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At Krea University, we believe in a holistic approach to education we call interwoven learning, based on a set of guiding principles we see as essential for a transformative and cutting-edge college experience.
Every Major at Krea will be writing intensive, interdisciplinary, and research based; focus on ethics and the historicity of different ideas, concepts, and practices; provide immersive experiences; develop awareness of data analytics and the impact of rapidly evolving technologies on disciplines and communities; and raise questions about different domains of knowledge and their relationship to the world in which we live.
The School of Interwoven Arts and Sciences (SIAS) at Krea University awards BA, BSc, BA (Honours), BSc (Honours) and PhD degrees. The programmes are designed to offer both breadth and depth, with a range of Majors and Electives. All Majors and Minors are housed in the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, Division of Literature and Arts, and Division of Sciences, respectively. The students will complete the required and elective courses towards the Major, in accordance with the guidelines provided in each individual Major description. They will also be encouraged to choose cognate and/or elective courses in other disciplines. These additional courses may fulfil the requirements of a Minor, or simply reflect the breadth of disciplinary knowledge available at Krea. A maximum of two courses may be double-counted. In addition, Krea students will complete a collaboratively taught Core course, and Capstone project/thesis in their final year.
The Business Studies Minor at Krea introduces a student to the basics of business operations and entrepreneurship. Building on the guiding principles of Interwoven philosophy, this minor particularly addresses real-world concerns and problem-solving.
Economics, more than a study of numbers, is a key to unlocking profound insights. From guiding everyday decisions to forecasting global ramifications, Economics empowers us to fathom the intricate dance between economic activities and the multifaceted layers of historical evolution, social & cultural norms, technological developments, as well as political, legal, and economic institutions. Join us, and let Economics be your compass in navigating the complexities of the world, equipping you with the knowledge and skills essential for informed decision-making and a nuanced understanding of our interconnected global landscape.
Know More>>Globally, the functioning and perpetuation of large economies are predicated mainly on utilising natural resources to power growth. With a focus on continuous growth, measured in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and similar indices, economic systems continue to exert pressure on finite resources contained within environmental systems. Scenarios that promote a ‘business as usual’ approach are increasingly being recognised as inimical to social and environmental concerns, thereby paving the way for ideologies such as green growth, de-growth, and the green new deal.
Know More>>Exploring human cultures and civilisations over the past six thousand years, history opens up our minds to how human beings have produced habitats in a variety of environmental settings; organised social and political institutions; accounted for the mysteries of life through religious and scientific narratives; and finally, explained change in human existence.
Philosophical inquiries often begin in moments of wonder, doubt, reflection, and curiosity. Philosophical training sharpens our critical thinking ability, power of imagination, and our capacity for innovation. Learning the process of conducting meta-inquiry along with a concrete engagement with real-world issues makes philosophy students reflective and innovative learners. The Minor in Philosophy is committed to global philosophical traditions and practices.
The study of politics illuminates the ways human communities forge a common life through their ideas, interests, institutions, and collective social practices. It seeks an understanding of power in its multiple embodiments, and in relationships between groups and classes, and between citizens and the state.
History or historicity does not merely serve as a backdrop to politics. Similarly, politics is not merely a lens to look at history. Nor is it simply a provider of certain conceptual elements like the state which populate history. Through the Politics and History Joint Major, students can navigate several dimensions of politics and history in an interdisciplinary manner without compromising the conceptual and empirical rigour belonging to each subject area.
Sociology and Social Anthropology serve as an interwoven umbrella, accommodating multiple perspectives: sociology investigates the structural and systemic; social anthropology focuses on the experiential and the everyday; psychology engages with human behaviour; human geography studies the interactions between land, communities, and the environment; economics explores collectively accepted exchanges in society (barter, cash, services); history connects the past with the present; and politics analyses power relations and their effects at various levels.
From microscopes to binoculars, from gene sequences to organisms, from molecules to ecosystems – welcome to the study of biological sciences across scales of life. The Biological Sciences Major at Krea examines the genesis of the various constituents that compose the biological sciences as we understand them today. While there is no historical vector of small to large, or vice versa, we will see how contemporaneous discoveries on the one hand, and theoretical and socio-historical considerations on the other, have had considerable reciprocal influence, for example, genetics and the theory of evolution.
What is the stuff of everything? From the functioning of the neurons in our brain to the origin of life on earth, from the medicines that we take to the new batteries that will power futuristic electric cars, nature and society are incomplete without chemistry. Knowledge of chemistry is essential for biology and biochemistry, and in specific areas of earth science, astronomy, physics, and engineering.
Who can deny that computer science has played a fundamental role in shaping modern society? Technologies we take for granted today seemed like the stuff of science fiction even decades ago. And at the current rate of technological progress, the science fiction of today could well be the everyday reality of tomorrow. The central tenets and principles of computer science lie at the heart of many of these technological shifts.
Know More>>The multi-disciplinary BSc (Honours) programme in Data Science at Krea intends to prepare students for several cutting-edge opportunities in the design and development of specialised data analytics tools and services for many real-world problems cutting across several domains including business, computational sciences, humanities, and social and political sciences. This Data Science programme is rigorous, with an interdisciplinary flavour that builds on the mathematical foundations of computing, complemented by hands-on experience through project work mentored by faculty to address some of the key problems in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), computational and data sciences with applications in computational sciences, computer vision, digital agriculture, econometrics, e-commerce, environmental studies, finance, medical imaging, supply chain management, etc.
Know More>>What do we mean by “environment”? Understanding the relationship between humans and the environment has arguably never been as crucial as it is in today’s complex world. To consider this relationship is to respond to an immediate call of conscience in the wake of the constant depredations that the environment faces every day, chiefly on account of us, the human species.
Mathematics has been a fundamental domain of human thought, imagination, and creativity for thousands of years, across a variety of cultures. Today, mathematical concepts have not only applications in mathematics, but also across extraordinarily large number of disciplines, including the physical, natural, and social sciences; engineering; data science; business; and finance.
How do we understand nature in all its dimensions, on scales ranging from the tiniest subnuclear constituents of matter to the largest, namely, the cosmos? Physics, among the natural sciences, provides us with the most fundamental conceptual frameworks to get insights into the working of nature. Its principles provide the basis for almost every branch of Science and Engineering, and its ideas are applied even in fields as varied as Economics, Finance, and Environmental Science. Being a subject of such fundamental significance, a knowledge of the methods, techniques, and applications of Physics will enrich your perspective and outlook in whatever area you choose to pursue in future.
Know More>>Psychology at Krea is in the Division of Sciences, because it is envisaged as a discipline anchored in scientific inquiry and critical thinking in the behavioural sciences.
Students will be taught to plan, design and conduct research, analyse data and interpret them. Research methods training will span both qualitative and quantitative approaches, with skill development in software packages of R and Nvivo. Taken together, these will also form the lab component of the course. An understanding of the scientific method and psychological theories form the core, while self-reflexivity, relational self, narrative approaches form the skills part of the course.
What is the task for the arts? Does art merely gratify our emotional experience or can it fundamentally alter our behavioural patterns? How is artistic activity related to creativity and learning? Can art have relevance and function and remain a creative pursuit? What is the role of an artist in society? (How) Do we sustain indigenous, local and regional art practises in a globalised, inter-connected world?
Why do we read what we read? What are the historical processes that constitute what we think of as “great” literature? Instead of taking the idea of literature and the language of its access as fixed and granted, the Krea Literature Major investigates the concept of literature, the formation of literary canons, and the idea of text. It also explores the cultural processes and technologies of circulation that bring reading materials to readers and what heterogeneous readers do with them.
The Joint Major in Literature and the Arts provides a coherent and well-supported program of study that reaches across disciplinary lines. In a dismantling of disciplinary thinking in which literature and the arts are studied in silos, we claim the vital interconnectedness of the two through the Joint Major.
Joint combinations are decided by the Krea SIAS faculty. Such decisions will be made on the basis of intellectual rationale, faculty interest / availability as well as the existing research hubs.
Joint Majors will not be offered for the 2025 academic year. However, any two subjects offered as majors can still be combined to obtain a Double Major for the 2025 academic year.
At Krea University, our mission is to foster a sense of curiosity and intellectual adventure among college learners. We seek to equip our students with confidence, purpose, and capacity for creative and critical thinking – for reflection and discernment – in their first year, through the initial three trimesters of Core and Skills courses. This first-year curriculum, built on Krea’s unique interwoven learning model, will help every student identify the Major that most excites them and best suits their career and life interests. It will also provide a window into college-level academic inquiry in a range of disciplines. Students will choose a Major in their second year after they complete eleven Core and Skills course requirements at Krea.
The faculty mentor assigned to each individual student in the first trimester will engage regularly with the student in an advisory role to help both with the choice of Major and in creating an academic action plan for the student for the next three years. All Majors and Minors are housed in the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, Division of Literature and Arts, and Division of Sciences, respectively. The students will complete the required and elective courses towards the Major in accordance with the guidelines provided in each individual Major description. They will also be encouraged to choose cognate and/or elective courses in other disciplines. These additional courses may fulfill the requirements of a Minor, or simply reflect the breadth of disciplinary knowledge available at Krea. A maximum of two courses may be double counted. In addition, Krea students will complete a collaboratively taught Core course, as well as a Capstone Project/Thesis in their final year.
Core Courses give students the necessary broad-based exposure to a range of subjects and help them discover their true passion and interest to choose appropriate concentrations in the 2nd year
This course will pivot on concepts organised by module, each containing interconnected sequences that navigate reading, writing, thinking, and meaning-making in literature, visual arts, and performance to train perspective in literature and the arts. This introductory course will unpack the following key concepts – representation, form, and performance. These concepts will frame our exploration of ideas and techniques fundamental to literature and the arts.
This course will provide an introductory perspective on mathematics to help acquaint us with the basic elements of mathematical reasoning. It will also explore mathematics as an academic and social phenomenon, both its historical aspects and the role of mathematics in shaping the modern world. The course will consist of two modules: elementary number theory and probability theory.
This introductory course will draw upon disciplines such as economics, history, politics, and sociology to introduce students to ways of seeing and thinking as social scientists do. The readings in the course will help examine the building blocks of society; ask if history is primarily about the past or if it is shaped by current political interests and cultures of economy; and closely study some networks of power that permeate the realms of the social and historical.
This introductory course is about the special joy to be derived from a systematic way of approaching natural and social phenomena in order to understand them. For instance, we will look at common reasoning strategies – exploration, query, logic, data acquisition and analysis, model building, testing, and interpretation. We will also see how these measurable ways of knowing are often accompanied by ways of thinking that are harder to quantify – ingenious guess, serendipity, and the use of analogies.
Philosophical thinking across cultures originated in response to questions basic to existence that are at the heart of humanity. Whether these are questions about knowledge, beauty, emotion, life or death, these big ideas can be addressed in a systematic way by methods of philosophical enquiry that include phenomenology, logic, hermeneutics and debate. These methods of examining processes of acquiring knowledge, known as epistemology, will be central to the course.
The twenty-first century belongs to the creative individual. This course will provide multiple perspectives on what it means to be creative. Through immersions, experiences, projects, and case studies, we will work on ways to tap creative potential. In class, we will tease out different approaches to creativity – cultural, cognitive and expressive – that work across disciplines and practices. The course will involve hands-on work on creative projects that will culminate in an end-term display.
This course introduces students to the inter-disciplinary, multi-faceted field of environmental studies. Much of human affairs are embedded in and shaped by dynamic ecological factors at various scales. Conversely, cultural and political factors and the organization of the economy shape the environment and our relationship to it. The course examines scientific, historical, political and socio-cultural dimensions of environmental problems and concerns. The course aims to provide a transdisciplinary angle into ecological phenomena and dynamics and introduce some key concepts.
These courses complement the Core Courses, teaching specific, marketable skills that are relevant and useful to the student’s education and career path
Writing and speaking are two ways to express thought. Logical, complex, and agile thinking presented clearly and memorably characterises good writing and articulate oral communication. To learn how to write and speak with conviction and grace, we will read and hear from exemplary writers and speakers. The premise of this course is that careful listening and attentive close reading are important to good writing.
Computers and computer-driven technologies are everywhere in our lives. We use them without knowing very much about them. But different people use computers differently; for instance, a musician, a physicist, a writer, and a designer will have very different uses for computers. This course will be an opportunity for us to explore how computer science utilises thinking in logic, mathematical reasoning, ethics, and design.
Ours is an age of data explosion. In this introductory course we will learn to navigate the world of data to understand how it can be made into a valuable source for what we can know even as we learn to tell its disingenuous use. This course will offer training in collecting, eyeballing, cleaning, and validating data as foundations of data analysis.
Design thinking is a set of iterative processes that seeks to innovate the provisioning of products or services. It involves leveraging cognitive, strategic, and practical goals empathetic to user needs. This course will broaden the conventional scope of design thinking by explicitly focusing on the environmental and social impacts of design. We will critically evaluate cases of contemporary design thinking in terms of their goals, and the environmental, ecological, and social outcomes that they produce.
How do we choose right from wrong? How do we as individuals lead an ethical life? In this introductory course, we will probe the ethical contexts present in our lives as individuals and members of communities. We will briefly explore ethics as a field of philosophic thought before moving on to applied ethics where we will learn about the ethics of science and technology, environment ownership, property, and profit.
Learn by Doing
Chosen elective courses allow a student to explore the curriculum, make connections between disciplines, and develop new academic interests over time. Such a combination of breadth and depth prepares each student for what they wish to pursue post Krea University.
Capstone thesis projects aren’t mandatory for all students. These projects can be either individual student projects or group projects, and they are written in the student’s final year. This will be done under the supervision of a faculty member.
Faculty at Krea will continuously and rigorously evaluate students using multiple touch points such as quizzes, class participation, short exams, papers and final exams. No course will have a single unit of assessment to determine the entire course grade. Faculty will have the flexibility to decide on the structure depending on the subject.
For each course, in addition to a grade that will appear on the official transcript, there will also be a “subjective assessment” of the student’s “learning habits” and other intangible aspects of a student’s performance in the course.
Advanced studies in the 4th year (optional) – Students will have an option to continue in the fourth year to take more advance courses within their major, more advanced interdisciplinary courses, and do an individual research thesis.
Across the three- or four-year studies, students will undertake distinctive activities, designed to make their journey at Krea University more holistic, inspirational and stimulating.
Students will be exposed to a range of activities such as lectures, seminars, performances, recitals by upcoming and eminent scholars and artistes. These are designed to help develop a strong sense of the aesthetic and have intellectual interests and interactions outside of the classroom.