Careers at the intersection of STEM and Humanities for students to explore.

Recently in Episode - 61 of 'Headlines ke Peche Shekhar ke Saath' of The Print (Digital News), one of the viewer's asked Shekhar Gupta (editor-in-chief) - Why is there so much fuss about syllabus changes in NCERT Social Science? Social Sciences and History don't impart any marketable skills nor provide job opportunities. So, why are students still studying these subjects and yet hope to build a career out of this? (paraphrased in my words).

Such questions reflect the larger issues pertaining to the mindset of the mainstream society which is lopsided in favour of STEM. (We did discuss this phenomenon at length in our previous blog. Please do check out:). These prevailing career beliefs make our efforts worthwhile and motivate us to write on the intersection of STEM and Non-STEM (Humanities) careers to raise awareness, broaden the tunnel vision and expand the choices for career selection among parents and students. 

In our previous blog, we made a case for the interdisciplinary problem solving approach in 21st century, challenges which are complex and have global implications for humanity at large. 

In this blog, we attempt to distill down these esoteric thoughts to practicality and practice of such interdisciplinary disciplines. 

So let's begin by peeling off the first layer of the onion :) What is Interdisciplinary? 

The term “interdisciplinary” refers to the interconnectedness of subjects or disciplines. It brings together various branches of knowledge and encourages the individuals to assimilate multiple perspectives and connect the dots! 

Example, the economic downturn of a country (think contemporary Sri Lankan crisis) may put the economists at the center. However, the economist does not function in isolation and has to collaborate and work in integration with politicians, bureaucrats, think tanks, policy makers, researchers, inter-governmental agencies, social workers, local communities, businesses (big and small) etc. to plan, execute and audit such large-scale policy matters and its on-the-ground implementation.

Of course, by no means we can cover the length and breadth of all Interdisciplinary Courses and Careers being offered. We are making an attempt here to provide some glimpses of the practice of interdisciplinary careers, so that it removes the blind spots of students and expands their mind-space, so that they can make the right career choices. 

POLICY STUDIES 

As the name suggests, Policy Studies analyzes the very process of policy-making, and emphasizes on understanding the contents of policy. 

It contributes significantly to several aspects of National Development such as Politics, Governance, Education, Urban Planning, Sanitation, Economics, Technology, Health and Public Welfare, Agriculture, Social Justice, Employment, International Relations, and so on. 

As a member of a policy think tank, an individual is expected to investigate, study and analyze various policies of a particular area on National Development and recommend changes or suggestions to improve the same, be it on the basis of its contents or the manner of implementation. 

Policy Studies takes precedence among most areas since it offers individuals the opportunity to work with reputed scholars and experts to create a positive impact on real-world events with respect to the state per se.

Eligibility: While this is a subset of Political Science, Policy Studies can be pursued by individuals from non-Humanities fields as well. For instance, opportunities for internship in the areas of Communication and Administration can be considered by Commerce as well as Mass Communication students. 

At the same time, candidates with a UG/PG degree in Engineering, Law or Geography can apply for research positions related to water governance and GIS. Institutes such as certain IITs and the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) invite applicants to conduct research and join scholars and bureaucrats from different fields as part of their respective policy think tanks.

MEMORY STUDIES

A very recent development in academia, Memory Studies is one such domain which brings three vastly different disciplines together - XR technology, Cognitive Science, and Literature. 

Dealing exclusively with the processes of remembrance and forgetting, Memory Studies is oriented towards extensive research on the methods of creating, retaining, and forgetting memories at the individual and collective level. 

The collaboration of Extended Reality or XR [the umbrella term for AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality)] with Cognitive Science stands as a promising subfield as far as Digital Archives are concerned. Associating these two subjects with Literature, on the other hand, further extends the reach of Memory Studies to assimilate the study of personal experiences (for instance through War, Trauma, and Illness) in the overall research.

Eligibility: Students from the areas of Psychology, Literature, as well as Computer Sciences can partake as research associates or interns at the Centre of Memory Studies of IIT Madras to be involved in various projects and conferences that provide more opportunities of development in this field. Students can consider this area of studies after the completion of their postgraduate degree.