares them for professional careers in journalism, writing, social development sector and public policy. For the 2016-2018 cycle, two discipline specific tracks are offered :

• Literature and Culture Track :
  This track invites students to creatively understand and critically engage with literary texts in English as well as Indian Languages across time and space, while reflecting on the fundamental tropes within societies and cultures. With a broad focus on India, the courses offered under this track address some of the focal socio-cultural dualism pervasive in the critical idiom, such as; colonial and postcolonial, classical and modern, regional and cosmopolitan, print and digital cultures, cinema and society, caste and class. The courses encourage students to debate and initiate dialogues revolving around central literary and socio-cultural discourses.
• History and Politics Track :
  This track will train students to develop critical thinking in a range of themes and perspectives that fall within the academic disciplines of History and Political Science. Courses in this track have been designed with a broad focus on India, its immediate colonial history and the functioning of the post-colonial nation state and society.

These courses will help students develop a critical appreciation of the nuances of historical transformation, power and agency, articulation of class and community identities, the role of civil society, democratic mobilization, mob psychology and so on. MA Program Highlights :

• Opportunity to specialize in discipline specific concentrations
• Opportunity to engage in original research
• Off campus academic and policy internships
• Student led graduate seminars and symposiums
• Courses and mentoring offered by distinguished faculty who are experts in their fields
• Research awards and conference support (on a competitive basis) for MA students

In short, the M.A. program allows students to deepen their knowledge of a set of disciplines and yet remain free of boundedness that is so characteristic of other systems Given below is a list of core and specialized track courses to provide a view into the nature and scope of the program. Core Courses: Methodologies of History Writing Perspectives on Politics Critical Approaches to Anthropology and Sociology Theoretical Perspectives in Literary Studies Research Methods in Social Sciences and Humanities Literature & Culture Track Electives (Indicative): Reading English in English Classical Indian Literature India Through the Writer’s Eye World literature and Readings from Bengal. South Asia through Literature History & Politics Track Electives (Indicative) History of Modern India (1930-1964) Paradox of Indian Democracy Social History of Dissent Mobs, Crowds and Citizens : Democracy and Mass Mobilisation in India Global Poverty and Developmental Aid M.A. Program Credit Structure

Courses	Credits
CORE	20
ELECTIVES through tracks and/or general electives*	26
M.A Summer Internship	4
Courses/Projects outside HSS disciplines*	6
Cultures of Communication	4
MA thesis	20
TOTAL	80

* Students will have an option to choose from a basket of available courses offered every semester based on their specialization and interest

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