All undergrads at Ashoka, a liberal arts university in India, must take 9 foundational courses before getting into their major. These are - Introduction to Critical Thinking, Great Books, Literature and the World, Indian Civilizations, Environmental Studies, Mind and Behaviour, Economy, Politics and Society, Mathematical Thinking and Principles of Science. From their website -
These courses are not formal gateways into the Major programmes, but distinctive courses that introduce students to the foundations of thought and various styles of thinking, and also to inter- and transdisciplinary approaches.
The liberal arts program at Princeton[2] has a similar stated intention.
A liberal arts education offers an expansive intellectual grounding in all kinds of humanistic inquiry. By exploring issues, ideas and methods across the humanities and the arts, and the natural and social sciences, you will learn to read critically, write cogently and think broadly. These skills will elevate your conversations in the classroom and strengthen your social and cultural analysis; they will cultivate the tools necessary to allow you to navigate the world’s most complex issues.
When I came across this, a pang of jealousy stung me. My education since I was 16 has been about increasing depth in mathematics. Consequently, mathematics has been the dominant framework I use to understand the world. Faced with something new, I try to figure out what the data generative process is, what random variables are involved, and what equations can explain this. Sometimes this works, but when it doesn’t, I am left with a feeling of inadequacy. For instance, I can reason why very large over-parameterized Neural Networks obtain great generalization performance. I am, however, unable to understand why people are willing to die for their religion, why the RBI does not decrease interest rates when inflation is stable, or why communism is hated so much.
This has gotten worse as I have gotten older. I have doubled down on my narrow view of the world by choosing work that rewards it and by hanging around with people who think similarly. I have worked myself into a bubble.
Fortunately, though, part of me was always instinctively aware of my ignorance even if I could not articulate it. It was this instinct that drew me to minor in Humanities while majoring in Electrical Engineering. It is the reason I am drawn to books and podcasts[3] that might help me understand the world better. Coming across the idea of a liberal arts education articulated and formalised this instinct. It concretely listed down areas worthy of study that I missed out on.
Intellectually starved, I found the liberal arts curriculum mouthwatering and caught myself wondering what would have happened had I gone through such a program instead - if I had been deprived of an education that could have bettered my understanding of the world. However, I could not bask in my victimhood for long. I was quickly reminded that even if I had gone through such a program, I would have only seen it as an obstacle to getting good grades - to get a good job - to prove I was smart. Understanding the world was not a priority at the time.
Older and arguably wiser, I continue the fight against my ignorance by reading and listening to people who can help me marginally bridge the gaps in my education. I feel good having armed myself with the reading list of Ashoka’s foundation courses which I am sharing below for fellow lost souls. What I could not get in the classroom, I might squeeze out of my Kindle.
| Foundation | Department | Professor Name | Reading List | Course Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economics, Politics and Society | Political Science | M.A.A Khan | Analects of Confucius, Bhagavad Gita, Quran, modern interpretations by Sun Yat Sen, B R Ambedkar, R Khomeini | Explores foundational texts and their interpretations to understand societal values and political ideologies. |
| Economics, Politics and Society | Sociology | Ravindran Sriramachandran | No specific texts prescribed | Engages with a diverse range of sources, focusing on personal narratives and societal impacts through various mediums. |
| Economics, Politics and Society | Economics | Not mentioned | The Worldly Philosophers, Great Economic Thinkers, works of Adam Smith, Marx, Keynes, Gandhi, Amartya Sen | Examines the evolution of economic thought and its impact on modern economic policies. |
| Economics, Politics and Society | Sociology | Not mentioned | No specific texts prescribed | Discusses contemporary societal issues like the Anthropocene and rights to non-human entities. |
| Economics, Politics and Society | Political Science | Rahul Verma | No specific texts prescribed | Covers foundational theories in economics, political science, and sociology, focusing on their interrelation. |
| Economics, Politics and Society | Economics | Biswajit Banerjee | In Defense of Globalization, Globalization and its Discontents, The Globalization Paradox, related OECD reports | Analyzes the effects of globalization from multiple perspectives to understand its complexities and impacts. |
| Economics, Politics and Society | International Relations | Srinath Raghavan | No specific texts prescribed | Examines modern social theories and the complexities of the modern state, democracy, and capitalism. |
| Economics, Politics and Society | Media Studies | Vinod Pawarala (Visiting) | No specific texts prescribed | Studies media freedom, ownership, and contemporary challenges within global and alternative media. |
| Great books | English | Madhavi Menon | Kamasutra, Sufi poetry, Symposium, Metamorphoses, Discourse on Method, The Origin of Species, The Interpretation of Dreams, Frankenstein | Explores a wide range of literary and philosophical texts to understand diverse cultural and scientific perspectives. |
| Great books | History | Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Rudrangshu Mukherjee | Isa Upanishad, King Oedipus, Vishnu Stotra Satanam, Meditations, The Communist Manifesto, Room of One’s Own, Long Walk | Delves into historical and philosophical texts to understand societal transformations and personal identities. |
| Great books | History | Rudrangshu Mukherjee | The Hall of Uselessness, The Russian Tradition, Gandhi and the Challenge of Religious Diversity, The Rebel, The Reckless Mind, Nihilism | Examines historical narratives and philosophical debates to understand societal and individual crises. |
| Great books | English | S Satish Kumar | The Symposium, Gatha Sattasai, Akam poetry, pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, A Lover’s Discourse, On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous | Explores ancient and modern poetry and prose to capture the essence of human emotions and cultural interactions. |
| Great books | Creative Writing | Arunava Sinha | No specific texts prescribed | Studies Nobel Laureates in various genres to understand the breadth and depth of award-winning literature. |
| Great books | Visual Arts | Devan Barkar | The Bible, Upanishads, Pali Cannon, Confucianism and Daoism texts, Republic, De Anima, Confessions, Divine Comedy, Oration on the Dignity of Man, Hamlet, Discourse on Method, Leviathan, Treatise of Human Nature, Emile, The Descent of Man, Being and Nothingness, The Hard Problem of Consciousness, Why Gender Matters | Explores foundational texts across cultures to understand human nature, philosophy, and societal values. |
| Great books | History | Rudrangshu Mukherjee | Isa Upanishad, King Oedipus, Mahabharata, Vindication of the Rights Of Women, Tuhfat Al Muwahhidin, The Communist Manifesto, A Room of One’s Own | Investigates key historical and philosophical texts to explore concepts of power, gender, and social change. |
| Great books | Philosophy, Technology | Aakash Singh Rathore | Nicomachean Ethics, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Beyond Good and Evil, Hind Swaraj, I, Robot, Eichmann in Jerusalem, Obedience to Authority, In A Different Voice, A Cyborg Manifesto | Examines the intersection of philosophy and technology through classical and contemporary texts, exploring ethics and societal impacts. |
| Environmental Studies | Environmental Studies | Mitul Baruah | No specific texts prescribed | Addresses contemporary environmental issues like the agrarian crisis, climate change, and the impact of industrial food systems. |
| Environmental Studies | Environmental Studies | Divya Karnad | No specific texts prescribed | Provides an overview of ecological systems and the changes impacting the environment. |
| Environmental Studies | Environmental Studies | Meghna Agarwala | No specific texts prescribed | Discusses environmental conservation, political ecology, climate change, and biodiversity through a broad scope. |
| Environmental Studies | Environmental Studies | Mukul Sharma | No specific texts prescribed | Focuses on the intersections of environment, development, and climate change, discussing global and local impacts. |
| Environmental Studies | Environmental Studies | Manvi Sharma | Biological Diversity, Conservation Biology, A Sand County Almanac, The wealth of species, A Naturalist and Other Beasts, What is Conservation Biology | Studies the scientific and theoretical underpinnings of biodiversity and conservation practices. |
| Environmental Studies | Environmental Studies | Mahesh Rangarajan | Silent Spring, The Closing Circle, Environmentalism, A Global History, The Great Acceleration, Environmental Issues in India, Biodiversity | Examines key environmental texts to understand the historical and contemporary issues in environmentalism. |
| indian-civilizations | Sociology and Anthropology | Bhrigupati Singh | No specific texts prescribed | Studies the impact of Gandhi’s and Ambedkar’s ideas on modern Indian society and explores cultural dynamics through cinema. |
| indian-civilizations | History | Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Nayanjot Lahiri | No specific texts prescribed | Explores the breadth of Indian civilization from ancient to modern times, examining key historical figures and cultural milestones. |
| indian-civilizations | History | Gaurav C. Garg | No specific texts prescribed | Discusses cultural, territorial, and historical aspects of Indian civilization, focusing on cricket as a cultural lens. |
| indian-civilizations | History | Aparna Vaidik | No specific texts prescribed | Uses metaphorical connections to popular culture to explore Indian civilization and its cultural imaginations. |
| indian-civilizations | History | Tanika Sarkar | No specific texts prescribed | Examines Indian historical experiences, cultural production, and social inequalities to define civilization. |
| indian-civilizations | History | Projit Bihari Mukharji | No specific texts prescribed | Studies Indian medical history, including classical and modern practices, to understand the evolution of healthcare. |
| indian-civilizations | History | Upinder Singh | No specific texts prescribed | Explores the contradictions of Indian civilization, focusing on societal, religion, and global interactions. |
| Literature and the World | English | Abir Bazaz | Works by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Franz Kafka, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, V.S. Naipaul, Tayeb Salih, Han Kang, Toni Morrison, J. M. Coetzee, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Flannery O’Connor | Analyzes modern literature from a global perspective, discussing themes of existentialism, identity, and cultural conflict. |
| Literature and the World | English | Jonathan Gil Harris | Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Hanan Al-Shaykh’s The Thousand and One Nights, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, The Tempest, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Dream Country, Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North, Aimé Césaire’s A Tempest, films such as Omkara and Forbidden Planet | Examines literary transformations and cultural adaptations through a variety of texts and media, exploring themes of love, power, and identity. |
| Literature and the World | English | Subhasree Chakravarty | No specific texts prescribed | Discusses a wide range of literary genres to understand different narratives and cultural experiences. |
| Literature and the World | English | Rita Kothari | Vivek Shanbhag’s Ghachar Ghochar, Manjula Padmanabhan’s Lights Out, Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, excerpts from the Mahabharata, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, Attia Hosain’s Sunlight on a Broken Column, stories from Arjun Dangle’s Poisoned Bread | Explores societal and personal crises through diverse literary works, highlighting themes of family dynamics, identity, and social structures. |
| Literature and the World | English | Amrita Narayanan | Works by Lewis Carrol, Kalidasa, D.H. Lawrence, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jose Saramago | Investigates global narratives and literary styles through the works of renowned authors, exploring themes of fantasy, reality, and human condition. |
| Literature and the World | English | Saikat Majumdar | No specific texts prescribed | Analyzes global English literature, focusing on texts from diverse cultural backgrounds to understand themes of colonialism, migration, and cultural identity. |
| Mind and Behaviour | Philosophy | Kranti Saran | Upanishads, Vasisṭḥa’s Yoga, works by Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Freud, Mill, Railton, Śāntideva, Korsgaard, Foot, O’Neill, Frye, Haidt, Milgram, Hobbes, Rawls, Bilgrami | Examines philosophical and psychological texts to understand the nature of the mind, ethics, and human behavior. |
| Mind and Behaviour | Psychology | Bittu Kaveri Rajaraman | No specific texts prescribed | Focuses on the interplay between mind, brain, and behavior, exploring psychological theories and experiments. |
| Mind and Behaviour | Philosophy | Kathleen Harbin | No specific texts prescribed | Discusses human cognition in comparison to animals and AI, exploring concepts of identity, free will, and ethics. |
| Mind and Behaviour | Philosophy | William McDonald | The Epic of Gilgamesh, various texts | Explores the concept of human nature through ancient texts and modern philosophical inquiries, focusing on identity and ethics. |
| Mind and Behaviour | Philosophy | Mohammad Saeedimehr (Visiting) | No specific texts prescribed | Analyzes contemporary philosophical debates on the nature of mind, morality, and mental states, focusing on analytic philosophy. |
| Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Thinking | Economics | Mihir Bhattacharya | No specific texts prescribed | Covers fundamental concepts in mathematics, including number systems, set theory, and logic, with applications in economic theory. |
| Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Thinking | Mathematics | Krishna Maddaly | “Mathematics for Liberal Arts Majors” | Provides a comprehensive introduction to mathematics for non-specialists, covering a broad range of topics to enhance quantitative reasoning. |
| Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Thinking | Mathematics | Gaurav Bhatnagar | No specific texts prescribed | Encourages interactive learning through book reviews and presentations on various mathematical topics. |
| Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Thinking | Mathematics | Guhan Venkat | No specific texts prescribed | Focuses on number theory and primality testing, including practical applications like the RSA algorithm. |
| Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Thinking | Mathematics | CS Rajan | No specific texts prescribed | Explores fundamental mathematical concepts and theories, enhancing understanding through problem-solving. |
| Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Thinking | Mathematics | Sourav Ghosh | No specific texts prescribed | Discusses advanced mathematical concepts like symmetry, paradoxes, and chaos theory, with a focus on their philosophical implications. |
| Principles of Science | Physics | Gautam Menon | No specific texts prescribed | Covers a wide range of scientific principles from climate change to genetics, discussing their applications and implications in modern science. |
| Principles of Science | Chemistry | Sourav Pal | No specific texts prescribed | Examines scientific phenomena across different scales, from atomic to molecular, discussing the metaphysical aspects of science. |
| Principles of Science | Physics and Biology | Alok Bhattacharya | No specific texts prescribed | Provides a synoptic view of key concepts in physics and biology, exploring their theoretical and technical developments. |
| Principles of Science | Physics | Shraddha Karve | No specific texts prescribed | Investigates the concept of time across various scientific disciplines, from physics to biology, discussing its implications for human cognition. |
| Principles of Science | Physics | Bikram Phookun | No specific texts prescribed | Explores the universe from an astronomical perspective, discussing the nature of space and time and the existence of extraterrestrial bodies. |
| Principles of Science | Chemistry | Vidya Avasare | No specific texts prescribed | Discusses the evolution of the scientific method and its application in modern chemistry, covering topics from organic chemistry to sustainability. |
**Table based on the course descriptions as of 2024-06-11
[1] https://www.ashoka.edu.in/programme/foundation-courses/
[2] https://admission.princeton.edu/academics/what-does-liberal-arts-mean
[3] Fantastic podcast to broaden your horizons - https://seenunseen.in/
Thanks to Nitesh for introducing me to the idea of liberal arts.