TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Goa University has announced a visiting professors programme that will bring persons of international repute to conduct programmes at the university.
Announcing this, vice chancellor Dr Satish Shetye said that the programmes are part of the visiting professorship chairs funded by government of Goa through the Department of Art and Culture.
The chairs include D D Kosambi chair, the Bakibab Borkar chair, the Dayanand Bandodkar chair, the Mario Miranda, Anthony Gonsalves and Nana Shirgaokar chairs.
Several scholars have agreed to participate in the visiting professorship programmes including Prof Romila Thapar, Madhav Gadgil and Sudhir Kakar as part of the D D Kosambi Visiting Professorship in interdisciplinary studies, Prof Amit Bhaduri, Ashok Chandra and Lord Meghnad Desai under the Dayanand Bandodkar visiting professorship in political economy.
Jeet Thayil will conduct a programme under the Kavivarya Bakibab Borkar visiting research professorship in comparative literature. Prof Jyotindra Jain, Arijit Sengupta and Atul Dodiya as part of the Mario Miranda visiting research professorship in fine art, painting illustrative cartooning. Prof Santiago Lusardi Girell from the University of Seville in Spain and his group will be conducting a programme under the Anthony Gonsalves visiting research professorship in western music, while Shubha Mudgal will be conducting a programme under the Nana Shirgaokar visiting research professorship in traditional music.
Besides Prof Romila Thapar, Prof Madhav Gadgil is already active on the campus. Others including Prof Santiago, the conductor who participated in the revolutionary El Sistema in Venezuela taking classical music to children in the slums is also on the campus. Prof Amit Bhaduri, Professor Emeritus in Economics at the Jawaharlal Nehru University will arrive at the end of July. Amongst others, Mudgal and Orijit Sen are expected on the campus during September-October, Jeet Thayil in the second week of August.
Prof Jyotindra Jain in November and Atul Dodiya in February 2014. The programmes are available to universities and college students of all streams and public. They will be given certificates at the end of the programme if they successfully complete it.
“The Goa University is eager to seek the participation of the people of Goa in the activities, courses, events and functions generated by these visiting professors. Over the next three years the Goa University will explore the integration of the activities of the Visiting Professors with the curricula in its choice-based credit system,” Dr Shetye said. He added that he would love if students from all disciplines took part in programmes other than their own specialization.
Goa University students who participate in the entire programmes will earn themselves credits. Each postgraduate student requires 80 credits. By attending these programmes students can earn up to 20 credits either as part of the 80 with 60 credits from their own course or over and above the 80 they earn through their main course. The programmes are being funded by the Directorate of Art and Culture and the professors will spend a minimum of six weeks in the University per year. The executive council of the Goa University is overseeing the programme through its recently created standing committee on the visiting research professorship programme comprising Ramchandra Bhatkar, YV Reddy, Peter D’Lima, and Ranjit Hoskote.
