A Multi-Disciplinary
Online Certificate Programme
Exclusive Experience by Ashoka University
– Open for all Learners!
September 17, 2022 - December 21, 2022 (new applications are not accepted for this session)
Register for prospectus & application
Programme Overview and Experience
What is the story of India since its inception 75 years ago? How did its foundational politics shape what the country became? How can its subsequent social, economical and cultural trajectory tell us about where the country is today? After 75 years as a nation, what hopes, fears and progress can Indians look forward to? This fascinating multidisciplinary programme will look at all these questions and more, giving learners a comprehensive, analytical overview of India since independence. Led by some of India's leading scholars and public intellectuals, the programme has been uniquely crafted by Ashoka University, India's leading liberal arts and sciences university, to appeal to all learners, regardless of age or background.
12 WEEKEND MODULES | LIVE - ONLINE | 4 HOUR SESSIONS
Programme Faculty
Sunil Khilnani
Sunil Khilnani
Professor of Politics and History, Ashoka University
Ph. D. Cambridge University
Sunil Khilnani is a globally renowned scholar of politics and history.
He was the Founder and Director of the King’s India Institute at King’s College London from 2011 to 2019 . Prior to this he was Starr Foundation Professor at John Hopkins University, where he was the founder and director of South Asia Studies. He has also taught at Birkbeck University, London, and held several Visiting Professorships at Seikei University, Tokyo and at Princeton University.
He is the author of The Idea of India, and examination of the foundations of modern India that is recognized as a classic in its field. His most recent publication is Incarnations: India in 50 Lives, which was also a 50-part BBC Radio and podcast series: it recounts 2500 years of Indian history through the lives and thoughts of 50 individuals from the subcontinent.
He is currently Professor of Politics and History at Ashoka University and Dean of the AshokaX initiative.
Sunil Khilnani
Professor of Politics and History, Ashoka University
Ph. D. Cambridge University
Sunil Khilnani is a globally renowned scholar of politics and history.
He was the Founder and Director of the King’s India Institute at King’s College London from 2011 to 2019 . Prior to this he was Starr Foundation Professor at John Hopkins University, where he was the founder and director of South Asia Studies. He has also taught at Birkbeck University, London, and held several Visiting Professorships at Seikei University, Tokyo and at Princeton University.
He is the author of The Idea of India, an examination of the foundations of modern India that is recognized as a classic in its field. His most recent publication is Incarnations: India in 50 Lives, which was also a 50-part BBC Radio and podcast series: it recounts 2500 years of Indian history through the lives and thoughts of 50 individuals from the subcontinent.
He is currently Professor of Politics and History at Ashoka University and Dean of the AshokaX initiative.
Madhavi Menon
Dr. Madhavi Menon
Professor of English, Ashoka University
Director, Centre for Studies in Gender & Sexuality
Director of the PhD Programme in English
Ph.D. Tufts University
Madhavi Menon is an eminent theorist and scholar of gender, sexuality, politics, and identity.
She joined Ashoka University in 2013 as one of its founding faculty members. She went on to establish the university’s Centre for Gender & Sexuality Studies (CSGS), which is the first of its kind in India. Previously, she was a professor at Ithaca College and American University.
Most prominently known for her work on queer theory and Shakespeare, she has also edited the collection Shakesqueer and written three books on Shakespeare and sexuality. She is also most recently the author of Infinite Varieties: A History of Desire in India and Law of Desire: Rulings on Sex & Sexuality in India.
In addition to being Director of CSGS, she is the Director of the Ph.D. programme in English and Professor of English at Ashoka University.
Madhavi Menon
Professor of English, Ashoka University
Director, Centre for Studies in Gender & Sexuality
Director of the PhD Programme in English
Ph.D. Tufts University
Madhavi Menon is an eminent theorist and scholar of gender, sexuality, politics, and identity.
She joined Ashoka University in 2013 as one of its founding faculty members. She went on to establish the university’s Centre for Gender & Sexuality Studies (CSGS), which is the first of its kind in India. Previously, she was a professor at Ithaca College and American University.
Most prominently known for her work on queer theory and Shakespeare, she has also edited the collection Shakesqueer and written three books on Shakespeare and sexuality. She is also most recently the author of Infinite Varieties: A History of Desire in India and Law of Desire: Rulings on Sex & Sexuality in India.
In addition to being Director of CSGS, she is the Director of the Ph.D. programme in English and Professor of English at Ashoka University.
Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Dr. Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Chancellor, Professor of History, Ashoka University
D. Phil. Oxford University
Rudrangshu Mukherjee is an internationally renowned historian and author and the founding Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University.
He was previously Editor, Editorial Pages of The Telegraph, Kolkata and has taught History at the University of Calcutta and held visiting appointments at Princeton University, the University of Manchester and University of California.
His works on the Revolt of 1857, beginning with Awadh in Revolt, 1857-58: A Study of Popular Resistance, and including his recent A Begum & A Rani: Hazrat Mahal and Lakshmibai in 1857 have become the standard reference in the field. He has also authored and edited several books on other themes, most significantly on the leaders and ideas that have made modern India, including The Penguin Gandhi Reader, New Delhi: The Making of a Capital, Great Speeches of Modern India, Nehru & Bose: Parallel Lives and most recently Tagore & Gandhi : Walking Alone, Walking Together.
Prof. Mukherjee is currently Chancellor and Professor of History at Ashoka University.
Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Chancellor, Professor of History, Ashoka University
D. Phil. Oxford University
Rudrangshu Mukherjee is an internationally renowned historian and author and the founding Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University.
He was previously Editor, Editorial Pages of The Telegraph, Kolkata and has taught History at the University of Calcutta and held visiting appointments at Princeton University, the University of Manchester and University of California.
His works on the Revolt of 1857, beginning with Awadh in Revolt, 1857-58: A Study of Popular Resistance, and including his recent A Begum & A Rani: Hazrat Mahal and Lakshmibai in 1857 have become the standard references in the field. He has also authored and edited several books on other themes, most significantly on the leaders and ideas that have made modern India, including The Penguin Gandhi Reader, New Delhi: The Making of a Capital, Great Speeches of Modern India, Nehru & Bose: Parallel Lives and most recently Tagore & Gandhi : Walking Alone, Walking Together.
Prof. Mukherjee is currently Chancellor and Professor of History at Ashoka University.
Pulapre Balakrishnan
Pulapre Balakrishnan
Professor of Economics, Ashoka University
Ph.D. University of Cambridge
Professor Balakrishnan is a Professor of Economics at Ashoka University. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode. His best known work includes Pricing and Inflation in India and Economic Growth in India: History and Prospect. He is most recently the author of India’s Economy from Nehru to Modi : A Brief History.
His previous appointments have been at Oxford University and the Indian Statistical Institute at Delhi. His professional assignments have included serving as the Country Economist for Ukraine at the World Bank, as well as consultant for the RBI, United Nations Development Program, and the International Labour Organization. He has written extensively in the media. Balakrishnan is the recipient of the Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for Distinguished Contribution to Development Studies (2014).
Pulapre Balakrishnan
Professor of Economics, Ashoka University
Ph.D. University of Cambridge
Professor Balakrishnan is a Professor of Economics at Ashoka University. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode. His best known works include Pricing and Inflation in India and Economic Growth in India: History and Prospect. He is most recently the author of India’s Economy from Nehru to Modi : A Brief History.
His previous appointments have been at Oxford University and the Indian Statistical Institute at Delhi. His professional assignments have included serving as the Country Economist for Ukraine at the World Bank, as well as consultant for the RBI, United Nations Development Program, and the International Labour Organization. He has written extensively in the media. Balakrishnan is the recipient of the Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for Distinguished Contribution to Development Studies (2014).
Taylor C. Sherman
Dr Taylor C. Sherman
Associate Professor, London School of Economics Department of International History
Taylor Sherman is a historian, with a specialized focus on the cultural and political history of South Asia.
Initially teaching Extra-European History at Cambridge, she went on to hold a position as a postdoctoral fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Her research is broadly interested in the dynamic interaction between social movements and governing institutions. She has previously published books on citizenship issues and margnizalied communities, such as Muslim Belonging in Secular India: Negotiating Citizenship in Postcolonial Hyderabad. Her most recent book, Nehru’s India: A History in Seven Myths, is published with the Princeton University Press and Penguin Random House India and will be released in the Autumn of 2022.
She is Professor of South Asian History at the Department of International History at the London School of Economics.
Dr. Taylor C. Sherman
Associate Professor, Department of International History, London School of Economics
Taylor Sherman is a historian, with a specialized focus on the cultural and political history of South Asia.
Initially teaching Extra-European History at Cambridge, she went on to hold a position as a postdoctoral fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Her research is broadly interested in the dynamic interaction between social movements and governing institutions. She has previously published books on citizenship issues and margnizalied communities, such as Muslim Belonging in Secular India: Negotiating Citizenship in Postcolonial Hyderabad. Her most recent book, Nehru’s India: A History in Seven Myths, is published with the Princeton University Press and Penguin Random House India and will be released in the autumn of 2022.
She is Professor of South Asian History at the Department of International History at the London School of Economics.
Amita Baviskar
Dr Taylor C. Sherman
Associate Professor, London School of Economics Department of International History
Taylor Sherman is a historian, with a specialized focus on the cultural and political history of South Asia.
Initially teaching Extra-European History at Cambridge, she went on to hold a position as a postdoctoral fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Her research is broadly interested in the dynamic interaction between social movements and governing institutions. She has previously published books on citizenship issues and margnizalied communities, such as Muslim Belonging in Secular India: Negotiating Citizenship in Postcolonial Hyderabad. Her most recent book, Nehru’s India: A History in Seven Myths, is published with the Princeton University Press and Penguin Random House India and will be released in the Autumn of 2022.
She is Professor of South Asian History at the Department of International History at the London School of Economics.
Amita Baviskar
Dean, Faculty and Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University
Ph.D. Cornell University
Amita Baviskar’s work on environmental change and social inequality has been fundamental to developing the field of environmental sociology in India. The Infosys Prize and several other honours recognize the importance of her research.
She has taught at the University of Delhi and the Institute of Economic Growth, and has been a visiting scholar at several universities including Stanford, Cornell, SciencesPo, and the University of Cape Town. She has served as a member of the Forest Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Her books In the Belly of the River and Uncivil City and other works focus on resource rights, popular movements, and discourses on environmentalism spanning urban and rural geographies. She also writes on food, ecology and politics in scholarly as well as popular publications.
She is Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology-Anthropology at Ashoka University.
Rita Kothari
Rita Kothari
Professor of English, Ashoka University
Director, MA in English Programme
Ph.D. Gujarat University
Rita Kothari is a multilingual scholar and translator whose work spans across different disciplines such as literature, cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, and history. Her questions emerge from observations of regions and communities in the western part of the Indian subcontinent—Gujarat, Kutch, and Sindh.
Her ethnographic research on marginal communities—through religion, caste, occupation, and gender—focuses upon narratives of identity, raising questions of both linguistic and cultural translation. Kothari has translated extensively from Gujarati and Sindhi into English, and occasionally vice versa. Her translations, as well as her edited volumes, have made significant contributions to the field of language politics and translation. Movement across languages, contexts, and cultures form the fulcrum of her interests, making translation the prism through which she sees the Indian context.
Her latest book, Uneasy Translations: Self, Experience and Indian Literature, interweaves her personal journey as an academic into reflections around self, language, and translation – with an eye upon the intangibly available category of experience. It is available here.
Rita Kothari
Professor of English, Ashoka University
Director, MA in English Programme
Ph.D. Gujarat University
Rita Kothari is a multilingual scholar and translator whose work spans across different disciplines such as literature, cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, and history. Her questions emerge from observations of regions and communities in the western part of the Indian subcontinent—Gujarat, Kutch, and Sindh.
Her ethnographic research on marginal communities—through religion, caste, occupation, and gender—focuses upon narratives of identity, raising questions of both linguistic and cultural translation. Kothari has translated extensively from Gujarati and Sindhi into English, and occasionally vice versa. Her translations, as well as her edited volumes, have made significant contributions to the field of language politics and translation. Movement across languages, contexts, and cultures form the fulcrum of her interests, making translation the prism through which she sees the Indian context.
Her latest book, Uneasy Translations: Self, Experience and Indian Literature, interweaves her personal journey as an academic into reflections around self, language, and translation – with an eye upon the intangibly available category of experience. It is available here.
