Jaipur Literature Festival To Be Taught As Part Of Liberal Arts Curriculum At Jindal University

NEW DELHI: The pink city is once again playing host to the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF). JLF is considered to be amongst the top literary festivals in the world and is one of the biggest in Asia. Some of the finest writers from across the globe and an audience that loves to read have gathered at the Diggi Palace for the ninth edition of JLF.

The festival is known to bring together individuals from a variety of arenas namely politics, media, publishing, cinema, literature and many more, which makes this festival the ideal setting for experiential, experimental, hands on practical learning for any student of liberal arts. It is with this thought that the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities (JSLH) conceptualised a 2 credit course on the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, which has been launched this year and is currently being taught during the festival. The course offers 2 credits to students who pursue the course over 10 days in Jaipur and follow up classes at the campus in Sonipat.

Prof. C Raj Kumar Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University speaking of this new initiative of Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities said, “We are deeply committed to innovation and transformation in higher education and initiatives like these are a physical manifestation of that vision. I would like to congratulate Sanjoy Roy for the world class festival that he produces year after year. I hope that this year’s festival and this innovative course will be an experience of a life time for our students, thanks to the support of Teamwork Arts and efforts of Dean Modrowski and Arjun Puri of the Jindal School of Liberal Arts.”

O.P. Jindal Global University had representation at JLF 2015, with Arjun Puri, part of the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, releasing his first collaborative effort with artists Thukral and Tagra. It was then that he began conceptualising a course on JLF. Speaking about the course Puri said, “We often speak of students being exposed to a holistic education and for that to be realized, classes must not only be interesting but also have practical use and that is precisely what this course seeks to accomplish, this new course will be the first of its kind to be taught outside the four walls of a building amidst thousands of people.”

Kathleen Modrowski, Dean Jindal School Of Liberal Arts and Humanities has been instrumental in pushing this idea into reality while expressing her delight at the start of this new initiative said, “The Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities of O.P. Jindal Global University is honored to have its students participating as interns with the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF). Students from the Liberal Arts and Law School will work alongside regular staff providing logistical support, communicating through social media, and assisting guest authors, among other duties. Student interns will be able to interview their favorite writers, listen to emerging talent and be inspired. The JLF is more than a showcase for writers. We anticipate that the range of discussions and the diversity of the audience will provide students with a better learning experience than any they encounter in a classroom. This could even be a transformative moment for some”.

The students will be interning at the festival under the guidance of Arjun Puri to get a better idea of how the festival functions, the roles will range from social media to event management, logistics to blogging. And, there is a very strong literary aspect as well which involves reading assignments and writing papers. The healthy mix of both working at the festival and reading & writing is what will set this course apart.

JSLH hopes that this course will be a yearly tradition to take students to Jaipur and better understand how the festival operates, how writers think, to break boundaries and barriers and to create a new skill-set that will aide in carving futures for hardworking and curious students.

Bring on JLF 2016!

(The ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival is taking place 21 - 25 January, at the Diggi Palace, Jaipur).