New Delhi, July 22, 2021: The tenth batch of the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University, consisting of 188 Fellows, graduated and received their Postgraduate Diplomas in Liberal Studies at a virtual Convocation ceremony. As a result of the pandemic, this was the first instance of a fully virtual academic year at the YIF.
Speaking at the Convocation, Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University, Professor Malabika Sarkar said, “This batch is unique as each Fellow was determined to join this Fellowship programme at the height of the pandemic. They will be role models for future batches and will be remembered as a batch that defied Covid-19. I believe that the transformative experience and guidance from the outstanding faculty that this programme provides has promoted critical thinking and created a deep impact on the Fellows.”
Going ahead, many Fellows will be attending international programmes for further studies at institutions such as: Sciences Po, Paris, Yenching Academy, Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS), Berklee College of Music, University of Konstanz, Paris School of Economics, The Graduate Institute, Geneva, among others. Several Fellows from the batch will stay on for the Masters of Liberal Studies (MLS) programme at Ashoka.
Fellows have been recruited by leading organizations in banking and finance, consulting, media and advertising, pharmaceuticals, the social sector, etc. A total of 117 companies including Axis Bank, Boston Consulting Group, Dasra, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, Dr.Reddy’s, Egon Zehnder, Genpact, Infoedge, Quality Council of India, Tata AIG and Zomato recruited from this batch.
Convocation Chief Guest, Dr. Rukmini Banerji, CEO, Pratham Education Foundation, in her keynote address said, “We have been through a very peculiar time and it has been a strange year, but in many ways, strange years actually teach us more. In the last year and a half, students, Fellows, professors and the establishment, have scrambled to learn new ways of doing things. While some of the things we were pushed into, there were certain other things we wondered why we had not done before. I actually think that this batch of the Young India Fellows is going to be a stronger cohort than the previous ones because of the experiences they have been through”.
While congratulating the Fellows, Aniha Brar, Dean, YIF also acknowledged the efforts of the faculty who reworked and redesigned their courses to make the most of the online learning environment. “It is a testament to their efforts and that of the TAs that Fellows not only learnt well, but have also opened new academic and professional avenues, inspired by that learning”, said Dean Brar.
The YIF trains young individuals from India and abroad to become socially-conscious leaders and change-makers of the 21st century. It is a one-year fully-residential multidisciplinary programme in the liberal arts. Fellows have to take around 20 courses from different disciplines and areas of study. These courses are taught by renowned faculty from Ashoka University and other leading global institutions.
For more information and to apply, please visit yif.ashoka.edu.in
