MBA in liberal studies — a new course from a top Indian B-school

• In a first, India’s top management school Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode is set to introduce Master of Business Administration (MBA) in liberal studies to ‘decode culture and technology.’
  
• The two year programme will commence in June next year and focus on areas of liberal arts including philosophy, literature, economics and sociology.
  
• The b-school is also expected to roll out Master of Science in Finance (MSF) for the academic session 2020.

In a first, India’s top management school Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kozhikode is set to introduce Master of Business Administration (MBA) in liberal studies which will help to ‘decode culture and technology’.

“The world is changing very quickly… it requires people to decode culture and technology. Data needs to be made sense of,” Debashish Chatterjee, Director at IIM Kozhikode told ET.

The two-year programme will commence in June next year and focus on areas of liberal arts including philosophy, literature, economics and sociology. To begin with, the batch is expected to stream in nearly 25 students and the curriculum has been formulated for the course.

The course aims to create a future ready talent pool. It will focus on blending the technical and managerial aspects with critical thinking — breaking complex data and aligning with subjects like philosophy and sociology. “We want a synthesis of pure academic knowledge and its application in industry,” Chatterjee added.

While it is mandatory to clear MBA entrances such as Common Admission Test (CAT) or GMAT to enroll in the MBA programme. However, the selection criteria will differ from other MBA programmes.

The Humanities & Liberal Arts in Management is dedicated to study human behaviour and its relevance to business management. This also includes the political aspects like history, culture and ethics.

“Humanities & Liberal Arts would foster imagination of our students further. Unlike empirical approaches of the Natural Sciences, Humanities & Liberal arts primarily use methods to address the issues of human behaviour and condition that are primarily analytical, critical and speculative in nature,” the institute said.

Given the increasing demand in the banking and finance sector, the B-school is also expected to roll out Master of Science in Finance (MSF) for the academic session 2020. The course will focus on the transition in the financial services sector led by big data and other emerging technologies.

Government push for liberal studies

The Indian government is stepping up efforts to recognise liberal studies across educational levels. It is planning to establish public universities dedicated to liberal arts — on at par with the country’s elite IITs and IIMs. In fact, IITs too may also include liberal arts in its curriculum.

It is also considering to rope in ancient philosophy in its liberal arts courses.

“These rich legacies to world heritage must not only be nurtured and preserved for posterity, but also enhanced and put to new uses through our education system,” the ministry noted.

The Human Resource and Development Ministry (MHRD) may integrate teachings from philosophers including Panini, Susruta, Aryabhata, Bhaskaracharya and Patanjali, as per the new education policy that is in the works.

See also:
Aryabhatta and Susruta might soon be a part of Indian liberal arts course

India needs institutional frameworks of middle-income emerging economy: Book