On pursuing an open course in Environmental History
Simi K. Salim
Final Year Degree, English
The inter-disciplinarity lurking beneath the very syllabus- enabling the student to experiment upon a wider arena encompassing multiple disciplines within the broader frame work of ‘History’. Contemporary pertinence of the course is a cardinal feature which drives students towards the discipline. Aids the students in developing an eco-sensitive approach, and mould them to critically scrutinize ‘the highly mechanized/reductionist view’ which govern the modern realm. This ‘sensitivity ‘moves beyond the academic paradigm, and reflects within the very attitude of the student, essentially bridging the gap between theory and praxis.[The course and its ethos extends beyond the prescribed syllabus] Environmental History within Indian context-the ‘Indian context’ is pertinent here. Upon re- reading the course within a Post colonial discourse/Third world scenario, its nuances are definitely anti-imperialist and anti-corporate exposing the ripples beneath the White male-ist gazes by offering an objective/academic critique of development envisioned and systematically monitored by the West. The course offers an academic resistance [and even moves beyond at times, to a ‘gendered resistance’ or ‘a subaltern angst’!] to the disruptive development put forth by the corporate lawn-this resistance within a ‘Third world class room’ has deeper connotations-when the academic circle and higher educational system is at the pinnacle of being engulfed by a globalised/highly privatized corporate tycoons.
