The Future of Liberal Arts in India Undergraduate Liberal Arts in India: A Conference on

1. Prof. Anurag Behar,Founding Vice Chancellor,Azim Premji UniversityDr. George Blumenthal,Chancellor,University of California Santa CruzDr. Hiram Chodosh,President,Claremont McKenna CollegeProf. Vasudha Dalmia,Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Hindu Studies,Yale UniversityProf. David Drew,Joseph B. Platt Chair and Professor of Education,Claremont Graduate UniversityMr. Ramachandra Guha,Author and Professor,Yale University and Indian Institute of ScienceProf. Cynthia Humes,Chief Technology Officer and Associate Professor of Religious Studies,Claremont McKenna CollegeDr. Satish Inamdar,Director and Secretary, Bangalore Education Center Krishnamurti FoundationProf. Sudhir Jain,Director,IIT GandhinagarMr. George Joseph,Director for International Relations and Leadership Programs,Yale UniversityProf. Zayn Kassam,Professor,of Religious Studies,Pomona CollegeDr. Mangala Sunder Krishnan,Coordinator and Head of NPTEL initiative,NPTELProf. Nita Kumar,Professor of History,Claremont McKenna CollegeProf. Raj Kumar,Founding Vice Chancellor,O.P. Jindal Global UniversityDr. Anup Kumar Dhar,Professor of Human Studies,Ambedkar University of DelhiProf Anitha Kurup,Professor,School of Social Sciences,NIASDr. Pericles Lewis,Founding President,Yale-NUS College, SingaporeDr. Anuradha Maitra,Director Global Initiatives,University of California Santa CruzDr. Beth McKinsey,Professor of English and former Dean and VPAA,Carleton CollegeProf. Venu Narayan,Professor of Education and Philosophy of Education,Azim Premji UniversityProf. Priya Natarajan,Professor of Astronomy and Physics,Yale UniversityMr. Nandan Nilekani,Chairman of Technology Committee TAGUP, and former CEO,Infosys InfosysDr. David Oxtoby,President,Pomona CollegeMr. Madan Padaki,co-Founder and Chairman,Head Held High FoundationDr. Mohandas Pai,Chairman,Manipal Global UniversityProf. Rajeev Patke,Professor of Humanities,Yale-NUS College,SingaporeDr. Arjendu Pattanayak,Professor of Physics,Carleton CollegeProf. Laurie Patton,Dean,Trinity College of Arts and Sciences,Duke UniversityProf. Bryan Penprase Frank P. Brackett Professor of Astronomy at Pomona College, ACE Fellow,Yale UniversityDr. Smita Premchandar,Founder,Sampark NGODr. Usha Rajaram,Head of UWC Learning,Mahindra UWC,PuneMr. Dileep Ranjekar,CEO,Azim Premji FoundationDr. Somak Raychaudhury,Vice Chancellor and Professor of Physics,Presidency UniversityDr. Aromar Revi,Director and Professor of Global Environmental Change,Indian Institute of Human SettlementsDr. Lakshmi Saripalli,Astrophysicist and Raman Fellow,Raman Research InstituteDr. Pramath Raj Sinha,Senior Director of Albright Stonebridge Group, Founder & Trustee of the Ashoka University, and Founding Dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB) and Ashoka UniversityDr. Nikhil Sinha,Founding Vice Chancellor,Shiv Nadar UniversityProfessor Kalyanakrishnan Sivaramakrishnan,Dinakar Singh Professor of India and South Asian Studies; Professor of Anthropology and Forestry and Environmental Studies; Director of Undergraduate Studies Yale UniversityDr. Sharada Srinivasan,Professor of art,archaeology,archaeometallurgy and culture,NIASDr. Cyrus Vakil,Director of Studies,Mahindra UWCDr. Steven Wilkinson,Nilekani Professor of India and South Asian Studies, Director Undergraduate Studies Yale University Undergraduate Liberal Arts and Science Education in India - New directions, New Technology, New Curriculum, and New Institutions for the 21st CenturyLiberal Arts and Science Education in India is taking root in a number of new institutions and initiatives, making this an opportune time to showcase some of these new ventures, and explore how Indian liberal arts can develop in its own way, building its own academic traditions that create lasting and meaningful impact for society. Advances in online education, pedagogy, and curriculum are converging, and we hope to create a stimulating workshop where leaders advancing Indian Higher education can discuss the future landscape of education in India.In our meeting, we will discuss the best strategy for implementing online and liberal arts higher education in India in a way that will help solve some of the challenges that India faces in the new century. Liberal Arts Education can help create a new generation of graduates trained to think creatively about complex issues such as the urban-rural divide, the rapidly developing nature of Indian economy. Liberal Art Education merges science and technology with humanities, philosophy, and the arts to address some of the deeper issues facing India.Liberal Arts Education provides "holistic" education intended to foster creative and independent thought. It is an education that can liberate people to pursue their passions, enabling them to do their best and expand their capacities in all fields. One goal of such an education is to produce graduates who will approach the world with a more balanced perspective, and who can create new jobs and programs to help others with a sense of social responsibility. How is liberal arts best suited for the Indian context? What has been the experience of the new initiatives in liberal arts in India?We use the occasion to not only assess the relevance of and need for Liberal Arts education in India but to also meet with Presidents, founders and Vice Chancellors of leading liberal arts institutions and foundations to engage in an exchange of experiences and ideas aiming to learn and be motivated or motivate action for bettering the education of the youth of India and the world.  We will meet at the green and serene grounds of the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, a place created by Prof Sir C. V. Raman himself well over six decades ago for research in physical sciences. We meet for two days and a morning with time set aside for discussions between talks both in a formal and informal setting. Please come and help us discuss and envision the future for liberal arts in India! Keynote talks by noted historian and author Ramachandra Guha and by former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani will provide an exciting context and motivation for our meeting with considerations for the implications of new liberal arts institutions as it relates to India’s history, politics, and future industrial development. Our confirmed presenters include some of the most dynamic leaders of higher education and industry in India and the United States. Founding Vice Chancellors and Presidents of the Ashoka University, Azim Premji Foundation, Indian Institute of Human Settlements, O.P. Jindal Global University, and Shiv Nadar University will be attending with many of their academic leaders from these new institutions. They will be joined by Presidents, Deans and professors from liberal arts colleges and universities abroad such as Pomona College, Yale-NUS College (Singapore), Duke University, Claremont McKenna College, and Carleton College, and professors from Yale University representing all three divisions (Sciences, Social Science and Humanities) will be attending. Conference web site http://www.astro.pomona.edu/blog/mohra/ Confirmed Attendees (partial listing): The Future of Liberal Arts in India Undergraduate Liberal Arts in India: A Conference on New Directions, New Curriculum, and New Institutions Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, Jan. 7-9, 2014 Sponsored by the Raman Research Institute, the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Pomona College, Claremont McKenna College, and Yale University • Conference Organizing Committee: Prof. Bryan Penprase, Frank P. Brackett Professor of Astronomy, Pomona CollegeDr. Lakshmi Saripalli, Astrophysicist, Raman Fellow, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India.Prof. K. Sivaramakrishnan, Dinakar Singh Professor of India and South Asian Studies; Chair, South Asian Studies Council of Yale University; Director, Yale India InitiativeMr. George Joseph, Director for International Relations and Leadership Programs, Yale UniversityDr. Aromar Revi, Director of the Indian Institute of Human Settlements, and noted expert on climage change and environmental science. Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha, Senior Director of Albright Stonebridge Group, Founder & Trustee of the Ashoka University, and Founding Dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB).