How To Choose The Right Subject Combinations In Humanities?

Case Study: Kangana is confused about the course she wants to choose as a major in college. A humanities student, she has given the CUET and is awaiting the admissions process. She thought of pursuing political science, but her school did not offer the course in her high school and now she is feeling stuck at college. She is wondering if she can pursue political science as a minor at the undergraduate level. She is confused and lost. There are many of you like Kangana who are confused as to what next and simply take one step at a time. But knowing your options well beforehand can help make right decisions.

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Humanities is a vast subject area and there are many options and courses available for a student to choose from. The popularly known as the Bachelor of Arts or BA course is offered at various state and Central universities. However, universities like Delhi University offer you a great deal of flexibility in the courses that you can opt for. Similar courses are offered in other universities like the Liberal Arts programme at Ashoka University. Having many choices is great but sometimes, it makes the task of choosing the right options more difficult at times. So, how to select your majors or subjects you want to specialise in? How to select the minor subjects or the ones you study to broaden your horizons or scope of understanding?

What are Majors and Minors?

A Major is a subject you choose to specialise in. You would take more papers and need to earn more credits to major in a subject. A Minor is a secondary specialisation and helps you expand your interest and possible scope for the future. You do fewer courses to earn credits for a minor in comparison to a major. Humanities offers an array of courses that you can major in. These include languages, economics, political sciences, anthropology, sociology, statistics, computer applications, sociology etc.

The National Education Policy (NEP) guidelines facilitate a student to major in any subject that they are already familiar with, and to pursue even a new subject as a minor. For instance, if a student has studied political science in Class XI and XII and gives the CUET, they can opt for a major in political science. They can also opt for it, if they are keen and give the CUET for political science even if they have not pursued the subject at school. The key is that you need to be familiar with the subject to commit it as your major specialisation and this could be either through your school curriculum or through the CUET exam.

As per the NEP guidelines you may opt for a Minor that you may not be familiar with at all in school. For instance, a student who majors in psychology can opt for a minor specialisation in economics even if they have not studied economics earlier. However, at some universities, like Ashoka, you need to have a good Maths background to pursue economics as a Major or Minor subject. The advantage of a minor specialisation lies in expanding the scope for future studies.

Core Subjects and Electives

Core subjects are compulsory papers that all students pursuing a specific Major need to complete. These are subjects specific and vary as per the subjects you have opted for.

Electives are optional or subjects based on your choice and preferences. A college or university will offer you a pool of electives to choose from for each semester. Some of these electives may be related to your major or discipline, and some may be interdisciplinary or skill based.

Ask Yourself These Questions Before Choosing Your Subjects

The basic question remains; how do you choose a subject as a Major specialisation? Shared below are a few questions you could reflect on before you choose your college major.

• Does the subject hold your interest?

• Do you want to carve a career in this subject?

• Can you see a further study plan, or a career path based on your college major?

• What is your assessment of the difficulty level of the course? If it is moderate and not too high, is it usually a good choice for you?

• Which colleges offer the major specialisation you are looking for? How is the college atmosphere, logistics, teaching philosophy etc?

• What is the feedback of seniors from this course?

It would help for you to note down your answers to the above questions and reflect on the same before you finalise your major.

A related question is, how do you choose a subject as a Minor specialisation? Shared below are a few tips and questions for you to reflect on:

• What are the merits of this minor subject? Is it a likely second career or course choice?

• What is your feedback from seniors or batchmates who pursued this minor course earlier?

• What is the overall load of this minor course in terms of credits, course work?

• Is it being offered in your college of choice? If not, which are the colleges or centres for study that you need to visit to pursue the minor subjects?

The choice of courses available and the flexibility it provides varies from one university to another and from a private to a government university too. Shared below are some guidelines or information pertaining to a government university like Delhi University.

As per the revised NEP guidelines, a college can offer several courses as electives or minors for students based on their departments or teaching competencies. However, students can choose a minor that may be offered in a different college too. This provision is being made available in Delhi university and is likely to be available in other colleges too. However, how these will be implemented is yet to be seen. Very often students prefer to stick with minor subjects offered in their parent college as it makes the process less cumbersome. Different subject combinations can empower you with a great degree of flexibility, allowing courses of your choice. The challenges lie in implementation, scheduling, and provision of competent faculty for the courses.

Private Universities

The guidelines for subject combinations offered and electives are different for private universities. For example, the Integrated Arts programme at Ashoka has a compulsory foundation course that includes a mix of arts, maths, and science subjects. These courses are common for all students and the objective is to help students acquire a broad understanding of many different courses.

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Thereafter, all disciplines offer elective courses that are available to students of other departments. The choice of electives is shared every semester and students opt for courses based on their interest, study load and possible future prospects.

Students who want to major or minor in Economics are encouraged to study Maths in Class XI and XII in school. Alternatively, they are asked to take Maths Aptitude tests and score well in the same.

Students can opt for both Science and Liberal arts courses as their minor specialisations and accumulate the credits they need for the liberal arts degree. An additional fourth year is offered for those interested in research and academic writing.

Universities like Krea University offer Joint Major courses in subjects like History and Politics, Economics and Environmental Sciences, Literature and Fine Arts etc. They also offer an undergraduate course with a major in Social Studies that covers a broad range of topics in Humanities.

Most private universities have dedicated professionals helping students make choices amongst their major subjects and minor subjects over the period of three years. Students are advised to consult their academic supervisors or counsellors to gain a better understanding of the courses offered and how they may help them in the future.

As a student, you are in the most exciting times in history where you can choose from a wide variety of courses, electives, and skills enhancement courses. This provides a complex and integrated structure for you to flexibly take your career in different directions. The challenges lie in understanding yourself, your needs, interests, aspirations, and work stamina so you can choose a combination that weaves magic into your life and work.

Take for instance Raunak, a student of BA in Sanskrit and is one of the few students who is majoring in Sanskrit and considering a minor in Psychology. He is facing a bit of resistance at his unconventional request; however, he is keen to try and attend classes for both even if they are conducted in different colleges. In case he is unable to take Psychology, his second preference is Computer Science or Technology for a minor course.

So, keep reflecting on what you would like to do, learn, and become. Experiment and attend a few classes to see if your choice of minors aligns with your perspective. Make sure your major subject is something you are familiar with or have studied before. Choose with a calm mind and allow the freedom of choice to become a boon!

The author is a Career and Life Coach who works with teens, adults and returning professionals to help them find alignment in their careers and lives. After working for over two decades, she founded LifeVidya in 2019 and has worked with hundreds of students, professionals, and women. She can be reached at www.lifevidya.in.

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