INNOSKILL Social Spectrum by FBSS during Innoskill 2022
Faculty of Behavioural and Social Science, MRIIRS, organized INNOSKILL Social Spectrum recently during INNOSKILL 2022. The event included a series of events related to society and our actions towards society. The events were designed for the participants to enhance their psychological, political, and economic knowledge. Therefore, a different spectrum of society and social sciences was demonstrated through workshops, fun activities, and competitions. There were three events, namely Janapada, Auction, and Flock Together. The live telecast of the event was on Facebook. Fifty participants were there to attend, along with the faculties from Social and Political Studies, Applied Psychology, Economics, FBSS, and MRIIRS.
Prof. (Dr.) Anandajit Goswami, Director, FBSS, and Head, Department of Social and Political Studies, FBSS, MRIIRS, welcomed all the participants by giving his expectations of the event. He explained the meaning of ‘Social Spectrum’ by introducing the vision and mission of FBSS, which has different disciplines like sociology, political sciences, liberal arts, economics, and applied psychology. He introduced the nitty-gritty of the event and explained the more considerable significance of Innoskill in general and the social spectrum in particular.
The first event, ‘Janapada,’ started with a dialogic session between Dr. Vishal Sagar with the participants on the Myanmar conflict related to refugees and their lives during the transition. The event moved forward and took a new turn with the story of a village girl, ‘Babita,’ narrated by Dr. Bhavna Kataria. It raised many social issues related to the girl child, right to education, gender discrimination, etc. These narratives introduced students to the broad ‘spectrum’ of the social sciences and simplified complex concepts like social construction of gender, peace and conflict studies, etc. Ms. Anima Puri encouraged participants by giving the real-life example of Late (Ms.) Kalpana Chawla was an Indian-born American astronaut and mechanical engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. These stories were accompanied by musical performances by Mr. Dhruv Gautam on guitar and Professor (Dr.) Anandajit Goswami on vocals aimed at bringing together lived experience, affect, social science, and stories into one coherent whole.
The participants were thrilled when Dr. Manisha Nayyar and Dr. Sunetra Ghatak started the ‘Auction.’ This was a competitive activity where various consumer goods were being shown to the participants with the expectation of guessing the price. This was a wonderful experience to learn the students’ perspectives on the various categories of goods they use in their daily activities. Some basic economics concepts were also discussed during the fun game to make participants understand their rationality and choice.
Last but not least, the ‘Flock Together’ activity was conducted by Dr. Khusboo and Ms. Mitakshara Medhi with the help of soft music in the background. It was a mindfulness practice through ‘guided imagination’ to develop self, stress management, and some positive insight. It was liked by all participants and also enhanced their cognitive skills.
Dr. Sunetra Ghatak concluded by thanking everyone for coming and proposing a vote of thanks as a closing remark.