Research Practices at LSR

2018-2019 has been a fulfilling year for the collaborative ventures of LSR with several new initiatives begun during this period.The Office of International Programmes, LSR, conducted its annual orientation for 2018-19 to inform students about the different opportunities, in terms of exchange programmes, summer schools and master’s programmes that OIP has to offer. They were informed about the collaborations with different universities, namely, Sciences Po, Middlebury University, Macquarie University, NUS, La Trobe and several others. They were also informed about the specifications of each exchange programme and the scholarships available for the same. 

A group of students from the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University, Australia along with Professor Andrew Alter visited Lady Shri Ram College for a short-term course which was conceptualized and transacted by LSR faculty members. This week long course, held in September 2018, provided an overview on diverse aspects of Indian History, Geopolitics, Sociology, Gandhi and his relevance and Sustainable Environmental Practices in India. In addition to the lectures, a Madhubani painting workshop was organized followed by an interactive session with the National Service Scheme, LSR. 

Dr. Kirsten Davies from Macquarie’s Department of Law visited LSR on October 03, 2018 to deliver a lecture titled “The Warming War: How Climate Change is Creating Threats to International Peace and Security”. This lecture highlighted the impact of greenhouse emissions in accelerating climate change, insidiously threatening the security of human life on earth. 

On 4th October, 2018 Dr. Peter Postle, HOD ofEconomics at the University of Bath gave a lecture on “Global responsibilities from the market to the individual”. This talk was an introduction to the theme of the Winter School that the University of Bath was planning to hold in LSR in December 2018. 

A delegation from Sciences Po visited the College in December 2018. It was led by Dr. Vanessa Scherrer, Vice President, Sciences Po and included Mr. Enrico Letta, Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs and former Prime Minister of Italy and the representatives of Sciences Po in India, Ms. Sophie Collet and Ms. Neha Khanna. Mr. Enrico Letta gave an extremely thought provoking lecture on “Nation Building in Europe, a Comparison with Asia”which was followed by a stimulating discussion with students. The Sciences Po representatives engaged with the students on application processes, deadlines and post graduation prospects at Sciences Po, and cleared doubts regarding the same. 

Lady Shri Ram College for Women hosted an eight day long Winter School, organized by the University of Bath in December 2018. Titled ‘Global Responsibilities from the Market to the Individual’ the course was open to all undergraduate students and was inter-disciplinary in nature. Taught by faculty from the University of Bath, it included specialists from the disciplines of Economics, Philosophy, History and Political Science. The students carried out different group projects, wherein they learnt about the practical application of what they studied theoretically through lectures and seminars. Dr. Peter Postle, HOD of Economics at the University of Bath was the Guest of Honour at the closing ceremony and students were felicitated for their project work. 

Mr. Danny Pan, Associate Manager, Academic Partnerships, the Summer Institute at OrielCollege, Oxford and the Cambridge Summer Institutevisited the campus on 16th January, 2019 to inform students about summer courses at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He explained about the enrolment process, scholarships and fee discounts offered at the SummerInstitutes.The session was interactive and students asked various questions related to the summer schools. 

Mr. Nilesh Gaikwad from the EDHEC Business School, Paris conducted a session in Lady Shri Ram College on 4th April, 2019. He explained about the process of admission to EDHEC, the fee concessions available to students from LSRand discussed possible help with accommodation for students from LSR who would like to study at the EDHEC Business School. The session was interactive in nature and the students had many queries. 

It is a matter of great pride for the College, that two students from LSR, Pratima Garg and Ms. Harnidh Kaur, have been selected as Schwarzman Scholars from India for 2019-20. This is a prestigious international global scholar’s programme located at Beijing with faculty from all over the world. 

Monash University signed an MoU with LSR for a special scholarship called the “Meenakshi Gopinath and Ann Tickner Scholarship”. This scholarship, is primarily meant for students from LSR wanting to do their Ph.D at Monash Univeristy, Faculty of Arts. 

A number of visitors, both from partner institutions and from institutions looking for partners in India, visited the college and met the Principal. Dr. Jennifer Grafton, Associate Dean (Global Engagement), from the University of Melbourne discussed possibilities of collaboration between LSR and the University of Melbourne. Dr. Lia Roberts, Academic Director, Centre for Global Initiatives, Mount Saint Mary’s University also discussed possible areas of collaboration. Ms. Amanda Stuart and Ms. Cindy Chen from the Summer Institutes of Oxford and Cambridge visited LSR to discuss the possibilities for students from LSR participating in summer courses at these Universities. A number of visitors from La Trobe and Macquarie visited the campus. These included Dr. Jacqueline Millner, Deputy Head of School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Prof. Kerry Krause, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academics and Mr. Kelly Smith Pro Vice Chancellor, International Relations from La Trobe and Prof. Martina Mollering, Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts, Prof. David Wilkinson, Deputy Vice- Chancellor and Ms. Nicole Brigg, Pro Vice- Chancellor, Macquarie University. 

LSR College hosted a number of exchange students in the academic year 2018-19. These included six students from Middlebury College, Maya Norbu, Stephanie Castaneda, Miyo McGinn, Abbey Knight, Gabriella Willingham and Lucy Weiss, Margaret Elizabeth Kyle from the Ontario in India Programme and two students from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Kaushalaya Vijayan Kumaran and Vandhana Jeyaran. While some of the exchange students came for one semester others came on a year-long exchange. 

A number of students from LSR have been nominated for collaborative programmes in Universities abroad. Sharmishtha Singh has been nominated for the Sciences Po Programme in Paris while Reshma Ganesh Babu and Muskan Kushawa have been selected for the Masters Programme at Macquarie University, Australia. Visakha Chowdhury and Charvee Wadhwa have been nominated for the Summer School at NUS while Km. Smiti and Samiksha Purohit have been chosen for the year long exchange programme at Fukuoka University, Japan.