Disclaimer: This article is intended as a guide and starting point for understanding the various courses offered by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. The information given here is collated from various sources, which are correct to the best of our knowledge. Courses offered, along with the instructor for the course, are subject to change across semesters. Information on grades is subjective as well. For comprehensive information, students are advised to inspect the latest timetable provided by the Academic-Undergraduate Study Division (AUGSD).
Dr Harikrishnan Gopinadhan Nair
Specialising in the History of Early Modern Hispanic-America, the History of Political Thought, the History of Universities, and Gandhian Studies, Dr Nair is an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. He is currently the Instructor in Charge of four courses—Main Currents of Modern History, Gandhian Thoughts, Main Trends in Indian History, and Contemporary India. Dr Nair’s courses are extensive and rigorous, with engaging class discussions and a mandatory self-study assignment (SSA). Each of his courses has four evaluative components—an SSA, its preliminary draft, a mid-semester, and a comprehensive examination. The SSA can be a paper about any topic under the purview of the course. These courses tend to have heavier reading material than the average HuEl, making them more demanding. Being a part of the class discussions enables one to understand the expectations from a student for a particular question. His courses are available throughout the year across all Priority (PR) Numbers.
Main Currents of Modern History
This course deals with the history of the world from the 15th century to the 18th century, with a particular focus on European History.
Main Trends in Indian History
This course tracks India’s history from the Hindu rulers’ era to British rule.
Contemporary India
This course deals with different events across sectors like the economy, society, polity, and foreign policy, which shaped contemporary India into what it is today.
Gandhian Thoughts
This course offers insight into Mahatma Gandhi’s life and his views on topics such as untouchability, feminism, and secularism.
Dr Nair tends to award a B- or a C on average, depending on the class strength, and awards an A to the top 10-15% of the class.
Dr Kumar Sankar Bhattacharya
Specialising in Postcolonial Literature and Culture, Indian Writing in English, and Cultural Literary Theories, Dr Kumar Sankar Bhattacharya is an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. He is currently the Instructor in Charge of two courses–Critical Analysis of Literature and Cinema (CALCi) and Readings from Drama. He has previously been the Instructor in Charge for Comparative Indian Literature. Most takers of his courses have strong opinions regarding the evaluation and course methodology, with the course content being heavier than the average HuEl according to most. Attendance is a must across all courses taught by Dr Bhattacharya, with frequent absence negatively impacting one’s grades. The evaluative components are often set keeping in-class discussions in mind. Each course has an open book mid-semester as well as a comprehensive examination, and one or two assignments or quizzes. His courses are available throughout the year across all PR Numbers.
Critical Analysis of Literature and Cinema
This course aims to impart the critical sense required to interpret a work of literature or cinema by extensively teaching the students the nuances of these art forms. It analyses different novels, comics, poems, plays, and art films from a technical and critical lens. The course concludes with an analysis of Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha.
Readings from Drama
This course analyses various Indian and Western dramatic forms across the ages. Famous Western plays such as Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus are discussed, along with ancient and modern Indian plays, such as Abhijnana Shakuntalam and Vijay Tendulkar’s Silence! The Court is in Session.
Comparative Indian Literature
The course intends to acquaint students with the most significant achievements in Indian literature.
The grading for these courses is more competitive than other HuELs, especially for CALCi, due to the high number of students enrolled in the course every semester. Dr Bhattacharya awards a B- (or C, for CALCi) on average, with roughly the top 10% of each class getting an A.
Dr Anupam Yadav
Specialising in Western and Continental Philosophy, Hermeneutics, and the Philosophy of Science and Social Science, Dr Anupam Yadav is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. She is currently the Instructor in Charge for two courses, Introductory Philosophy (IntroPhil) and Symbolic Logic (SymLog). While attendance is not a mandatory component for either course, one is encouraged to attend the lectures for IntroPhil to familiarise themselves with the various technical terminologies used in the course,which many have found hard to keep up with. Both courses have three evaluative components—a mid-semester examination, a comprehensive examination, and an assignment, quiz, report, or presentation. A noteworthy point would be that both these HuELs are fairly sought after, with SymLog being one of the most sought-after HuELs on campus.
Introductory Philosophy
Introductory Philosophy introduces students to the critical tenets of different Western and Indian philosophy schools. It is said to be a relatively content-heavy course. A B- is awarded on average, with roughly the top 10% of the class being awarded an A in the course.
Symbolic Logic
Symbolic Logic aims to quantify logic and use the basic symbolic procedures to assess the status and analyse the nature of deductive arguments. It is considered an easy course with little rote learning involved. Students of the single degree Computer Science branch (A7) cannot take this course during their 2-1, due to overlaps with Logic in Computer Science, a CDC. While Dr Yadav awards a B on average in this course, fewer people are awarded an A in SymLog as compared to IntroPhil, due to the low variance in scores. It is one of the most sought after HuEls on campus, with entry to the course closing at a PR Number ranging from 350–500.
Dr Muhammed Afzal Puthusseri
Specialising in Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Literary and Cultural Theory, Marxism, and Language Politics, Dr Muhammed Afzal Puthusseri is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. He is currently the Instructor in Charge for three courses—Cinematic Art (CineArt), Asian Cinemas and Cultures, and Cultural Studies. Sticking to the assigned materials and class notes is said to be enough for all of them. All courses have three evaluative components—a mid-semester examination, a comprehensive examination, and an assignment or quiz.
Cinematic Art
One of the newest courses to be introduced on campus, Cinematic Art aims to familiarise students with the various approaches to understanding and critiquing cinema.
Asian Cinemas and Cultures
Asian Cinemas and Cultures aims to introduce students to critical debates on Asian cinemas and popular culture, while giving them the historical context to analyse cultural texts from the region critically.
Cultural Studies
This course aims to provide students with an introduction to various themes in cultural studies, enabling them to visualise these themes from both a Western and an Indian perspective.
Dr Puthusseri is said to award a B- on average.
Dr Vinay Chamola
An Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Dr Vinay Chamola, is also the Instructor in Charge of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. Attendance is compulsory for this course, with evaluative components randomly scattered across different classes. Aside from these in-class vivas or assignments, the course has at least two quizzes, a mid-semester, and a comprehensive examination. Attendance is also important to understand the expected answers for these evaluative components. This course is reasonably sought after, with entry closing at a PR number ranging from 600 to 800.
Srimad Bhagavad Gita
This course introduces the Bhagavad Gita in a manner to students where one is encouraged to focus on the applications of its principles in daily life.
Dr Chamola is said to award a B on average. Keeping in mind that the average tends to be very high and the variance, very low, getting ahead of the grading curve requires diligent attendance.
Dr Sailaja Nandigama
Dr Sailaja Nandigama is an academic researcher and an ethnographer with teaching and training experience. Her research interests include Political Science and Political Ideologies, Human Rights, Social Justice and Public Policy, Ethnography, and Interpretive Policy Analysis, amongst others. She is the Instructor in Charge for the courses Environmental Development and Climate Change, Development Theories, and Public Administration.
Environmental Development and Climate Change
The course traces the evolution of environmental crises and climate change in response to the unsustainable development in the Anthropocene, especially in the mid-twentieth century. Dr Sailaja is said to award a B- or a C on average depending on the course strength. Besides the standard evaluative components i.e. the mid-semester and the comprehensive examination, there are two projects. One of them is conducted before the mid-semester and the other after it. The course also includes three guest lectures which require attendance.
Development Theories
The course focuses on development theories and practices in the modern world and their interplay. Besides the mid-semester and comprehensive exam, there is one quiz and a Self-Study Assignment (SSA).
Public Administration
The course aims at equipping students with the knowledge of public administration in India. This course caters to students who are interested in understanding their civic duties.
Dr Praveen Goyal
Dr Praveen Goyal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management, BITS Pilani. His research fields are Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Sustainability, Service Marketing, and Consumer Behaviour. He is the Instructor in Charge for Global Business Technology and Knowledge Sharing.
Global Business Technology and Knowledge Sharing
The course aims to understand how different variables, like changing the corporate landscape and new knowledge industries, impact global business relations. Various students claim that a B- can be expected on average.
Dr Virendra Singh Nirban
Dr Virendra Singh Nirban is an Associate Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani. He is also the Faculty-in-Charge of the Public Relations Office. He specialises in Informatics, Education, Technology, and Governance. He is the Instructor in Charge for the courses Mass Media and Content Design (MMCD) and Computer-Mediated Communication.
Mass Media and Content Design
This course deals with the concepts of methods of communication, basic web development and animation, and video storyboards. The evaluative components include the mid-semester and the comprehensive examination and two evaluative labs, one before the mid-semester and the other before the comprehensive examination.
Computer-Mediated Communication
The course is based on how communication technology advancement affects social interactions. A good grade is said to be guaranteed if one attends the lectures.
Dr Anil Rai
Dr Anil Rai is an Assistant Professor of Music in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani. He has been teaching music courses at BITS since 1989. Presently, he is the Instructor in Charge for Appreciation of Indian Music and Musicology: An Introduction.
Appreciation of Indian Music
The course heavily involves memorisation of the ragas and layakaris. The evaluative components include two quizzes, one group project, and the mid-semester and comprehensive examination. The mid-semester and comprehensive examination are both of a practical and theoretical nature.
Musicology: An Introduction
The course is about music and its philosophy, history, development, and various cultural forms of music. Particular emphasis is given to both research and self-study while studying for this course.
Dr Chintalapalli Vijayakumar
Dr Chintalapalli Vijaykumar specialises in Corpus Based Language Teaching and Computer Assisted Language Learning. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani.
English Skills for Academics
The course focuses on analysing key academic genres to understand the macro and micro aspects of language use. The evaluative components include the mid-semester and the comprehensive examination, along with two in-class assignments.
Dr Rajneesh Choubisa
A behavioural scientist by training, Dr Rajneesh Choubisa is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at BITS Pilani. His research interests lie in Positive Psychology, Organisational Development, and Intervention Research, amongst others. He takes Organisational Psychology and Human Resource Development.
Organisational Psychology
Organisational Psychology is considered to be the go-to management course. The course focuses on organisational structure as well as the schools of thought towards ascertaining the psychology of all parties in an organisation. The grading in this course is moderate.
Human Resource Development
The course aims to develop a conceptual framework for understanding human behaviour in organisations and the development of human capital in various sectors and spheres of the world of work. Only eight students from a prior batch received an A or an A-, while students who placed between 9 and 60 received a B. The mid-semester and comprehensive examinations for these courses are open-laptop.