Learn a special craft

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Unlike the US, where an art critic or a person evaluating an art form is well-rounded in all aspects of arts and aesthetics, we do not have good art critics, was the refrain of Jyotindra Jain, dean, School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). According to him, "Arts and aesthetics is a discipline which can be traced back to our ancient civilisation and images have been an integral part of our lives since time immemorial."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">JNU''s School of Arts & Aesthetics offers an MA in Arts and Aesthetics currently.Jain elaborated, "Although, admissions for this year are closed, the course is unique in itself, as with regard to content and delivery of the programme, JNU is probably the only university in India offering such a programme. According to him, "We take in students through an entrance exam; minimum eligibility to apply is a graduation." He added, "Unlike other institutions and their programmes, our MA programme encourages students from diverse fields and not only the arts'' background, to come and apply. Besides, our question papers are set in a different manner. The questions put up to students try to assess the student''s aptitude as well as his or her ability to be innovative and creative, as it is my belief that anyone can have in him or her an appreciation for arts and hence we have not made the selection procedure rigid. The aim of the programme is to acquaint the students with how art affects our society as a whole."</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Elaborating on the course structure, Jain remarked, "We expose students to all ideas of religion, caste, politics and gender, apart from providing them detailed knowledge on various aspects of art, including music & dance and cinema. The course does not teach the practical or technical aspects of art, although we expose students to these aspects in our curriculum. With regard to the MA programme, he said: "The study of art means study of history, literature, civilisation, literature, society and representation of community, gender, political manipulation, side-by-side of technical, historic and aesthetic aspects of arts. Hence, through this programme, we take a holistic approach while teaching students the nitty gritty of art." </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">The study methodology followed at the School was in itself quite unique, according to Jain. "We have five full-time faculty members and we invite to our School, eminent artists, musicians, dancers and literary people among others, to share with students their experiences and knowledge," Jain pointed out.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Besides the MA programme, the School of Arts and Aesthetics offers a direct Ph D programme as well, for which the minimum eligibility is an M Phil or if the candidate is not an M Phil, then he or she should have had some outstanding work of merit to his or her credit. Similarly, the School plans to commence an M Phil programme too, for which the minimum qualification will be a postgraduate degree. </span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">Jain remarked, "Our School conducts a number of short training workshops or ''outreach programmes'' in various areas of art, like music, cinema, dance among others. Here we take in about 150 participants and expose them to the art form in which they are interested in, by calling in qualified people in the field. Like we did a cinema workshop with eminent film theoretician, Ravi Vasudevan, which elicited a very good response." He said: "No basic qualification is needed to join such workshops which the School conducts from time to time." He added that placement would not be a problem for students, as many art galleries were coming up, which required the services of thoroughbred professionals.</span><br /><br /><span style="" font-family:="" arial="">On future plans, Jain said: "Presently we are in the process of recruiting new faculty. Once we are over with it, we plan to start a MA in Film Studies and Cultural Studies. We want to focus on contemporary art practice and ''media art'' or creating images that become symbolic of topical issues."</span></div> </div>