Beyond placements: The case for social sciences in IITs
Instead of erecting the wall of separation between 'useful' engineering and 'philosophic' social sciences, we need to think of a more holistic curriculum in IITs
Updated At : 07:06 AM Sep 26, 2025 IST
Illustration by Sandeep Joshi
NOT everybody, it seems, is happy with the departments of humanities and social sciences in the IITs. Or, is it that there is some fear that the kind of critical questions some professors and researchers from these departments are raising might unsettle the primary function of the 'brand' IIT — the production of skilled and efficient techno-managers, the establishment of a close affinity between the dissemination of knowledge and the needs of the industry, and hence, the urge to retain a depoliticised/ 'value-neutral' learning milieu? In recent times, we are witnessing this tension rather sharply.
