Public statement of historians on changes in school History textbooks of the NCERT

Respected colleagues,  In the light of the deletions of several crucial themes from school textbooks produced by the NCERT, the following statement has been drafted. You would agree that the entire “rationalization” of textbooks is a process that is questionable and one which has wrongly excluded the informed opinion and expertise of the actual community of… Read More Public statement of historians on changes in school History textbooks of the NCERT

In Delhi’s Women’s Colleges, victims not perpetrators pay for harassment, say students. 1100 ex-students & teachers seek apology

Sagarika Chaudhary Indraprastha College for Women, which is part of the Delhi University, was in the news recently after students reported that several men had entered the campus by scaling walls and made the women feel severely uncomfortable with their sloganeering, catcalling and harassment during day two of the annual fest on March 28. Students… Read More In Delhi’s Women’s Colleges, victims not perpetrators pay for harassment, say students. 1100 ex-students & teachers seek apology

The Figure of Socrates and its Significance for Liberal Education in Asia

NB: An interesting essay. However, Heyking seems to conflate China and ‘Asia’. DS John von Heyking In order to cut through the two false alternatives – “catch up” and “social harmony” – I appeal to the original figure of Western liberal education, Socrates. Socrates indeed embodies the individual as it has been transmitted throughout the… Read More The Figure of Socrates and its Significance for Liberal Education in Asia

Alarm grows in Iran over reports that hundreds of schoolgirls were poisoned

Concern is growing in Iran after reports emerged that hundreds of schoolgirls had been poisoned across the country in recent months. On Wednesday, Iran’s semi-official Mehr News reported that Shahriar Heydari, a member of Parliament, cited an unnamed “reliable source” in saying that “nearly 900 students” from across the country had been poisoned so far. The first… Read More Alarm grows in Iran over reports that hundreds of schoolgirls were poisoned

Periagoge: Liberal Education in the Modern University

John von Heyking Conversation and the “Turning Around of the Soul” One of the common criticisms of the contemporary university is that it lacks individuals unwilling or incapable of conversing. Critics such as Anthony Kronman and Stephen Miller rightly observe that there’s something about contemporary culture and the contemporary university hostile to the arts or… Read More Periagoge: Liberal Education in the Modern University

Avijit Pathak: JNU’s enemy without, within (2016)

First posted November 04, 2016 NB – Thank you Avijit, for this perceptive and timely warning. Those who want to protect democracy and the right to dissent need themselves to uphold dialogue and save higher education campuses from the destructive polemic that has overtaken radical politics over the years. Here is something I wrote on the… Read More Avijit Pathak: JNU’s enemy without, within (2016)