Recently, Ashoka University under its interactive virtual seminar series ‘Beyond the Classroom’ will host a week (May 26 to 30) of multilingual lectures where its faculty will present their research and ideas in a language other than English. The live sessions will be open for everyone to attend.

Every day for five consecutive days, a new faculty member will break down complex academic research into simple, introductory 20-minute lectures. These seminars will use a mix of technical and colloquial language to make the content accessible to a variety of audiences. In a country where the majority of people are either bilingual or multilingual, Ashoka University believes it is crucial to attempt to bring ideas and academic research to the fore in as many languages as possible. The episodes will be broadcast simultaneously on YouTube.

‘Beyond the Classroom’ (BTC) is the Ashoka University virtual seminar attempt to explore a universe of interesting and relevant ideas, and bring them to an audience who loves learning, in an accessible format. Semester 1 which began on April 4, saw 12 seminars in subjects spanning the range from Philosophy, History, Literature, Biology and more. The faculty members explored a topic or a thought from an introductory perspective and brought it to life through a live and interactive webinar.

According to Malabika Sarkar, Vice-Chancellor, Ashoka University, “We introduced Beyond the Classroom with an aim to make learning more accessible. With the success of Beyond the Classroom: Semester 1 it is evident that there is a broad demographic audience that wants to learn and engage. Ashoka faculty presenting research and ideas in a language other than English will be a small step towards acknowledging and celebrating India’s linguistic diversity.”

Once the live session is over, key content from the episode will be cut and edited to be uploaded on various other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. The live sessions will be recorded and made available as episodes on Ashoka University’s YouTube channel as well as website.Details of upcoming episodes will be available on Ashoka University’s website, Instagram handle, Facebook page and Twitter handle.