The Future of Indian Universities

Description

At a time of social, political, and economic shifts across the world, India is faced with the pivotal challenge of addressing the state of its universities. In a region that was home to the leading higher learning institutions during ancient times, the descent in the quality of higher education offered by modern India’s universities is yet to create the desired impact. To be effective, universities will need to create institutional ecosystems that are reflective of the complex and interconnected worlds their graduates will live in. India’s extraordinary demographic profile creates a compelling need for its universities to reimagine their roles.
The contributors in this volume argue for fundamental reforms to bring about a renewed sense of purpose. The chapters are authored by leading scholars in the fields of law, management, educational theory, liberal arts, international relations, and science and technology, and reflect the multiple approaches necessary to address the most difficult challenges in our times. The volume provides international and comparative perspectives on higher education, and will be immensely useful in highlighting issues being faced by Indian universities.

About the Editor

C. Raj Kumar, a Rhodes Scholar, is the Founding Vice-Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonipat, India, and Director of the International Institute for Higher Education Research & Capacity Building (IIHEd) at JGU. He has held consultancy assignments with the United Nations University, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Reviews

‘[T]his comprehensive and wide-ranging exploration of the future of India’s universities—detailing their great challenges as well as their great and exciting opportunities—comes at an absolutely crucial time for India, and indeed for the world.’
PHIL BATY
Editorial Director, Global Rankings, Times Higher Education


‘The future of Indian universities lies in the struggle to achieve a fine balance between the twin virtues of autonomy and accountability…. Authors here critically engage that future, endorsing further the desperate need to attain high global ranking. One hopes that a wider, and as intense, civil society discourse greets this volume…’
UPENDRA BAXI
Emeritus Professor, University of Warwick, and Former
Vice-Chancellor, University of Delhi, India


‘In this remarkable volume, a group of outstanding thinkers analyse the current state of higher education in India and propose specific ideas for reform. It is essential reading for all who care about higher education not only in India, but around the world.’
JEFFREY S. LEHMAN
Vice-Chancellor, New York University, Shanghai, China, and Former President, Cornell University, USA


‘… an important set of essays that ask why India cannot be once again a centre of world-class education.’
ANNE-MARIE SLAUGHTER
President and Chief Executive Officer, New America, and Former Dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, USA

Table of contents

List of Tables and Figures
Foreword by Virander S. Chauhan
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction

SECTION I INDIAN UNIVERSITIES: IMAGINATIONS,
ASPIRATIONS, AND EXPECTATIONS

1. The Future of Higher Education in India
C. RAJ KUMAR

2. An Invitation to a Thought Experiment: Quality, Diversity, and the Epistemics of University
SHIV VISVANATHAN

3. The Future of Indian Universities: Voices from within Beckoning for the Future
INDIRA J. PARIKH

4. The Indian University in a Comparative Perspective
N.R. MADHAVA MENON

5. Strategic Management of Expansion of Higher Education in India: Key Policy Interventions for Change
PAWAN AGARWAL

6. Building New Institutions of Excellence in India: Three Case Studies of Innovation
PRA MATH RAJ SINHA

SECTION II INDIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: POLICY, REGULATION, AND MANAGEMENT

7. Future of Indian Universities: Need for a Liberalized Legal Regime
A. FRANCIS JULIAN

8. Global Competitiveness, Privatization, Dignified Spaces, and Curricular Reform in Indian Higher Education
KANTI BAJPAI

9. Challenges of Knowledge Creation for Indian Universities
STEPHEN P. MARKS

10. Science-Policy Interfaces in an Era of Global Commodification
BARBARA HARRISS-WHITE

11. Creating Educational Excellence: The Role of Culture at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
SHAILENDRA RA J MEHTA

12. Challenges of Creating a World-Class Global Private University in India: Perspective of an Administrator
Y.S.R. MURTHY

13. Deconstructing the Discourse on University Social Responsibility
ANAMIKA SRIVASTAVA

SECTION III PEDAGOGY OF INTERDISCIPLINARITY: LAW, HUMANITIES, AND GLOBAL STUDIES IN INDIA
14. The Phoenix of Interdisciplinarity in Higher Education
YUGANK GOYAL

15. The Role of Humanities in a University Education
ALICE PROCHASKA

16. The Liberal Arts in the American Context: What India Can Learn from Western Liberal Education
CAROL M. BRESNAHAN

17. Public Policy as a Practice: Reflections Inspired by Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue
R. SUDARSHAN

18. Global Studies in Indian Universities: Past Imperfect, Future Circumspect
SREERAM CHAULIA

19. Clinical Legal Education and Democracy in India
SITAL KALANTRY

Appendix 1: Sonipat Declaration
Appendix 2: President’s Speech
References
Notes on Editor and Contributors
Index