BU to introduce four-year course in Arts in 2012

BANGALORE: Following the success of the four-year integrated science course introduced by Bangalore University in the last academic year, Vice Chancellor, Dr Prabhu Dev, announced here on Wednesday that they will soon roll out an integrated four-year course in arts and commerce too.Inaugurating a workshop for the academic faculty of the four affiliated colleges offering the course, the Vice Chancellor pointed out that the demand for pure science courses have reduced over the years, with science students now opting for engineering or medicine. However, the response to this four-year integrated course has been good, he said, and added that the infrastructure in more colleges would be examined, in order to introduce the course in those colleges in the future. Currently, four colleges have been given permission by the university to introduce the course, namely, National College, KLE society’s Nijalingappa College, Kristhu Jayanthi College and Maharani’s Science College.The Vice Chancellor said that this course is an example of a choice-based credit system, which will provide the students with a sound foundation in their subjects, while simultaneously allowing them to specialise in subjects they love the most.Explaining the features of this course, Dr M S Reddy, Coordinator (academic) for the BS course, said that this course is designed along the lines of integrated education, wherein students would be exposed to math and science in the first two years.During the next two years, the students would be asked to choose a subject to specialise in, and work on a project in central institutions in the city, including the Centre for Astrophysics and Centre for Communicable Diseases, among others.“We have requested 27 institutions, and 12 institutions have already agreed to participate in the programme.Also, students pursuing this course can opt for completing their education, including post-graduation and doctoral research, in seven years,” he said.The two-day workshop will involve guest faculty from various reputed institutions interacting with the teachers, and examining the methodology to approach the course, which is of importance for better growth.