Summer Semester 2026

Foundation Course: Indian Civilizations 

Course Code: FC-0201-1

Faculty: Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Professor, Ashoka University

Course Description: To be updated soon

Pre Requisites:

Cross listing: None

Grading Policy: 

Foundation Course: Literature and the World
Course Code: FC-0701-1
Faculty: Vivek V Narayan, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: Literature lives in a strange place where the word meets the world: here, the fantastical can seem familiar and the mundane may seem bizarre. The act of reading allows us to imagine the strange worlds of others as if we lived in them, and, equally, to reimagine our everyday worlds as if we viewed them through unfamiliar eyes. This imaginative encounter with otherness—other people, other perspectives, other places, and other worlds—lies at the heart of the literary experience. In South Asia, the literary encounter with otherness is inextricable from the worldly encounters of caste. The aesthetics of caste inform our literary sensibilities, the social experiences of caste frame the world we inhabit, and the everyday performances of caste shape our bodies. In short, the encounters that create our aesthetic, social, and embodied experiences—between the word and the world, between the self and the other, and between the real and the imagined—are all entangled with caste. This course will examine the relationship between literature and the world by focusing on the aesthetic, social, and embodied experiences of caste. We will ask: What can caste and literature tell us about each other? What do the intersections of caste and literature tell us about the world? How does our experience of the world inform and inflect our responses to literary representations of caste? And, perhaps most important, how will this kind of literary experience help us inhabit the world? We will read fiction, nonfiction, poems, and plays to explore what literature can reveal about others, ourselves, and a world organized by caste.

Pre-requisites: None
Cross listing: None
Grading Policy: Class participation : 20% Entry and exit assignments (5% x 2) : 10% In-class essays (15% x 3) : 45% Group project : 20% Self-evaluation note for project : 5%

Foundation Course: Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Thinking
Course Code: FC-0306-1
Faculty: Aalok Thakkar, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: This course explores the rich history of mathematics in India, from the Vedic period to modern times. Focusing on key texts and ideas, it examines the evolution of concepts like numbers in the Vedas, the construction of geometric figures in the Sulbasutras, and the discovery of zero and the place value system. Students will study the contributions of great mathematicians such as Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Bhaskaracharya, and others in fields like algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and combinatorics. The course also highlights the Kerala school’s advances in calculus and spherical trigonometry, including proofs from the renowned Yuktibhasa. Finally, it explores the legacy of Indian mathematics in the modern era, focusing on the profound work of Srinivasa Ramanujan and its deep connection to India’s mathematical traditions.

Pre-requisites: None
Cross listing: None
Grading Policy: 1. Assignments (40%): The course includes four problem sets designed to supplement lectures and develop practical application skills. 2. Examination (20%): One 2-hour, closed-book in-class exam. 3. Class Participation & Attendance (15%): Regular attendance and active engagement in discussions and activities. Participation quality matters more than quantity – thoughtful questions and contributions are valued. 4. Final Paper (25%): A collaborative final paper. Includes proposal submission, draft review, and final revision.

Foundation Course: Great Books
Course Code: FC-0601-1
Faculty: Tatyana Kostochka, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: We will examine the nature of evil in literary and philosophical works.

Pre-requisites: None
Cross listing: None
Grading Policy: Various in-class assessments-100%

History: War: History, Politics, Society
Course code: HIS-2505/ SOA-2234/ POL-2107 / IR-2067
Faculty: Pratyay Nath, Associate Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: How has war shaped gender identities and political ideologies in our societies? In what ways do race, class, and religion figure in the experience of war? How have computer games, movies, and comics made war an object of popular consumption? How have war, animals, and ecology shaped each other? These are some of the questions that the present course addresses. It offers a global history of the inter-relationship between war, politics, and society. In the first week, we will look at war and politics, with respect to ideology, propaganda, and protest. In the second week, we will study war and gender, in terms of masculinity, femininity, sexuality, and violence. In the third week we will analyse war and identity, with respect to labour, class, religion, and race. In the fourth week, we will examine war and the environment, in terms of animals and ecology. In the fifth week, we will study war and entertainment with respect to computer games, movies, literature, and comics. In the final week, we will look at the politics of dissemination of information about war in posters, museums, and media. Drawing examples from across time and space, the present course unravels this rich history through a close reading of the latest scholarly literature on the subject. Alongside this, students will get hands-on experience of analysing modern cultural artifacts of war (like movies, graphic novels, posters, and games). By the end of the course, students will have an understanding of the social, cultural, and political lives of war in the past and present times.
Pre-requisites: None.
Cross-listing: Political Science, Sociology, and International Relations
Grading Policy: Class Participation (25%) Mid-Term Presentation (35%) Term Paper (40%)

English: Indian Literatures
Course code: ENG-2003
Faculty:  Abir Bazaz, Ashoka University
Course Description: This course introduces students to Indian literatures in English translation. We will be discussing the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand, Intizar Hussain, Nirmal Verma, Agyeya, Mahashweta Devi, Indira Goswami, Mauni, Ambai, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer and U.R.Ananthamurthy among many others. We will also be screening a few film adaptations of the works of some of these authors. The course will pay special attention to such movements in Indian literature as the Progressive Writers movement, late colonial Romanticism and regional modernisms. We shall be exploring the questions of caste, class, gender and nation in Indian literatures and study different genres. The theorists and critics we will read, in order to situate our discussion of Indian literature in a wider historical, political and theoretical context, include Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Walter Benjamin, A.K.Ramanujan, Gilles Deleuze, Edward Said, Aijaz Ahmed and Ashis Nandy.

Pre-requisites: Literary Theory and Forms of Literature
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: 1. Class Participation (20%) 2. Discussion Sections Participation and Attendance (15%) 3. Google Classroom Postings. (15%) 4. Midterm paper or exam (20%) 5. Final paper (30%)

English: Existentialism in Literature, Philosophy and Film
Course code: ENG-3370
Faculty:  Abir Bazaz, Ashoka University
Course Description: What does it mean to be a human being? What is human freedom? How do we make sense of and give meaning to our existence? These are some of the questions taken up by theistic and atheistic existentialist philosophy, literature, and film, which we will study in this course. While existentialism is often studied in a European context, this course approaches existentialism as a global movement tracing its trajectory beyond its beginnings in Europe to the Americas, Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. We will be studying texts by philosophers such as Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Simone Weil as well as texts by writers such as Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, V.S.Naipaul and Nirmal Verma.

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: 1. Class Participation (20%) 2. Google Classroom Postings (20%) 3. Midterm paper or exam: (30%) 4. Final paper or exam: (30%)

English: Introduction to Classical Greek
Course code: ENG-3370
Faculty: Sarah Yona Zweig, Visiting Faculty,  Ashoka University
Course Description: This course is an introduction to Classical Greek. We will use the textbook Reading Greek and cover the Greek alphabet, core vocabulary, and some basic rules of morphology and syntax. This course is designed to make learning Greek both rewarding and enjoyable. At the same time, mastering a classical language does take time and effort. You should plan on about two hours of preparation before each class session for readings, completing exercises, memorizing paradigms, and independent study. Because the course builds knowledge step by step, regular preparation is essential; repeated absences or too little time spent on the assignments will make it more difficult to keep pace.
Course Book Joint Association of Classical Teachers’ Greek Course. Reading Greek. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Volume 1: Text and Vocabulary, Volume 2: Grammar and Exercises

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: Grade Distribution:  Homework Exercises: 20%, In-class Quizzes: 20%, Participation: 10% ,Mid-term Exam: 20% ,Final Exam: 30%.
GRADE BREAKDOWN
100–95 A
94–85 A-
84–80 B+
79–75 B
74–70 B-
69–65 C+
64–60 C
59–55 C-
54–50 D+
49–45 D
44–40 D-
<40 F

ASSESSMENT Submit all your assignments on time. If you turn in an assignment late, your grade will drop by one-third of a letter grade for each extra day. If you need an extension, make sure to ask at least 48 hours before the deadline. Extensions will only be granted in exceptional cases.

English: Introduction to Classical Arabic
Course code: ENG-3060
Faculty:   Sarah Yona Zweig, Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: This course offers an introduction to Classical Arabic, designed to equip students with the foundations needed for reading premodern Arabic texts. We will work primarily with Mastering Arabic 1 and selected materials from Manuel d’arabe moderne 1. Over the course of the semester, you will learn the Arabic script, acquire core vocabulary, and gain familiarity with the basic principles of Classical Arabic morphology and syntax. The course is reading-focused: it prepares students to approach sources from the pre-Islamic period, the Qurʾan, exegetical literature, adab, and historical writing. It is not a course in conversational Arabic, and it does not cover modern Arabic dialects. However, a solid grounding in Classical Arabic provides an excellent foundation for later study of Modern Standard Arabic or regional dialects. Mastering a classical language does take time and effort, even if you already know the script. You should plan on about two hours of preparation before each class session for readings, completing exercises, memorizing paradigms, and independent study. Students willing to commit time and attention to the language will gain access to one of the major literary and intellectual traditions of the premodern world.

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: Grade Distribution:  Homework Exercises: 20%, In-class Quizzes: 20%, Participation: 10% ,Mid-term Exam: 20% ,Final Exam: 30%.
GRADE BREAKDOWN
100–95 A
94–85 A-
84–80 B+
79–75 B
74–70 B-
69–65 C+
64–60 C
59–55 C-
54–50 D+
49–45 D
44–40 D-
<40 F

ASSESSMENT Submit all your assignments on time. If you turn in an assignment late, your grade will drop by one-third of a letter grade for each extra day. If you need an extension, make sure to ask at least 48 hours before the deadline. Extensions will only be granted in exceptional cases.

International Relations: The Rise of Populism in International Politics
Course code: IR-2013/ POL-2038
Faculty: Ananya Sharma, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: Populism is one of the main political buzzwords of the 21st century. The rise of populist forces in recent years has generated new challenges in many long-established democracies, such as the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Greece, and France, as well as destabilizing states worldwide, such as in Venezuela, Brazil, Hungary, Turkey, the Philippines, Thailand, and India. What explains the rise of these forces? What are the consequences? And what can be done to mitigate the risks? The course aims at bringing together the conceptual analysis of populism with comparative case studies in different regions of the world. Given the highly contested nature of populism, we will look in depth to different theories of populism, including institutional, ideological, discursive and socio-cultural understandings of populism. The course will also explore the conditions of emergence of populism and the relations between populism and key political concepts, such as democracy, security, gender, international organizations and political communication. The course covers: (i) The conceptual foundations of populism, tracing its definitional debates and mapping the typologies of populism including ideational, socio-cultural, performative approaches. (ii) Competing explanations focused on ‘demand-side’ cultural value change, economic grievances, and patterns of immigration, and also ‘supply-side’ electoral rules and party competition.(iii) The broader implications of populism for civic political culture, democratic norms and policy agenda; and alternative strategic responses.

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: Political Science
Grading Policy: Attendance and Class Participation (10%) ii. Reality Check: Behind the Headlines (25%) iii. Exploriments Around the Globe: E-Zine (25%) and iv. Final end term essay (40%)

Media Studies: Wisdom of the Documentary Film
Course code: MS-2091
Faculty: Natasha Badhwar, Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: With a focus on South Asian non-fiction films, this is an experiential course on analyzing the affective impact of viewing documentary film on the self and diverse audiences. Through screenings and moderated discussions, students will develop the practice to observe, appreciate and articulate the form, content and craft of documentary, and connect it to film theory, visual culture and socio-political discourse. Students will participate in discussions and write personalized reviews on themes, theory, aesthetics and impact of a range of documentary work.
Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: Visual Arts
Grading Policy: Grading Rubric includes mid-term essay, final video submission, weekly film essays and class participation.

Media Studies: Writing Memoir
Course code: MS-3121/CW-2121
Faculty: Natasha Badhwar, Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: Memoir is an expansive genre that borrows from the craft of fiction and poetry to create compelling, honest writing that resonates with readers and expands their empathy. The best personal essays are a location to identify questions, interrogate ideas and explore vulnerability and dissonant realities through deep research, interviews and reflection on lived experiences. As one sifts through memories, emotions and personal experience to connect the personal to the universal, writing about one’s life can be a healing and transformative journey, both for the writer as well as readers. This course offers an empathetic, nurturing space with creative prompts, writing exercises, readings, analysis and feedback to develop one’s unique voice and write compelling essays that are intimate, thought-provoking and deeply honest. 

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: Creative Writing
Grading Policy: Grades will be distributed over class participation, weekly essays, mid-term and final submission

Media Studies: How to read a film
Course code: MS-2410
Faculty: Aakshi Magazine, Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: Memoir is an expansive genre that borrows from the craft of fiction and poetry to create compelling, honest writing that resonates with readers and expands their empathy. The best personal essays are a location to identify questions, interrogate ideas and explore vulnerability and dissonant realities through deep research, interviews and reflection on lived experiences. As one sifts through memories, emotions and personal experience to connect the personal to the universal, writing about one’s life can be a healing and transformative journey, both for the writer as well as readers. This course offers an empathetic, nurturing space with creative prompts, writing exercises, readings, analysis and feedback to develop one’s unique voice and write compelling essays that are intimate, thought-provoking and deeply honest. 

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: Creative Writing
Grading Policy: Grades will be distributed over class participation, weekly essays, mid-term and final submission

Media Studies: Listeners to Practitioners: Recording and Post Production Workflow
Course code: MS-2301
Faculty: Gaurav Chintamani, Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: Every piece of audio represents countless micro-decisions made during its recording and post-production. The gap between what the ear hears and how it is captured and finessed for presentation is massive—this course bridges that gap through understanding the deliberate craft that brings recordings into being. This course deconstructs fundamental audio capture and production workflow, taking students through technical and creative decisions that transform raw sound into polished recordings. We will explore essential tools—microphones, digital audio workstations, and signal processing—as interconnected elements in coherent production methodology. Students will develop proficiency in microphone selection and placement, DAW operation, take compilation, and basic mixing procedures using core signal processing concepts. Through practical exercises and comparative analysis, students will identify subtle choices distinguishing amateur from professional recordings across genres and production styles. The course cultivates operational competency and informed decision-making serving both technical accuracy and creative intent. Designed as an entry point to audio production, this course provides essential groundwork for further study in advanced recording techniques and sound design while developing critical listening abilities.

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: Attendance: 25% Exercise(s): 25% Final Project: 50%

Biology: Python for Research in Life Sciences
Course code: BIO-3636
Faculty: Sudipta Tung, Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: This is an introductory course to Python to use this versatile programming language for aiding research in Life sciences. This course does not assume any prior knowledge in programming, starts with the basic coding lessons, and builds up upon them. The course will nudge you to think intuitively in terms writing an algorithm. This skill, once mastered, is transferable to any programming language in future. In addition, after first reviewing the basics of Python 3, we shall learn how to use Python scripts to import, organize, analyze, and visualize experimental data, and run own simulations to generate new in silico research data. Using a combination of a lectures, and guided hands-on sessions, students will be exposed to a variety of different Python features across various topics in Life sciences. We shall explore examples and case studies with data, inter alia, behavioral experiments, genomics, epidemiology, and biostatistics. Students will also be introduced to the rapidly developing field of image processing and machine learning. Students will get a chance to hone their new Python skills by solving take-home assignments on their own. More details can be found on this webpage: https://sites.google.com/ashoka.edu.in/summercourse-python/home

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: Assignments 30%, Exam 30%, DIY project 30%, Classroom participation 10%

Entrepreneurship: Business Applications of Data Science
Course code: ENT-2045
Faculty: Tushar Jaruhar, Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: This course is designed to equip entrepreneurs with essential skills and knowledge in AI and technology, enabling them to leverage these tools to drive innovation and growth in their businesses. Through a combination of theoretical learning and hands-on practical exercises, participants will gain proficiency in key technologies such as Excel, KNIME, Tableau, GPT, AI driven Videos and no-code app development platforms. Participants will begin by mastering Excel, learning how to manipulate and analyze data effectively using advanced functions and formulas. They will then delve into KNIME, a powerful data analytics platform, to explore data preprocessing, analysis, and visualization techniques. With Tableau, participants will learn to create dynamic and interactive data visualizations to gain actionable insights from their data. The course will provide participants with the skills to track and analyze website traffic, measure campaign effectiveness, and make data-driven decisions for their digital marketing strategies. Participants will explore the capabilities for natural language processing and image generation, unlocking opportunities for creative content creation and automation. Additionally, participants will learn about no-code app development platforms, empowering them to build and deploy applications without writing a single line of code. By the end of the course, participants will have the knowledge and skills to harness the power of AI and technology to drive innovation, streamline operations, and create value in their entrepreneurial ventures.

Pre-requisites: None.
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: Relative.

Entrepreneurship: Artificial Intelligence and Technology for Entrepreneurs
Course code: ENT-2041
Faculty: Tushar Jaruhar, Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: This course is designed to equip entrepreneurs with essential skills and knowledge in AI and technology, enabling them to leverage these tools to drive innovation and
growth in their businesses. Through a combination of theoretical learning and hands-on practical exercises, participants will gain proficiency in key technologies
such as Excel, KNIME, Tableau, GPT, AI driven Videos and no-code app development platforms. Participants will begin by mastering Excel, learning how to manipulate and analyze data effectively using advanced functions and formulas. They will then delve into KNIME, a powerful data analytics platform, to explore data preprocessing, analysis, and visualization techniques. With Tableau, participants will learn to create dynamic and interactive data visualizations to gain actionable insights from their data. The course will provide participants with the skills to track and analyze website traffic, measure campaign effectiveness, and make data-driven decisions for their digital marketing strategies. Participants will explore the capabilities for natural language processing and image generation, unlocking opportunities for creative content creation and
automation. Additionally, participants will learn about no-code app development platforms, empowering them to build and deploy applications without writing a single line of code. By the end of the course, participants will have the knowledge and skills to harness the power of AI and technology to drive innovation, streamline operations, and create value in their entrepreneurial ventures.

Pre-requisites: None.
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: Relative.

Psychology: Psychology of Health and Illness   
Course code: PSY-3083
Faculty: Annie Baxi, Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: Course Objectives The paper is a blend of Critical and Cultural Health Psychology and intends to detail the various theoretical perspectives on health and illness and strategies that promote healing and wellbeing. Health is defined as ‘a way of being’ which is not limited by the absence of malfunction or disease but an experience that is grounded in one’s body and is shaped largely by individual and collective attributions around it. The designed course attempts to address questions like how do we identify and operationalise markers of a healthy living in a context? What are the various ways in which illness(es) can be experienced? What is the symbiotic relationship of the individual reality and social processes in understanding health and illness?
Learning outcomes After completing the course, the student will be able to: Analyse and critically evaluate existing theories on health and illness Understand individual ‘symptoms’ as interactive and constituted by macro systems. Enhance skills associated with health and illness research. Apply concepts in designing health-related interventions for communities.

Pre-requisites: Introduction to Psychology (PSY-1001)
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: Grade Cut Offs
85 and above = A
75-84= A-
70-74= B+
65-69= B
60-64= B-
55- 59= C+
50-55= C
Below 50 = D/F

Psychology: Violence as a Human Behavior
Course Code: PSY-3045
Faculty: Simantini Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: What enables human beings to perpetrate acts of cruelty and aggression? What effects do these events have on survivors? Can we predict violent behaviors accurately for some groups? Can we prevent violence from happening? Violence is a widespread and complex issue that has been part of human behavior through time. In this class, we will tease violence apart along multiple axes, but usually in a data driven fashion. In the first half of the course we will break violence down to its elemental blocks using concepts from neurobiology, biochemistry, genetics, psychology, evolution and epigenetics. The second half of this course will reassemble fundamental types of violence based on religion, politics, gender and socioeconomic structures using the concepts discussed. We will also spend some time discussing technology facilitated violence and the role of fake news in inciting mass violence. Prospective students are encouraged to approach the material as part of a journey to understand violence. Each member of the class might arrive at a different conclusion about violence at the end of the course, but the goal of the class is to provide them with different frameworks to interpret and analyze data about violence to reach their conclusion. This class is MOSTLY taught as an advanced seminar with a flipped classroom style. The instructor will play the role of a faculty moderator of student led discussion. Each week a few research articles, reviews, book chapters or articles from the media will be discussed by students, with the entire class being an active participant in discussion. All students will be expected to participate in class discussion as they come to class having done the readings for the day.

Pre-requisites: Statistics and Research Methods I (PSY-2001) or Statistics for Economics (ECO-1400) and Introduction to Psychology (PSY-1001)
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SxDfcZszcIVuJpGORsoDiph1PGNmFZLcKIav8RyFaQg/edit?usp=sharing

Psychology: Clinical Psychology
Course Code: PSY-2041
Faculty: Simantini Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: This course focuses on understanding the phenomenology (description), etiology (causes), and treatment of abnormal behavior. Major psychological syndromes will be discussed along with the current APA classification system (DSM-5) and other classification systems. Genetic, biological, social, and psychological parameters implicated in the etiology of these syndromes will be introduced. Students will learn the principles of clinical assessment and the 5P model of psychological assessment and case formulation

Pre-requisites: Introduction to Psychology ( PSY-1001) or Thinking like a Psychologist ( PSY-1003)and Statistics and Research Methods I (PSY-2001) or Statistics for Economics (ECO-1400)
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14ecCW7xa9uiiJ8EvvGKStngWqaCOjw3WxPuBMdmjHKI/edit?usp=sharing

Psychology: Computational Neuroscience
Course Code: PSY-3019
Faculty: Supriya Ray, Associate Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: The course will focus on how the brain computes information, which is manifested in our perception and behavior.

Pre-requisites: Maths in high school is required, and basic knowledge of brain and computer are expected.
Cross-listing:  None
Grading Policy: As per Ashoka’s Grading Policy

Psychology: Statistics for Advanced Research (STAR) in Psychology
Course Code: PSY-3001
Faculty: Naseer Ahmad Bhat, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: Statistics for Advanced Research (STAR) is a six-week intensive summer course designed for psychology students who want to move beyond introductory statistics and develop real analytical confidence. If you have completed SRM-1 (Statistics and Research Methodology-1) and still feel that research articles are difficult to understand, the methods section feels overwhelming, or statistical tables look like a foreign language-this course is for you. In SRM-1, you learned the foundations: what data are, types of variables, distributions, measures of central tendency and dispersion, correlation, t-tests, basic ANOVA, and introductory regression. STAR builds directly on this base, revisiting these concepts at a deeper and more applied level, while also introducing you to advanced statistical techniques that are widely used in contemporary psychological research. The goal is simple: to help you shift from “I avoid statistics” to “I can understand, evaluate, and conduct data analysis independently.” STAR is especially relevant if you aspire to conduct rigorous research. Many students have strong research ideas but feel uncertain about how to translate those ideas into sound methods and appropriate analyses. This course will help you develop the skills needed to design studies with greater clarity, choose the right statistical tools, and interpret results with confidence. You will learn how to evaluate research evidence critically, understand assumptions behind different methods, and communicate findings effectively. Over six weeks, the course will cover key advanced approaches used across clinical, developmental, social, and cognitive psychology. Topics include normality testing and model diagnostics, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis(for scale development and advanced validation), measurement invariance testing, missing value analysis (a crucial but often neglected skill in real-world datasets), factor analysis (to explore and validate psychological constructs), moderation and mediation (to test “when” and “how” effects occur).. You will also revisit ANOVA and regression at a more advanced level, including multiple regression and logistic regression, with a focus on interpretation, model building, and reporting. In addition, STAR provides an introduction to Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) , a powerful framework for testing measurement models and complex theoretical pathways. Finally, the course introduces longitudinal and panel data methods, helping you understand how psychologists analyze change over time, developmental trajectories, and within-person patterns. STAR is ideal for students planning future graduate education (Master’s, MPhil, or PhD) and those who want to build a strong quantitative foundation early. Advanced research programs increasingly expect students to engage with data analytically, not just conceptually. By strengthening your statistical thinking now, you will enter graduate school with a clear advantage-better prepared for coursework, thesis work, independent research, and reading high-quality journal articles without fear. At the same time, STAR is not only for “future academics.” Data skills are increasingly transferable across careers. Whether you plan to work in psychology, public health, education, policy, or industry, the ability to manage data, test hypotheses, interpret models, and make evidence-based decisions is a valuable asset. STAR helps expand your career horizons beyond traditional pathways by giving you practical analytical competence that is relevant in many sectors. The course is designed to be accessible, structured, and supportive-without being simplistic. The emphasis will be on understanding concepts clearly, applying techniques thoughtfully, and developing the confidence to work with research data independently. By the end of the course, you should be able to read research papers with sharper insight, design stronger studies, choose analyses responsibly, and move forward in your academic journey with genuine statistical authority.

Pre-requisites: Statistics and Research Methods I (PSY-2001)
Cross listing: Economics
Grading Policy: The course will have usual grading components that include quizzes, projects, assignments, attendance, and participation. The grading will be absolute grading

Philosophy: Advanced Political Philosophy
Course code: PHI- 4780
Faculty: Merve Rumeysa Tapınç, Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University
Course Description: Secularism is often presented as the guarantor of religious liberty and modern equality. Yet in practice it can be paradoxical: a doctrine that promises neutrality can just as easily produce new exclusions. This course interrogates secularism through its most contested cases—the headscarf ban in Türkiye and the colonial and post-colonial state projects in India—to ask when secularism protects freedom and when it becomes an instrument of anti-religious policy. We will examine how secular norms can reshape the lived meaning of religious practices, sometimes alienating citizens from one another or even from their own forms of belief they had once been willing to inhabit. Alongside this phenomenological focus, we explore the solutions offered by minimalist liberal secularism as well as alternatives that argue normative theory must begin from a baseline of social and economic equality. Drawing on non-ideal theory and decolonial feminist critiques, we ask whether egalitarian ends require stronger institutional foundations or a bottom-up, class-sensitive transition. By the end of the semester, you will be able to diagnose the political stakes behind claims of “neutrality,” compare global secular practices, and evaluate proposals for reconciling religious freedom with social justice.

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing:  Political Science
Grading Policy: Categorical

Economics: Introduction to Data Analytics and Machine Learning 
Course code: ECO-3401
Faculty: Parush Arora, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: The course discusses why data analysis is a required skill among social scientists. The course not only focus on theory but aims to teach students how to analyze data and
apply techniques. The core topics will include prediction, supervised-unsupervised learning, bias-variance trade-off, cross-validation, regularization, how linear regression is used from the perspective of prediction Vs causation etc. The course will also introduce some of the machine learning techniques like lasso, k-nearest neighbours, decision tree etc. The course aims to teach students to analyze data on RStudio andR.

Pre-requisites: Statistics for Economics (ECO-1400) and Econometrics (ECO-2400)
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: Student grades have 4 components: midterm exam (20% weightage), Final exam (30% weightage), Assignments (20% weightage) and final presentations (30% weightage). The syllabus for the midterm exam will be announced in class and on AMS/Moodle/Google Classroom. Final exam will be cumulative.

Mathematics: Calculus
Course code: MAT-1000
Faculty: Kumarjit Saha, Associate Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description: Calculus is a foundational subject for all areas of mathematics, science and even modern social sciences. This course is a fast-paced but thorough coverage of the subject. We will see many elementary applications of the subject in Physics, Optimisation, Biology, Economics etc. so that students who have covered Calculus before will not feel the entire course to be repetitive. This course is not about applying formulas and solving problems. It goes to the real reasoning behind them .It is expected that you will solve lot of problems in this course. We will follow the following texts (not exactly) in this course:

Textbooks: 1) James Stuart, Calculus. (Cengage). 2) Apostol, Calculus, vol 1.

Pre-requisites: None
Cross-listing: None
Grading Policy: Grading will be a combination of class quizzes, assignments and one final in-class exam (to be held in the last week of the course)

Economics: I 
Course code:
Faculty: , Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description

Economics: I 
Course code:
Faculty: , Assistant Professor, Ashoka University
Course Description