School of Creative Practices and Entrepreneurship (SCoPE)

 

The problems of today’s world are multifaceted and require insights from diverse areas of expertise. The design solutions to these problems, therefore, emerge out of and are nurtured in multi-dimensional contexts. In line with the NEP 2020 framework, the School of Creative Practices and Entrepreneurship (SCoPE) was established in January 2022 to make these contexts stand out through interdisciplinary teaching and research.

As a hub of academicians and scholars from diverse liberal arts disciplines and practices, such as creative arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences and entrepreneurship, SCoPE will offer an exciting range of courses. SCoPE would also foster a research ecosystem by promoting collaborations at the interface between various disciplines by bringing together researchers from the University and beyond. Thus, SCoPE intends to enhance context awareness by inculcating interdisciplinary knowledge, research aptitude, multipronged problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

  • Vision of SCoPE
  • Inviting SCoPE Scholars
  • How to Apply

Undoing the disciplinary silos, SCoPE’s vision is to become a hub of excellence in interdisciplinarity by promoting holistic and comprehensive educational and research experience.

The following are the objectives of SCoPE:

  • To offer courses that are interdisciplinary in nature, enhancing the designers’ capacity to empathise and innovate through associative thinking.
  • To create a pool of teaching and research faculties/scholars in diverse disciplines of liberal arts.
  • To convene national/ international conferences/ workshops/ seminars/ public talks.
  • To engage in individual and collaborative research, leading to the diffusion of integrated knowledge.

SCoPE invites early career scholars/ leading-edge academicians/ eminent practitioners to work with SCoPE on short-term teaching and research engagements. Short-term engagements might vary from six months to one year (Monsoon, Spring Semester, or both). During this period, the SCoPE scholars will work with a SCoPE faculty member on a well-identified research problem that could lead to a significant scholarly contribution through academic publications. The expectations also include teaching engagements, involvement in guiding student projects, conducting scholarly activities and supporting in organising conferences/ workshops/ public talks. The scholars are invited in two categories:

Early Career Scholars (ECS)

SCoPE aims to provide an excellent opportunity to work on a design challenge or a research problem in a creative and innovative ecosystem. With the possibility of personal and professional growth, SCoPE would prepare the scholar for an independent futuristic academic career. The fluid boundaries of Design, Architecture and Liberal Arts at Anant National University would allow the scholars to unlock their potential to experiment and contribute to the interdisciplinary ecosystem.

The application for the ECS would be invited from scholars with aspirations for an academic career. These scholars should have successfully defended their doctoral thesis from an institution of repute in India or abroad, and their research work should be rated highly with supporting scholarly publications. Candidates who have already submitted their doctoral thesis or are planning to submit their thesis in the next few months are also welcome to apply. Scholars with a Master’s degree and meritorious track record would also be considered.

Invited Scholars and Practitioners (IS/IP)

SCoPE would also invite leading-edge academicians and eminent practitioners from diverse disciplines to work as short-term invited scholars or invited practitioners. The inclusive learning environment at the University provides an opportunity for developing and offering courses cutting across themes and for a wide range of pedagogical experiments. It also provides a conducive environment for amalgamating their research with the interplay of design.

The application for the IS would be invited from eminent faculty members associated with an institute of repute in India or abroad and with a scholarly publication record. The faculty members should have a minimum of 10 years of academic experience and should be well-published in their area of research. The application for the IP would be invited from practitioners of repute based out of India or abroad and with a practising career of a minimum of 10 years. The practitioners may include storytellers/ authors/ artists/ artisans/ designers, to mention a few.

The SCoPE scholars are expected to:

  • Dedicate themselves to working full-time towards their academic and research goals in collaboration with a SCoPE faculty member.
  • Work on a specific research project in collaboration with a SCoPE faculty member and Anant National University students and engage in other scholarly activities of the University.
  • Teach two courses per semester at the University.
  • Submit quarterly reports of their work to the SCoPE office.
  • Follow the ethos of the University and be proactive towards their performance.

One of the outcomes of the chosen research project should be to disseminate the created knowledge mentioning Anant National University affiliation through high-impact scholarly publications.

Eligible candidates can apply year-round with the following documents on scope@anant.edu.in:

  • An updated resume.
  • A 1000 -1500-word research proposal in the prescribed format in Appendix I. The applicants are encouraged to contact the SCoPE faculty for collaboration directly.
  • Two-course abstracts of 500 words each in their respective knowledge domain with application to design disciplines.

Applications received before September will be considered for the Spring Semester starting in January. Those received before March will be considered for the Monsoon Semester.

Faculty

Dr Anunaya Chaubey

Provost, Anant National University
PhD, Patna University
Salzburg Global Fellow

Dr Ashima Sood

Associate Professor, Co-Director, Centre for Urbanism and Cultural Economics
PhD, Cornell University

Dr Dhara Thakore

Head of Aarambh Incubation Centre and Office of Career Services
PhD, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

Dr Subhalaxmi Mohapatra

Associate Professor, Anant National University
PhD, Utkal University

Dr Diti Pundrik Vyas

Associate Professor, School of Creative Practices and Entrepreneurship (SCoPE)
PhD, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

Sharmila Sagara

Associate Professor, Centre for Visual Arts
MFA, Maharaja Sayajirao University Baroda

Visiting Scholars

Dr Sharon M Ravitch

SCoPE Scholar, Social Impact Design
PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Prof Lindsay Kirker

Visual Artist, Master of Fine Arts,
University of British Columbia

Prof James Hegarty

Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions,
Head of School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University