The MA in History and Philosophy (MAHP) is a collaborative programme between the Southasia Institute for History and Philosophy and the School of Arts at Kathmandu University. MAHP is a 60-credit programme. It is intended to provide curricula tailored to Himalayan and South Asian socio-ecological realities and aspirations, to prepare context-sensitive, professionally competent, and socially committed graduates, and to help close an important ‘career gap’ in our societies.
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The three thematic streams, viz., History and Philosophy of Society, Technology and Environment, will help bring about qualitative improvement in future undergraduate and high school education in the humanities and sciences in Southasia, defined as a demobiogeographic region.
Deep Engagement with ‘Texts’
MAHP helps its participants to a set of activities centred around ‘texts’, as broadly defined, namely –
- extract problem, data, information, solution, argument and its structure;
- engage with the original and supplementary ideas constructively for complexity and contradiction;
- develop appropriate (linguistic, digital and comparative) skills to approach and interpret the texts as well as search emphatical ways to improve the clarity of the questions or robustness of solutions by Would-speculations;
- comprehend the context of production, dissemination and use of the texts by posing What-If scenarios, finding new questions and research directions;
- outline the historical development of related ideas, approaches and methods, and master a range and scale of texts for shifting interpretation.
Conceptual Maturity
The Programme encourages its participants to develop intuitive and original understandings through the following activities –
- acquire existing themes, theories, practices and interpretations;
- have conceptual means to distinguish what makes a question historical/philosophical;
- identify appropriate historical/philosophical responses to the questions asked;
- achieve historical/philosophical maturity in grasping a pluralist/diversity-sensitive approach to different schools and thinkers;
- further the fields of Southasian history and philosophy, and the three thematic areas of the course.
Quality Research
Through research assignments and the mandatory thesis, the participants in the Programme are supported to –
- demonstrate proficiency on the topic related to Southasia and relevant to the lives and livelihood of its inhabitants;
- perform research skills on a chosen question in history and philosophy of society, technology and environment;
- make a contribution to the discipline by reformulation of a question, redesign/repurpose a method, or finding a novel solution;
- exhibit presentation, engagement and persuasion skills;
- practice a sensitive and responsive discipline-specific and field-appropriate conduct of research.
Professional Skilling
The participants enrolled in the Programme will gain following professional skills under experienced guidance –
- writing skills (mss, proposals, reports), teaching skills (to a group and to another person), oral presentation skills, coordination, collaboration and mentoring skills;
- skills related to time management, teamwork and leadership;
- research management and administration skills including constructive feedback, effective communication, data and resource management;
linguistic and design skills for public engagement of research methodologies and findings.
Student evaluation will be based on in-semester and end-semester examinations, classwork and homework assignments, lab, fieldwork and presentations, quality term papers, and, when applicable, publications. Faculty are continually assessed for their performance and effectiveness in the course content delivery. Course details are periodically reviewed as well as audited, and the faculty are helped to construct the courses as required.
| Grade letter | Grade point | Marks | Qualitative meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 4.00 | 85-100 | Outstanding |
| A- | 3.70 | 80-84.9 | Excellent |
| B+ | 3.33 | 75-79.9 | Very good |
| B | 3.00 | 70-74.9 | Good |
| B- | 2.67 | 65-69.9 | Satisfactory |
| C+ | 2.33 | 60-64.9 | Fair |
| C | 2.00 | 50-59.9 | Poor |
| F | 0.00 | <50 | Fail |
Salient Features
The MA curriculum includes foundational and advanced courses in History and Philosophy, and the elective courses in Society, Technology and Environment. The MA Programme curricula is based on five principles –
- strong and guided expertise in historical and philosophical explorations
- creative comprehension and articulation skills
- committed community engagement
- academic freedom and periodic audits
- continual assessment and task-based interaction pedagogy
The thematically structured curriculum will enable faculty, students and experts anywhere from Southasia or beyond to grasp, share and articulate the course content. Classical and Other language learning as well as strong fieldwork and community engagement requirements will equip the students with skills to break ideological and epistemic underpinnings in the mainstream humanities and arts curricula in the region.
Language
Contemporary Language: In the first semester, students will take a course in one of the living languages other than their mother tongue. If a student’s mother tongue is Tibeto-Burman, for instance, they will learn an Austro-Asiatic or Indo-European language; if coming from a dominant language group, they will take up a ‘minority’ tongue, preferably an endangered language. Achieving relative proficiency in a language not their own, students will glean first-hand insights into a broader and dynamic socio-linguistic historical context within which historical and philosophical concepts are questioned and the questions are framed.
Classical Language:In the second semester, it will be mandatory for students to acquire proficiency in one of the following ‘classical’ languages in Southasia-defined generally, for example: Pali/Prakrit, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Maithili, Tamil, etc. This will deepen their appreciation of the enduring and echoing knowledge systems within which both urgent and emergent worldviews are debated, contested and resolved.
Fieldwork & Labs
The History and Philosophy Labs will help the SiHP academic community to formulate, test, incubate and extend practical, historically grounded and more meaningful life-changing approaches to action for improving social, technological and environmental landscapes of the region.
This experimentation module brings concrete situations of history and philosophy to the fore thereby helping students to gain practical insights into doing history and philosophy. The nature and aims of the actual experiments are customised to reflect changing interests and priorities of the students and echoing requirements of Southasian populations and communities.
Three weeks in the ‘field’ (i.e. outside campus) will help course participants to learn, engage and formulate Historical/Philosophical questions for the people and communities that are critical, right and just.
Eligibility
- A score of at least 50% in aggregate or CGPA 2.0 out of 4.0 grading system in any undergraduate discipline from recognised institution.
- Exceptional, demonstrable and attestable achievements outside academia or through informal education, for rare recommendation of being as equivalent qualifications as above.
- An acceptable ranking in the ALT-HuS (Advanced Level Test for Humanities in Southasia) exam.
Job Prospects
Individuals completing the program will be able to perform various jobs and research activities as:
- Historian
- Philosopher
- Researcher
- Public Intellectual
- Policy Analyst
- Planner
- Diplomat
- Public Servant
- Journalist
- Art and Literary Critique
- Social Commentator
- Public Communicator
- Community Leader
- Academic
- I/NGO Project Specialist
- Social Activist
Curricular Structure
SEMESTER I
(Core Course)Subject Code Course Name HPFH 501 Foundations of History (3 Credit) HPHT 502 History and Taxonomy (3 Credit) HPFP 503 Foundations of Philosophy (3 Credit) HPOL 504 Other Languages (3 Credit) HPLB 505 History and Philosophy Ideas Lab (3 Credit) SEMESTER II
(Core Course)Subject Code Course Name HPAH 506 Advanced History (3 Credit) HPPT 507 Philosophy and Taxonomy (3 Credit) HPAP 508 Advanced Philosophy (3 Credit) HPCL 509 Classical Language (3 Credit) HPLB 510 History and Philosophy Innovation Lab (3 Credit) SEMESTER III (Elective Course)
SocietySubject Code Course Name HHPS 601 Private and Public Spheres (3 Credit) HPEN 602 Economic Processes and Networks (3 Credit) HPPN 603 Ideals and Norms (3 Credit) HPIN 604 Power Pathways (3 Credit) HPFW 605 Fieldwork 1 (3 Credit) SEMESTER III (Elective Course)
TechnologySubject Code Course Name HPPN 606 Production (3 Credit) HPIN 607 Infrastructures (3 Credit) HPII 608 Information Interfaces (3 Credit) HPCA 609 Control and Access (3 Credit) HPFW 610 Fieldwork 2 (3 Credit) SEMESTER III (Elective Course)
EnvironmentSubject Code Course Name HPAS 611 Atmospheric Studies (3 Credit) HPHC 612 Water Cycles (3 Credit) HPLC 613 Life and its Conditions (3 Credit) HPES 614 Earth Systems (3 Credit) HPFW 615 Fieldwork 3 (3 Credit) SEMESTER IV
(Core Course)Subject Code Course Name HPRW 616 Research Writing (3 Credit) HPRP 617 Research Practice (3 Credit) HPMT 618 Thesis (9 Credit)