A new program called Liberal Arts, Sciences and Engineering (LASE) was introduced at IITB this year. Students who joined in 2021 (current freshies) are eligible to branch change into this program if they clear the first round of written tests and interviews. The program allows you to choose your specialisation in the third year after completing compulsory foundation courses and a few open electives in your second year. The specialisation can be Natural Sciences,Engineering Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Design, or students can design a custom concentration like healthcare engineering, graduates would get a “Bachelor of Science in specialisation”. We spoke to Prof. Anurag Mehra and Prof. Anush Kapadia to learn more about the program.

Why a written test and interview in addition to the regular branch change rules(CPI-based)?

The programme is designed for people with broad interests and an aptitude for diverse subjects and CPI is not an adequate indicator of this, especially since the standard first-year courses are predominantly science courses. A test and an interview help the admissions committee understand the applicant's interests and motivation for opting into the programme. Selecting candidates based only on their CPI reinforces the existing loop and it does not help identify the students who fit best with the programme.

Would you consider an alternative to JEE - a different entrance exam? Can IDC students be allowed to apply for the programme in the future since it is interdisciplinary?

The initial vision was to use a variety of examinations like KVPY, international olympiads, HSS entrance exam and even the board exam marks. This would allow them to select from a more extensive set of applicants with varied backgrounds - thus creating a diverse cohort. Diversity in thought and opinion is integral to the success of a liberal arts programme. Moreover, selecting students in the first year would allow them to design a tailored first-year curriculum. But the institute was sceptical about running the first iteration of the programme without JEE Advanced being a point of entry. The current roadmap for the programme approved by the Board of Governors includes multiple entry points for the programme in the future. This means that IDC students will also be able to apply for the LASE programme in the future.

Why a Bachelor of Science and not a BTech?

A bachelor of science degree is the norm worldwide and the program is simply following that norm. Degrees ranging from Music to Engineering are given the BS label. Check out MIT pages, for instance.

Will these students be at a disadvantage to their peers as they will be starting with their specialisation in their third year?

College is vastly different from school. The typical mentality in school is that one is falling behind their peers if they do not study the same material at an equal pace. College, however, is characterised by the ability to choose your academic journey. You aren't guaranteed to make the same choices as your peers, which means that you won't end up in the same place as they do.Even if you do, the path to reach there will be different since there is no advantage to moving in lockstep with your peers.

But what about interns/placements which will happen alongside other students in the institute?

LASE students will have access to a diverse set of internships. The broad knowledge base focusing on critical thinking and effective communication appeals to employers ranging from consulting companies to startups. You must draw connections between unrelated things, communicate effectively and leverage a diversity of skills. The professors urged applicants not to think about their peers and their opportunities but rather leverage the comparative advantage of LASE to their benefit.

Why have you chosen this specific set of foundation courses?

Most people that enter through JEE do not know about the non-technical stuff since coaching classes skip these. Most schools in the status quo are also poor in teaching history and literature to students. The key motivation for selecting these particular courses was to equip an undergraduate with the essential skills and knowledge necessary for the current world. These foundation courses are a broad toolkit that will continue to evolve in future iterations. It also fills existing knowledge gaps across the institute.

1. Digital lives - The baseline level of technical knowledge required for the average citizenry is more than that of two decades ago. While everyone uses the internet, not most students critically examine privacy issues, data extraction, the technical aspects of this, and what the future entails.
2. History of South Asia - History in school, has primarily been mugging-up dates and facts. However, this course will allow students to view history from a different lens, especially the history of our region, which gives context to contemporary problems.
3. Reading and writing literature - The professors received feedback from employers that most students do not know how to write effectively, like putting together a memo or summarising information from a meeting. This course is designed to improve your ability to communicate and analyze literature. The instructor is a trained professional specialising in teaching the nuts and bolts of writing. It is different from existing writing courses in the institute since it doesn't focus on mere communication and scientific writing.
4. History of Science - This course is designed to help students understand the social context of various scientific innovations. Learning the history of a discipline teaches two broad things -
   1. how thinkers made arguments to justify innovations and groundbreaking theories and
   2. the social context in which disciplines evolved. Conclusion: there is a close feedback loop between knowledge and society, so very concrete problems evolved at different times in history and in other places. There are plans to have a general course about the history of any discipline in the future.
5. Inequality and Society - While we live in the golden age of materialism and society is the healthiest in modern times, several inequalities have grown further. This course answers questions about the brand of capitalism that caused these inequalities. It provides a new lens to view the society around us.

Why a small group of 30 students? -

The best part of a liberal arts programme is personalising things and providing students with a lot of personal attention, which becomes harder to do with larger class sizes. Liberal arts colleges in the US have significantly smaller class sizes and greater undergrad focus when compared to universities like Harvard or Stanford. If these courses are opened up to the entire institute, half the fun of the course is lost. The professors said that the instructors could share recordings and materials with the rest of the institute, but permitting the rest of the institute to take these courses would require the support of departments to adopt this new model of teaching and fund the hiring of new faculty for these courses in the long term.

Why are Seminar courses a part of every sem? -

This is a feature usually offered in PhD courses since it requires personalised guidance. The LASE programme has a fair share of PhD-like features - freedom to choose one's academic journey and the professional guidance to support this. The seminar course enables you to integrate all the breadth covered in the programme and integrate this knowledge. The result of it could be anything that the students envision - a project, SLP, essay, field surveys, etc. This course runs more frequently than the existing seminar courses in the institute that some departments run. Also, since the LASE course allows you to choose exactly what you want to work on, it ensures that students learn from these seminars.

Is there any limit on the number of students who can pick a particular specialisation?

A cap on the number of students who can take a specialisation hasn’t been built into the program but if too many students wish to take similar courses, then enough seats might not be available due to constraints placed by the instructors or other departments, and if such a case arises the faculty will decide as to what needs to be done.

Currently, LASE students can take a maximum of 5 courses in a sem, and these will be core courses, so they cannot do a minor?

The IDPC of the Centre passed a resolution that minor courses will not count towards the 5-course cap and this has been approved by the Dean AP. This means that LASE students will be able to do a minor now.

Interested readers can visit their website for more information https://cle.iitb.ac.in/

How can freshers apply?

1. Fill out the form at https://cle.iitb.ac.in/apply-to-lase/ to register yourself for the test and interview (deadline 8th June)
2. Give the test scheduled on 11th June
3. Interviews will be scheduled on the 18th and 19th of June
4. If you qualify based on 2) and 3) you will be eligible for branch change to LASE (Subject to other branch change rules) and can pick it as one of your options when the branch change applications come out (you need to give a preference order in the applications so you can place LASE at whatever position you like)