The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences saw a Department-organised freshers’ meet for the first batch of the MA students constituted by HS23. The meet was facilitated and organised by the PhD scholars of the department in a departure from the tradition of freshie nights so far (though I do wonder whether this was a freshers’ meet or an orientation). In a curious oversight I’m sure, the Department seems to have forgotten to add the Integrated MA students to their invitation list.
The event was hosted by Arjun, who is a PhD scholar. Prof Jyotirmaya Tripathy, the HoD of the department was invited to address the newly joined students. He advised the students to be punctual, to sleep early, to take up sports and to avoid politics in favour of academia. He also encouraged the students to attend the events and lectures organised by the other departments. He also mentioned that Prof Avishek Parui would be the coordinator for ES, Prof Santhosh Sahu for Economics and Prof Binitha Thampi for DS. He ended his address by once again emphasising on punctuality.
After this, Mr Sudhakar Rao Pujari, the Deputy Registrar of the Placement Cell was invited to address the students. He also emphasised on the importance of having sleeping discipline. He went on to mention that the students tend to be less vocal and demanding if they are in the campus only for two years. He also added that there are often administrative constraints that need to be dealt with and emphasised that placement and internship were student-driven processes aided by the administration.
This was followed by CEO of the Research Park IITM, Mr Rajagopal Subramaniam, speaking with the students. He underlined the importance of humanities students working in tech-heavy research spaces like Research Park in areas of personnel management and fostering connections between academia and industry. Another area where he saw the importance of social scientists in technological spaces was in the emerging field of Artificial Intelligence. He emphasised that one of the objectives of the Research Park was to nurture talent and take research to commercialisation.
The final address after this was by Mr Raghuttama Rao from the Gopal Krishna Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He advised the students not to squander away their time in the Institute. He also emphasised the role of social sciences in entrepreneurship and technology. He added that the students should learn to beat the system (but in a proper way). He finished his address by underlining the importance of punctuality, especially when the students study abroad.
Following this, Akash, the Research Counsellor of the Department briefly spoke with the students, concluding with a chant from Bhagavad Gita. Further, another PhD scholar, Prakash, was invited to speak with the students. He emphasised that convictions are formed through disclosures and encouraged the students to participate in the social and departmental imaginaries. As the dignitaries left the room after this address, the new MA student and PhD scholars took the opportunity to introduce themselves.
Sanchar, a PhD scholar, delivered the vote of thanks. Arjun took over to finally announce the commencement of the most important part of the event – food!
Report by Garima S
Pictures Courtesy Sanoop Koshy
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