Monsoons are here!
And Voila! it is raining colours. The SWO at BGR organised a series of events and the Colour Week and Magnificat 2021 celebrations peaked the enthusiasm. To learn more about the academic and cultural events of BGR this November, scroll down.
-Director, BGR Campus
" Fear not November's challenge bold- We've books and friends and hearths that never can grow cold: These make amends" - Alexander Loius Fraser
The Colour Week is an event spread across the week where different classes are allotted with different colours as their theme for costumes donning which they are required to perform for 5 mins in the quadrangle as a team. They would then be judged to win the title of the Colour week champions. The event was conducted between 1 to 2 pm from 15 to 20 November 2021.
The flash mob marked the beginning of the week-long event. which was followed by various class performances who had the immense support of two faculty members walking the ramp for them. The colours pink, red, blue, green and white were allotted for each day of the week. The students chose popular songs and opted for dialogue entries to build up the suspense and make their performance unique.. They also had significant participation by the department faculty members. The winners for the week were 5 PSYCH HONS followed by joint runners up 3 PSYCH A and 3 JOUH. The second runners up were 1 BBAH C.
Treasure Hunt: 11th November 2021
The much-awaited Treasure Hunt was conducted on 10th and 11th November 2021 between 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM. The event started at the SWO Office with participants from all the courses of the BGR Campus. The Hunt had hidden messages and clues that had to be decoded or interpreted to move ahead in the game. The students were asked to be prepared to explore the campus like never before. Each class was allowed to send 4 students on their behalf.
The total number of participants was 112 out of which 60 qualified after the preliminary quiz. The preliminary quiz was conducted on 10th November. All the qualifying teams would be eligible to participate in the treasure hunt.
The quiz was then followed by the Treasure Hunt. The cues were fun riddles such as “West meets East in the fusion dish served here” and “Remember how Juliet stood on the balcony and waited for Romeo? This place is a modern spin to that place.” These clues helped the participants explore the campus from the basement to the seventh floor. The threat of elimination made the whole competition very exciting and thrilling.
After a gruelling hour, the winner of the Treasure Hunt was 1 JOUH who was awarded a Hamper. The prize was distributed on 12th November, 2021.
Dance Face-Off:
The Dance Face-off of the fresher’s carnival was divided into two days where all the classes of first and second year were given a song and were required to dance for three minutes. The event was conducted from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM in the main auditorium.
On 10th November, the event started with basic instructions that were to be followed by the participants and the audience. Then an opening video was played which was prepared by SWO media creation. In between the performances, the EMCEEs engaged the audience with questions and gave them chocolates for the right answers. Asst. Professors Suja john and Nivea Thomas were the judges for the day.
The results for the performances were declared on 12th November.
On 12th November, the remaining classes performed. All the classes gave energetic performances on the songs that were given to them. In between the performances faculty members, Asst. Professor Parashurama Kamath and Ms Sindhu of SWO came on the stage to dance and left the whole audience surprised with their performance. After the dance performances ended, both the Director and the Dean addressed the audience and the participants. Dr Priscilla Namrata Rosario and Dr Shyam Hari P were the judges for the day.
The results for both days were announced by Ms Sindhu. For the event on10th November classes 3 BBA T, 3 BBA H D, and 3 BA Liberal Arts secured 1st, 2nd, and 3rd positions respectively. For 12th November, 1 BA Liberal Arts came 1st, 1 BBA H D came 2nd and 3 BBA H A came 3rd. The event ended with the closing video prepared by the SWO media creation team. The event saw the participation of more than 700 students.
In its sixteenth year, Magnificat 2021 promised to be as eclectic as it has been before, with a blend of classical and contemporary Christmas harmonies and strains whipped up and ready to be served for an audience of all ages. It included non-competitive performances by well-known choirs and music groups across Bangalore and our own choirs from CHRIST Bangalore Campuses.
The first day of the event was set to be conducted on Kengeri Campus, Day 2 on the BGR Campus and Day 3 on the Central Campus. Day 1 set the benchmark for the remaining 2 days which was followed by captivating carols and melodies. The Choirs from the colleges presented dazzling performances and bewildered the audience.
The program on Day 2 started with an address by Dr Fr Biju KC who acknowledged that the years have been tough on everyone and addressed the audience with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm. He also thanked the Teachers, the Student Welfare Office, the support staff and the volunteers for their contribution.
The University Choir presented Magnify as the opening song and enthralled the audience with their melody. The first performance was by Kristu Jayanti College who proved that they were highly passionate about music. They sang “A King Is Born” and “Joy to the World” and captivated the audience. The second performance was by Western Music Association, Mount Carmel College. They did not use any instruments but their performance was at par with all the colleges who did. St Joseph’s College performed three carols including joy to the world and Central Campus MPE sang River of Life. The Kengeri Campus had a choir of fifty-two members and dazzled the audience with their performance, especially their version of “Mary Did You Know?” The Central Campus Choir was the largest choir with a hundred and twenty members. They performed “Lord of the Dance” and “Deck the Halls”. The BGR Choir received the most support and cheer. They captivated the audience such that the students gave them a standing ovation. The Program ended with an address by Dr Jyothi Kumar who congratulated everyone on a successful program.
On 2nd November 2021, Econtago organised a guest lecture on the Impact of Farm Laws on the Indian Economy. The guest lecturer, Dr Ajit Ranade, President & Chief Economist - Aditya Birla Group, provided the students with a comprehensive understanding of the different issues and concerns that surround the three new farm laws and their implications for the Indian Economy. He highlighted the potential positive aspect of the laws for farmers in terms of greater economic freedom but also mentioned the necessity of supplementing the laws with other actions and guarantees for a fair and efficient implementation.
The lecture was successful in delivering a thorough and critical understanding of the farm laws and their economic impact as well as giving the students, a background on the Indian agricultural system and its strengths and weaknesses.
The workshop was exclusively designed for the third-semester M.A students of English and Cultural Studies as part of their Translation Studies course. The workshop was organized into three sessions- lecture, interaction with the speaker and hands-on experience in translation.
Dr C.S Venkiteswaran, Film critic, translator and scholar from Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, Trivandrum (Retd. Professor) was the speaker who introduced the key concepts and tools related to subtitling that touched upon the technical, literary, performative and cultural dimensions. He also dealt with various tools and strategies related to subtitling and other media related translations.
On November 9, 2021, Agora, the Political Science and History Association organized a book launch and discussion event. The title of the book was 'Patriarchy and Gender in Africa'. The chief guests for the event were Dr Fr Biju K C, Director, and Dr Jyothi Kumar, Dean, of BGR Campus. The event was organized successfully by student members of the association under the guidance of Dr Shyam Hari P and Dr Priscilla Namrata Rozario.
The event that was held in a hybrid mode was attended by students from the three batches of EPH and EMP. Director, Father Biju and the Dean Dr Jyothi Kumar launched the book and rendered their gracious addresses.
The discussion began with Dr Venkatanarayanan, one of the authors of the book 'Patriarchy and Gender in Africa' giving an overview of the matters discussed in his book. He demonstrated how colonization affected the liberation movement of Africa and hindered its women from gaining freedom from their patriarchal society.
Author/Editor Dr Veronica Bruey began her discussion with a presentation on the book and its contents. She gave the crowd an insight into the evolution of herself as a Feminist, from looking at her mother as a role model to fleeing to Ghana as a refugee and getting educated in Canada through refugee sponsorship. She brushed through the various chapters in the book, their peculiarities, and the story behind each chapter.
This was followed by Dr Valentina Fusari, who enlightened the crowd with her words on patriarchy in Africa and every society. She remarked how a book is a portal to contribute and think about as a case study. She spoke about how Africa was colonized under white males while its people struggled to free themselves from oppression. However, the role of women as policymakers and the death of single, widowed, and migrant women have always been marginalized and pushed aside in the liberation discourse.
The last segment of the event was a question hour session, where the students asked questions to the panellists which were answered with enthusiasm and an intent to share knowledge.
A training session for the Admin staff was conducted on 13th November 2021, by Ms Stella Veigasthe CAPS Mentor In Charge for BGR Campus. The aim of the session was to impart office etiquette and team building through experiential learning and fun activities.
Interpersonal relationships - Acknowledging positive qualities in one another. Making a difference - Assessing what we can give to the others in the team, Teamwork - sharing the load and ACE factors at work - Attitude, Change and Empathy were the key takeaways. The participants were encouraged to make a commitment to change, empathize and work as a team
The millennium fellows from Christ University, BGR Campus, recently graduated on 17th November 2021. They have successfully completed their projects and made a huge impact so far. The following is a brief description of all the projects of our millennium fellows.
Project Vriddhi : Founder: Aishwarya V
Project Vriddhi aims to include gender modules as a part of the current curriculum in government schools. It aims to overcome structural barriers to gender equality through the tool of education through its specific focus on lower strata children. It highlights how the education system is obsolete if it is not well-rounded enough to include societal elements that are considered taboo. What started as an idea between some students soon transformed into a student-led project, Bibliotéach. It aims to advance SDG 4 (Quality education) and UNAI (United Nations Academic Impact Principles) 2 - Capacity building.
Project Pinjra Khol: Founder: Sayee Pawar
Pinjra Khol works towards gender sensitization. The project is working towards SDG 4 and SDG 5. The project aims at inculcating the value of gender sensitivity into the students at an early age. The main target group of this initiative are the underprivileged students who otherwise might not receive proper education in this matter from their homes or school syllabus. It aims to create comprehensive modules covering sex education, gender-discriminatory practices, abuse, casual sexism, patriarchy, and gender-sensitive language
Project Girl Up Mukti: Founder: Malvika Dangwal
Girl Up Mukti is a Bengaluru based branch of the Girl Up Campaign, a United Nations Foundation initiative to empower girls. As part of the project, events ranging from workshops on sustainable fashion to webinars on citizen journalism and menstrual equity are organised. Besides, a regular upload of informational posts on various aspects of the health and wellbeing of women is done. It also aims to work for menstrual equity by providing eco-friendly menstrual hygiene resources to underprivileged menstruators and holding workshops to address the taboo and lack of information around menstruation.
Project Ivory Tower: Co-Founders: Twinkle Adhikari and Sudipta P. Kashyap (3 ECOH)
Envisioned in May 2021, Project Ivory Tower is a non-profit, youth-based think tank aimed at unravelling the truth of life through academic research. It is closely acquainted with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN and relentlessly brings them to reality through creating awareness about pertinent worldwide concerns among the major drivers of social change, the youth. Project Ivory Tower aspires to build a society that is free from all kinds of social discrimination and stigma.
Project Biblioteach
The project was conceived in June 2021 to proliferate the benefits of education across students in India which realised the need for practical education that targeted underprivileged students. What started as an idea between some students soon transformed into a student-led project, that aims to advance SDG 4 (Quality education) and UNAI (United Nations Academic Impact Principles) 2 - Capacity building.
Aishwarya V
Sayee Pawar
Malvika Dangwal
Twinkle Adhikari
A two-day online International Conference was organized by the Department of English and Cultural Studies, Christ University, Bannerghatta Road Campus, Bangalore, India, on Children and Childhood: Imaginaries in Indian and Asian Children’s Literature and Film on 11-12 November 2021.
The objective of the Conference was to shift the focus of debate and discussion in the area of children's narratives to the Asian perspective. It sought to investigate, in both theory and practice, the different and local narratives for and about children and childhood in the Asian environment.
The conference was prefaced by two pre-conference activities on 8 and 9 Nov 2021. A talk by Prof Sundar Sarrukkai on Decolonizing Children and a workshop by Dr Rebecca Parry on 9 Nov 2021 on Children as Storytellers in a Digital Age”
The conference began on 11 Nov 2021 and the convenors Prof Renu Abraham and Dr Sonia Ghalian introduced the conference with their views on the Eurocentric perspective that dominate the academic engagements with children’s literature and how children aren’t exposed to indigenous narratives as much as they are to western narratives. Dr Sonia Ghalian, added to the discussion by talking about the role of children in Indian Cinema and how there is a big gap between scholarship existing in Indian children’s cinema, though it’s one of the most established categories.
Dr Fr Biju K C, Director, Christ University, Bannerghatta Road Campus who emphasized how modern children are storytellers in their own levels. This was followed by an Inaugural Address by Dr John Joseph Kennedy, Dean, School of Arts and Humanities, who explained the impact of media and visual culture on the growing creativity of a child.
The Keynote speaker Professor Sharmani Patricia Gabriel, Department of English, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia delivered her talk on the title “Globalization and Children’s
Narratives: Critical Reflections from Asia” advocated for a two-way route of exchange of cultures between the East and the West and not just a one-way street of imposing Western narratives. The first panel discussion had three discussants, Dr Aneesh Barai, Dr Nozomi Uematsu and Dr Siddharth Pandey. Dr Aneesh Barai and Dr Nozomi Uematsu, University of Sheffield, UK mainly addressed “Japanese Children’s Animation and Literature” and talked about challenging notions of the perceived innocence of a child in Detective Conan and when Marnie was there.
The second day of the conference had a keynote by Dr Nandini Chandra Department of English, University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa who mainly talked about “The Vernacular History of the Child Lumpen.”
Ms Radhika Menon Publisher and Editorial Director, Tulika Children’s Books talked about Representations and Identities and stated that representation is a contentious issue in the publishing sphere. Representational issues in ‘English’ published works – barriers include the language nuances; the class of people work in creation and engagement of the text.
Ms Priya Kuriyan, Illustrator delivered her talk titled Books are Mirrors and mainly talked about the influence of a single perspective engagement when it comes to the production process, a notion that should be contested while Ms Payal dhar, Writer, Inclusion and Identity in Middle Grade/Young Adult Fiction:
Visibility vs Representation discussed the concept of Visibility vs Representation stating that visibility is the act of being seen, but representation encompasses the stories which require to be told. Ms Shilpa Ranade Animator, Professor, IIT Bombay talked about Contextualizing animation and started by giving an introduction to Animation and defined it as an applied art that can be informed by sensitization to art practices, popular contemporary visual culture, local sensibilities which are situated in our ethos.
The Department of Media Studies, CHRIST BGR, organised a workshop on Scripting and Productions Skills for Radio Features and Documentaries on the 22nd of November, 2021. Ms Florine Roche, programme executive at All India Radio, Karwar, conducted the workshop for students across BGR and Central campuses who registered as participants.
Ms Florine Roche explained the history of radio broadcasting in India, including details of how the word, “Akashvani” came into popular usage. Students also got to understand the structure and operation details of All India Radio, and the career
Dr Kumar Pillai Gopukumar delivered a workshop to the 3rd year students of BSc Psychology (Honours) on 20th November 2021, Saturday. Dr Gopukumar is currently a senior Neuropsychologist at the Bangalore Neuro Centre. The topic of discussion was Neuropsychological Assessments.
The workshop started off with an introduction to the basics of neuropsychological assessment, which is a performance-based method to assess cognitive functioning, which would then reveal information regarding any effects of brain damage, brain disease and severe mental illness.
Dr Gopukumar took the students through the role of neuropsychological assessments in tracking developmental changes, monitoring the effects of certain treatments on patients and very interestingly in criminal investigation to provide evidence To develop an understanding of the basic concepts of neuropsychological assessment and the application of some well-known tests. in a legal claim or investigation. Next, the major approaches to neuropsychological assessments were discussed, namely, the standard battery approach and hypothesis testing approach. Further, the practical aspects of using neuropsychological assessments were discussed, along with the approaches to using these tests with different clients.
Dr Gopukumar then introduced some specific assessment batteries and tests which are widely used. Among them were the Digit Vigilance Test, Clock Drawing Test, NIMHANS battery and several others related to crucial functions like memory, attention, learning etc. What made the session truly enriching was the insights that Dr Gopukumar provided in terms of practicality.
Inferno 2021 is the Annual Business Fest hosted by the Christ University School of Business and Management Association (CUSBMA) primarily for the students of the first and second years of Christ University in order to enhance their business acumen and to bring out their business skills forward. Inferno 2021 was conducted in a hybrid manner (both online and offline) from 8th November, 2021 to 11th November, 2021
The theme for Inferno 2021 was ‘Inception of Dharma’ derived from the Bhagvad Gita, which means ‘to find one’s duty’ INFERNO 2021 saw 260+ interested participants. Each event had an average of 16 teams with 6 rounds over the course of 3 days. The event-wise winners were announced by Dr Praveen Babu, Associate Professor, Christ University, Bannerghatta Road Campus. The Chief Guest for the event was Ms Rachna Baruah who threw light upon the importance of acclimatising students to the corporate world through business fests like Inferno. She extended her heartiest congratulations to the winners as well as the participants. Inferno 2021 concluded with the end of the Valedictory Ceremony
CUBSMUN 2021 was conducted from 12 to 14 November 2021 from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM each day. The six committees of the United Nations were stimulated for this conference, namely – the Security Council, Human Rights Council, Economic and Social Council Lok Sabha, Human crisis council, and Office on drugs and crime, with the intention to broadly categorise MUN skills, aptitude and knowledge into militaristic, humanitarian and economic. The conference was conducted on the Microsoft Teams platform for ease in operations.
CUBSMUN '21 acted like a gateway for many who weren't aware of the working of a MUN. It gave a hands-on experience for many first-timers to acquaint themselves with the rules of procedures, research methodology, and resolution formation. The Conference helped build skills such as lobbying, public speaking, diplomacy, analytical skills, and problem-solving skills.
The Lok Sabha committee saw both the opposition and government go head-to-head with each other with the inclusion of vernacular languages which depicted the confidence the delegates had in their speeches, it also shows that language is no constraint for a good debate.
The “Office of Drugs and Crime” committee had a crisis which none of the delegates was prepared for, it came as a surprise to them, but through this process, they were able to improve their quality of speeches and expressions, and were also able to react spontaneously to different situations.
The Security Council Committee saw their delegates very well researched, much to our surprise, which led to a very quick and informative debate.
At the ECOSOC committee, the delegates put their money where their mouth is. The delegates were very well researched and extremely diplomatic which was shown later on with the fact that the committee passed a unanimous resolution with zero negative votes.
The Human Rights Committee had the highest amount of first-timers this year and given the complex agenda, the delegates were able to bring up points that were very relevant and apt. Through this, they were able to improve their public speaking, spontaneous, and research skills.
The conference ended with a closing ceremony on Monday, 14 September 2021. The awardees of all the three committees were announced during this ceremony alongside the Executive Boards’ reasons for their marking. The EB members also spoke a few words about their committees respectively.
The chief guest, Mr Srinivasa Nandgopal, Editor-in-chief of The Law Reporters spoke of the importance of development communications and how the current media only covers news that will attract a huge audience. He mentioned that the word ‘’Journalism’’ did not exist anymore, it has now become the media industry. It is the combination of power and profit that makes up journalism today.
He made the students introspect and realise how important it is to be an actual journalist who covers voices of all kinds. He also emphasized the point that print media will never die, E-media will move forward and digital media will move to the next levels. It is the integration of these three that will make journalism strong. He mentioned that there was a dearth of development journalists.
The Debate was taken over by moderator Asst. Professor Embassy Lawbei of CHRIST BGR campus and the speakers of the debate from each team were chosen consecutively. After the views of each participant from each team, one member from the opponent team raised a question.
Participants from EMP spoke for the motion mentioning points like Lack of accountability of digital media, Digital deforestation, Surveillance capitalism, the misrepresentation prevalent in Digital Media and Trustworthiness of print media, ease of editing news post publishing in digital media.
The participants from Journalism honours also raised arguments and spoke about aspects of print media like advertorials that compromise the credibility and accountability of Print media, Absence of any existing autonomy over the internet as opposed to Print media, thus justifying the credibility of digital media, Institutionalization of credibility in print and democratization of credibility in digital media
After the end of the debate, participants got one question each from the audience. The Judges then took over and expressed their comments regarding the conduct of the debate.
The scores are finally revealed at the end of the event and the winners of the Debate were EMP who scored 256.5/400 against JOUH who scored 247/400.
“Intellectual Property Rights: Patent and Design Process” was a workshop conducted by the Department of Media Studies, BGR campus in association with Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Intellectual Property Management (RGNIIPM), Nagpur. The workshop, held on 25.11.21 helped students develop a broader understanding of the intricacies of patents and design.
Mr Bharat S began the workshop by providing the unacquainted with thorough knowledge about what constitutes an “invention” and an original idea. He spoke about the most common mistakes patent-seekers usually make and how to avoid them. Mr Bharat walked us through the process of filing the application, scrutiny, opposition and finally registration. The long and complex process ensures that only the most legitimate patents and trademarks are recognised. The floor was then for a question-answer session where both students attending online and offline clarified their doubts regarding the topic.
Pràv is a mental health awareness week organized by the Department of Psychology. This week-long event aims at spreading awareness about the importance of mental health by conducting several events, activities, and seminars. This year, Pràv was organized from 9-12 November 2021. The theme for this year was Kintsugi, which represents the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted with powdered silver or gold.
The event started with a power-packed flashmob by all the students in the department followed by the inaugural welcome speech by the honorable Dean of BGR campus, Dr Jyothi Kumar. The carnival commenced in the lunch hour (1-2 PM) and students on the campus indulged in the fun activities that promote mental health. The promotional activities were Per-spire, Two People Two Hands, I believe, Musical Pictionary, Simon Says, Relish Rejoice Retreat, Psychometric Centre and What is the Word?
The core activities such as Blindfolded Conversations, Meditative Reading, CathArtsis, Blindfolded painting, Persona, theatre and therapy, Corner and Comfort, Story(ed) Voices, Time Capsule, postcards and Wheel of Feels were set in motion and Pràv was in full swing, from 10 November 2021.
Later on the second day, a hybrid seminar took place as part of the usual Skill Development and collaboration with Prav. The webinar was conducted by Dr. Grace Priscilla, a counseling psychologist from The Mind Research Foundation. A series of Mindfulness-based activities were conducted, which lasted for about an hour. The core activities took place throughout the week. On 11 November, the activities were followed by a student panel discussion on the topic of the Health post-Covid-19 pandemic, which took place in the mini auditorium. The panel members were students from psychology classes from all three years and the panel was moderated by Dr Vijayalaya Srinivas.
The discussion aimed at throwing light on the mental health of individuals of different age groups, genders, and sexual orientations post the Covid-19 pandemic. Followed by this we organized a workshop from 3-4 PM in the mini auditorium. This Creative Arts workshop was facilitated by Vandana S to mainly teach the students techniques to relieve stress.
On 12 November, a webinar was conducted by the renowned breastfeeding counsellor and sex educator, Swati Jagdish. The webinar shed light on fostering healthy sexual attitudes in young individuals and providing them and their caregivers with the information they need to make sound decisions. Pràv officially came to an end on 13th November 2021, with a valedictory ceremony in the mini auditorium.
Alta Vista is a Flagship Annual National Inter-Collegiate Inter-Disciplinary Fest organized by the Christ University School of Business and Management Association, BGR Campus, Bangalore.
The fest took place on November 18th &19th, 2021. The Two-Day Extravaganza witnessed the coalescence of the finest exponents of critical and creative understanding committees and students compete in a series of virtual events to emerge victoriously. ''Chaos Theory'', the theme of Alta Vista 2021, states that within the apparent randomness of complex, chaotic systems, there are underlying patterns, interconnectedness, constant feedback loops, repetition, self-similarity, fractals, and self-organization.
Alta Vista held a plethora of events namely Travel Tale Teller, Kotler's Quotient, Extasis, Global Guide and Creatix, The inaugural ceremony on 18th November 2021 was graced by Mr Thomas Emmanuel Ramapuram, the guest of honour who serves as the Joint Director – Sales at Evolve Back Resorts which is responsible for selling their properties in Coorg, Kabini & Hampi. Mr Gabriel Santosh, proprietor of Elead Solutions, an enterprise company providing solutions to the Banking, Recruitment, part, and Tourism Industries. was the chief guest for the valedictory ceremony
The guest speaker was Ms Jyoti Dadlani, Psychologist, Behavioural Trainer NLP Practitioner Council Member at WICCI . Different kinds of happiness were discussed in the session, with an informative graph. Understanding how stresses on Mind, Body, Emotions and Behaviour could affect our well-being were highlighted.
She further spoke about two types of mindset, Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset. Different types of stressors and the way they affect our body was explained with demonstrations. She also taught the Jin Shin Jyutsu technique which helps in reducing stress, worries, fear, anger and sadness while helping in becoming happier. There were high levels of participation in all the activities she was conducting.
There are majorly three levels of happiness. Along with time, there was talk about how passionate attendees were about their lives, about their passion for things and gradually shifted to what was stress. There were 3 tasks conducted throughout the session. Furthermore, she gave different strategies on how to cope with stress and deal with it during exam period and before concluding with the Q & A session she conducted an activity asking to relate to an image.
Dr Sonia Baloni Ray, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi was the guest speaker of the session. Dr. Sonia started with her topic by engaging the audience with a small video, which showed synchronised dancing robots. This gave the audience an idea of how far robotics sciences have progressed till date. Then continuing the audience were introduced to the different kinds of robots and its applications towards society. Mainly the robots were categorized into two types, Mechanical and Human-like and their uses involved education, industry, health care and elderly care.
Once the audience got a good idea on robots, their functions and applications, the speaker moved towards the main topic for discussion, i.e ‘The uncanny valley effect’ and discussed about Dr. Masahir Mori, the robotics professor who formulated the concept of the uncanny valley effect. The uncanny valley effect describes the relationship between the human-like appearance of the robotic object and the emotional response it evokes. This relationship was well explained with the help of a graph, where the x-axis displayed the similarity to humans and the y-axis displayed reaction. Next, she spoke about the methodology and the concept of psychophysics used in it. The audience was also made aware of the trial protocol followed in the experiment and the stimuli response between robots and control human.
After a comprehensive explanation about the uncanny valley effect, Dr. Sonia talked about two specific projects, one being the eye tracker study and the second being ‘Uncanny valley effect: an EEG study. These projects talked about the differential facial feature processing, the components associated with face processing, and tried demonstrating the uncanny valley effect. After this the floor was open to questions and the session ended on a positive note with newer perspectives being developed within the students.
Dr Grace Priscilla, Counseling Psychologist of The Mind Research Foundation was the guest speaker of the session held on 9 November 2021. Ms Priscilla began the session with an activity, which received immense participation. She then went on to explain that mindfulness involves the purposeful focus of your attention on the present moment—and accepting it without judgment. Being mindful makes it easier to savour the pleasures in life as they occur, helps you become fully engaged in activities, and creates a greater capacity to deal with adverse events. She discussed the neural pathways which are benefited due to mindfulness. She explained the two types of mindfulness, formal and informal. She even provided breathing exercises to keep students calm before an exam. She said, “To prepare for exams, start early instead of cramming the last day. Exercises like 4-7-4, drawing a maze, etc can help with relaxing.” The session was insightful and informative.
The guest speaker of the session was Dr. L. Sam S. Manickam, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Gestalt therapy trainer and Director of Wellness and Mental Health Triquetra Healthcare and Technology Pvt. Ltd.,
The presentation started with the ‘Gestalt Prayer’, which was composed by Fritz Perls, whom we extensively discuss later on in the presentation. A successive couple of slides entails an introduction to the concept of Gestalt Psychology and what it’s all about, in brief. Gestalt is a word derived from the German language, which means ‘whole’, or ‘configuration’. Once the need of the client is fulfilled, the Gestalt is marked complete and the individual is free to move on to address new needs. Next, the audience was introduced to people who have contributed to the Gestalt concept, also known as the ‘core people’. Fritz Perls, Ralph Hefferline, and Paul Goodman are considered to be the founders/pillars of Gestalt Psychology.
The term ‘Gestalt Therapy’ was first coined in 1949, and was originally developed by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman, as an experimental, evidence-based approach - a holistic approach that includes the relevant features of a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects. It was perceived as a “shared worldview”. The session continued to discuss Anxiety and Gestalt Therapy - how anxiety is not a pathology that can be simply eliminated., Awareness, Unfinished Business, Responsibility, Dialogue, Contact and their relation to Gestalt Therapy and Concept of the person in Taitiriya Upanishad - the hierarchy of the ‘kosas’
The Nasha Mukth Bharath Abhiyaan which was held on 30 November 2021, had Mr Arun Hebbar, Mr Ganesh Acharya, Mr Shri Kumar and Mrs Sharadha as the guest speakers from Shri Kshetra Dharamsthala Rural Development Project Jana Jagrathi Vedike, Bangalore. The event was conducted to spread awareness about substance abuse and its dreadful repercussions on its consumers. The Chief Resource person talked about the initiative that comes under the purview of his project and the measures they adopt to tackle the growing concerns of substance abuse. A short movie that was shown to the audience shed ample light on the ramifications of consuming drugs.
This was followed by a real account that was presented by a survivor and his wife. The couple who braced the event with their presence talked about their struggle and their journey out of the abysm of life. But the assistance given by S.K,D,R,D.P BC Bangalore, enabled him to De-addict himself, and eventually, the family prospered.
'Arthotsav 2021' was held between 23 to 25 November 2021. The valedictory ceremony was held on 29 November 2021. Arthotsav, the flagship inter-disciplinary fest organised by the Department of Economics, was designed specifically to engage the first-year students in a competitive setting and hone their critical and creative frame of mind for dialogue, debate and application. The theme for the fest was ‘The Bandwagon Effect’, which is a psychological impulsion acting on members of society to behave in a way that conforms to ideas, beliefs and/or trends only because their peers are also involved.
The event Baby Shark Doo Doo tested the participants’ efficient use of budget, creativity in the presentation, creativity in the marketing strategies, originality of marketing strategies, and successful bandwagons. The Rational Conundrum aimed to evoke creativity and put economic skills to the test to understand markets and consumers better. The main purpose of the event Space of Secrets was to better understand world events, gather a greater understanding of the bandwagon effect and develop good analytical skills. The participants of the event Street Law benefitted from gaining exposure to a legal setting and improved their communication and debating skills. Along with this, they also learned to analyse and evaluate situations. Scorching the Slot provided participants with an opportunity to be in the shoes of great economists and challenge each other’s formulated theories. Through the use of humour, the students were able to support their arguments and counter existing theories. Cryptomania aimed to test the student’s knowledge of cryptocurrency through rounds that tested their entrepreneurial skills and ideas, reasoning skills, logic and innovation.
The Valedictory Ceremony marked the culmination of the 3-day fest and was organised in the Main Auditorium of CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bannerghatta Road Campus. It began with a welcome address by the Association’s Secretary, Rittika Dasgupta and speeches by the Director, Father Biju K.C. and the Dean, Dr Jyothi Kumar. The Chief Guest for the day was Mrs. Preine Pereira, founder and CEO of Palasa, who graciously gave away the awards to the winners and shared her insights on starting a business and the challenges that come with it. After the announcement of the winners, the ceremony came to an end with the Vote of Thanks, given by Kumar Sarthak, the Association’s Treasurer
A field visit was organized for the students who opted for the elective course Cultural Disability Studies (BMEC342) to two museums in the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore on Saturday, 27 November 2021. A total of 15 students participated in the visit and were accompanied by two faculty members. After learning about the representation and production of discourses on disability in cultural artefacts, this visit was envisioned as an activity to expose students to how discourses on disability (specifically those related to mental health) are produced by medical science.
The Library of CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bannerghatta Road Campus (BGR Campus) celebrated National Library Week from 2 November 2021 to 4 December 2021, displaying books on various subjects. It displayed a total of 3,623 books after circulating posters to all the staff and students of the campus, who actively took the opportunity to get 547 books issued during the display.
Going by the tally, the library displayed 734 books on subjects like Journalism & Media Studies, Psychology, Social Science and Political Science during the first week, where 18 faculties and 46 students visited.
A total of 955 books were displayed on subjects like Economics, Mathematics, Geography and History during the second week of November. The second display held from 10 to 16 November witnessed the presence of 18 faculty and 140 students. The third week was devoted to books on Language, Literature and Arts, displaying 837 books visited by five faculties and 80 students.
The fourth week of book display started on the 24 November and concluded on 4 December 2021, displaying 1097 books on Tourism and Management. There were 63 students and seven faculties who visited the concluding part of the display.