Recently, there was a question on Quora, a Q&A site regarding HSS (Humanities and Social Sciences) courses at IIT Kanpur. So, I thought of writing a backgrounder on the same based on my (Prasoon Kumar) experiences during my B.Tech. studies in 1993-97. The B.Tech. education at IIT Kanpur is not a static array of courses to be completed in each semesters There are some electives, which you can take depending on your aptitude and future goals. As India's leading engineering college, it is not the case that all courses taught are maths, science and engineering driven. For a wholesome development of individual, a balanced learning is what is advocated at IIT Kanpur.
First thing to be demystified is that yes, you as an IIT Kanpur student are in charge of some components of your education, so better start deciding for yourself. There is an array of economics, psychology, social sciences and other subjects to choose from. Some of the future elective can influence your current decision. Let's say you want to do an MBA post B.Tech., which is one of most popular option nowadays and probably has surpassed civil services aspirations. Economics and Organizational Psychology subjects would serve you well in that case. I remember a friend of mind, Tapas Misra from Rourkela was like: I read so many novels anyway, so I might as well take a course, which is like that, which was offered that semester. Such a course might not be in ala carte menu of courses in the semester, as it varies. some people would take courses based on proficiency of professors. I took psychology based on that and a little bit of aptitude. somehow I ended up taking 2 more courses in psychology based on my desire to build expertise in a particular area and also sometimes ease of getting a good grade. I took social and organizational psychology subsequently, where I remember doing a project paper on use jingle in advertisements.
First thing to be demystified is that yes, you as an IIT Kanpur student are in charge of some components of your education, so better start deciding for yourself. There is an array of economics, psychology, social sciences and other subjects to choose from. Some of the future elective can influence your current decision. Let's say you want to do an MBA post B.Tech., which is one of most popular option nowadays and probably has surpassed civil services aspirations. Economics and Organizational Psychology subjects would serve you well in that case. I remember a friend of mind, Tapas Misra from Rourkela was like: I read so many novels anyway, so I might as well take a course, which is like that, which was offered that semester. Such a course might not be in ala carte menu of courses in the semester, as it varies. some people would take courses based on proficiency of professors. I took psychology based on that and a little bit of aptitude. somehow I ended up taking 2 more courses in psychology based on my desire to build expertise in a particular area and also sometimes ease of getting a good grade. I took social and organizational psychology subsequently, where I remember doing a project paper on use jingle in advertisements.
