Go all out for the social sciences

Study of interdisciplinary areas demand effective use of resources. How do you go about it?

Sociology encourages students to look around and understand the needs of different communities. File Photo

With the rapidly changing horizons of technology and communication networks and development as a whole, the social sciences are undergoing many transformations. Several interdisciplinary areas of study have emerged that make studying subjects such as sociology, anthropology, economics and psychology very interesting. What can students do to actively learn these subjects so that they can make useful contributions to their field of work?

There are many aspects to making a headway in these subjects. The bottomline is to cultivate a habit of questioning as against acceptance; to use resources effectively; to learn to wade through the Internet and access sensible content and so on. But how does one achieve all this in practice?

It is important to resist the urge to specialise too soon. Venkatesh Athreya, a former head of the Department of Economics at Bharathidasan University, Tiruchi, says, “At the undergraduate level, and even at the M.A., the priority should be to master the material prescribed in the course work. A proper grounding in a specific discipline is important even for those who may wish to pursue interdisciplinary work subsequently. So, I would not over-emphasise ‘discovery of passions’.” The interest would emerge as one reads widely and observe things happening around them.

Start near

First generation learners form a special case in this. “Teachers have to instil a lot of confidence in them,” says Dr Athreya. But in less than ideal situations when the student has to build up confidence by herself, it would be a good idea to start with smaller “doable” exercises and then raise the bar. If a teacher can help in this, it would be excellent. “First generation learners must avidly access libraries, the Internet and other newer forms in which knowledge has now become available. They must work very hard, do a lot of exercises so as to master tools and techniques,” says Dr Athreya.

The disciplines

Specifically, sociology as a discipline encourages the student to look around. “Being the study of social processes, habits, practices of one sort or another, there is plenty for the interested student to actually learn from — all round her,” says V. Geetha, Feminist Historian, who is also with Tara Books. Giving an example, she continues, “If they study caste in the classroom, they can add to their understanding by meeting local caste leaders, interviewing them, asking them about their perceptions of their communities' present and future needs; or they can visit the local Adi Dravida Welfare department to find out more about how it functions…”

Anthropology can lend itself to a lot of fun projects as well as serious ones. The key is learning to ask the right questions. Says Dr Geetha, “Ask questions about what people do, when they arrange their lives in a particular way: for example, who decides on the names of parks or playgrounds and why? What relationship do people have to their neighbourhood and through what means they express it?”

Practical skills

Practical experience is useful in fields like psychology. The student can volunteer with helplines like SNEHA, in Chennai, which work with people having suicidal thoughts, or the Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF); visit de-addiction centres, and so on.

Forming reading and discussion groups is a great challenge but well worth the effort. Discussing an issue from different angles automatically brings in a spirit of analysis into study — all the better if accompanied by wide reading. The sources of information today are vast and one can read excellent material online as well. But it is important to exercise discrimination in sorting out the genuine, deep stuff from false or unverified information. This is a skill the student can cultivate with practice and by training one’s instinct. Similarly, it also takes practice to be able to use keywords effectively in searching for material. Such exploration also automatically feeds into alternative perspectives that the student develops. Finding one good source can be a path-breaking experience in this context. In Economics, for example, the websites “www.macroscan.com and www.networkideas.org are useful,” says Dr Athreya.

There are no short-cuts to mastering a field and no substitute for hard reading, but by consciously working on the aspects mentioned, one can make the path smoother and more directed.