Why We Must Teach Dissent
Sayantani Mukhopadhyay | 13 April 2024 | The Wire
Under the guidelines of the National Education Policy, 2020, several institutions now offer ‘multi-disciplinary’ courses which have been designed in accordance with the policy’s vision of transforming the classroom into a space where educators “develop social, physical, intellectual, emotional, and moral capacities of human beings in an integrated manner.” It is a noble and ambitious goal. But I do wonder if educators are prepared to wrangle with the full extent of the implications of such an aim.
The institution where I teach was one of the first to implement the policy. Each department now offers a substantial litany of courses from which students of all departments are welcome to choose the one they wish to sample. As a result, I now get to discuss cultural studies with over 80 undergraduate students, all from different various disciplines, for 45 minutes every week. The experience has been edifying, to say the least…