VIT-AP University Faculty Details & Reviews ,Amaravati

We help students understand the culture, traditions and challenges of modern life, says Anthropology Professor

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Vellore Institute of Technology, Andhra Pradesh, Anthropology Professor Madhulika talks about the teaching methodology the institute adopts for its BBA programme. She explains that the methodology is experimental and focuses on higher-order thinking. Madhulika believes in learning beyond classroom boundaries and hence, their students undergo live projects on fields so they can put their theoretical skills into practice. She is a trained Anthropologist having diverse experience in academics, research and fieldwork. Her research interest includes Ethnography, Social Anthropology, Forced Migration and Tribal Development. She has also worked with different tribal communities across India.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

Q: What are the salient features of the teaching methodology adopted by your college? How does this differ from others?

A: I teach Anthropology, Gender Studies and Qualitative Research Methods to BBA and BTech students at VIT-AP University. In VIT-AP School of Business (VSB) we offer unique liberal arts and STEM courses as a foundation for BBA. Subjects such as Anthropology, Psychology, Critical Thinking, Contemporary Indian English Literature along with environmental studies, statistics, economics, Python and so on, have really helped my students to understand multiple realities of real-world problems. This helped students to nurture their thinking by relating to different subjects.

One of the interesting methodologies adopted by VSB faculty members in VSB is experiential teaching methodology and focus on higher-order thinking. Students do many assignments and projects, where they apply theoretical concepts to real-life issues. Some of my students have conducted ethnography fieldwork with Toy making communities in Kondapalli, Cotton weavers in Mangalagiri, and Ponchampally weavers in Hyderabad. These helped the students to understand the culture and traditions and challenges of modern life in these communities. Later, students organised an exhibition of unique findings in the university and got feedback from other faculty members.  This kind of training helps students to develop their communication as well as people and analytical skills.  This also enables students to synthesise knowledge and concepts from several disciplines and come up with new ideas to real-world problems.

The teaching methodology we use here in the university is different from other business schools. As faculty members, we spend maximum time with students as a mentor to overcome their academic challenges.

Q: How are you preparing your students to be Industry ready?

A: Students are given rigorous training in the form of workshops and guest lectures with resource persons coming from top companies, universities, IIMs, and government and non-government organisations. One of the biggest achievements by my students is getting paid internship offers from eminent companies in their 1^st year’s summer vacation. Furthermore, the summer projects in fieldwork with different communities helped many students to develop interesting business models to start new businesses. One of my students worked on the food habits of locals in Tuni (Andhra Pradesh) which has helped him to start his own restaurant in his hometown.

The rigours of the practical approach to work with the communities and going out of comfort zones on topics that interest students have helped many to prepare themselves for the industry.

The students participate in various extra-curricular and co-curricular activities and volunteer in organising these events from which they learn teamwork, leadership, crisis management, professionalism, business orientation, and planning and execution.

Q: What are the qualities you are looking for in student applicants? What qualities do they need to do well in your course?

A: The qualities we are looking for in student applicants are motivation, determination to learn out of comfort zone, learning for life and not for jobs. Students pursuing high school or equivalent can apply. We prefer candidates who are curious, self-motivated and open to learning.

To do well in my course, they should be willing to take up challenges working with unexplored or unknown communities and doing something innovative. Subjects such as anthropology and gender studies can be best understood and internalised if students work on the topics in real-world problems and apply the concepts they learned in the classroom.

Q: How do you ensure that your course curriculum is up to date and meets industry requirements?

A: The course curriculum is prepared based on the industry requirements and benchmarked against the best universities in Indian and the world. Our curriculum and syllabus are approved by the University of Michigan, Dearborn (UMD) USA. Our Board of Studies includes experts from industry and professors from IIMs, especially those who have experience in liberal arts and contemporary management subjects. We have speakers from industry visiting to interact with our students and faculty. This helps our faculty to understand the industry expectations and fine-tune the syllabus, pedagogy and assignments/projects.

Q: Is your college receptive to innovation, technology, science & entrepreneurship? How? Could you cite some examples of these?

A: VIT-AP University indeed is receptive to innovation, technology, science and entrepreneurship.

BBA curriculum includes STEM subjects. Innovative ideas are incubated by the university, where students can develop the prototype and fine-tune the business model and start the business. BBA students and B Tech students can collaborate for coming with new products that are viable and have market potential.  VSB organise a number of workshops to prepare them to manage well in the jobs, choose job or start startups in a righteous manner.