'Overrepresentation of Western ideas': No Kashmir, Palestine in DU psychology syllabus

Time of India

03-05-2025

NEW DELH: Several key topics, including the Israel-Palestine conflict,
issue and suicides linked to dating apps, were allegedly removed from DU's psychology syllabus proposal during a meeting of the
Standing Committee on Academic Matters
held Friday.
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Faculty members present at the meeting claimed the chair of the committee, Prof Shri Prakash Singh, objected to what he called an "overrepresentation" of Western thought and insisted on replacing Unit 4 of the 'Psychology of Peace' paper.
Panel to rework DU psychology syllabus, bring new proposal
The paper covered the Israel-Palestine and Kashmir conflicts, with Indian epics like the Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita.
According to them, he said 'Kashmir is resolved' and 'we don't need to teach Israel-Palestine'.
Another proposal to include the psychology of dating apps under the digital media section was struck down by the committee chair, who argued that 'our Indian family system is strong' and there is no need to adopt 'Western ideas'. This was despite Urmi Nanda Biswas, head of department, psychology, arguing that understanding dating apps is vital in light of recent suicides linked to their misuse, the faculty members claimed.
Other topics objected to include the
Minority Stress Theory
and the psychology of Diversity. While some committee members stressed the importance of teaching about caste discrimination, misogyny and prejudice in Indian society, they alleged the chair dismissed such topics as overly negative.
There was no immediate response from Prof Singh. Biswas could not be reached for a comment.
'It is concerning that the autonomy of the department seems to be overlooked, as the chair's actions appear to be politically motivated and represent unwarranted interference in academic decision-making,' said Dr Monami Sinha, a member of the Academic Council and the Standing Committee.
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Sinha said a panel has now been formed to rework the syllabus and bring a new proposal before the Standing Committee.
According to the proposal document, the paper Psychology of Peace (DSE 13) aimed to help students understand concepts and relevance of peace, analyse peace processes and models, and explore psychological perspectives and frameworks for peacebuilding.
Unit 4, which the Chair allegedly insisted on removing, was titled 'Conflict and Conflict Resolution'.
It proposed to cover topics like the nature of international and ethnic conflict, direct aggression and structural violence, and their psychological impact. It included case studies on Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, IndiaPakistan conflict and the Northeast, specifically Nagaland and Manipur.
All the papers are discipline-specific electives (DSE) proposed by the department to be taught to students as supplementary knowledge to their main study.
Another discipline-specific elective, titled 'Relationship Science', included a unit on 'love', with topics such as passionate and companionate love, Sternberg's triangular theory and Indian perspectives on love. Under this, the department had also proposed to teach about attraction, dating scripts and dating apps. The objective of the paper was to help students understand the science of close relationships and explore how to foster healthy ones.
The proposal document also outlined a DSE paper titled 'Diversity and Inclusion at the Workplace' (DSE 12), which included teachings on the psychology of Diversity and the Minority Stress Theory — frameworks widely used in understanding the mental health and experiences of marginalised groups in the workplace.
According to Sinha, these topics are vital to understanding contemporary Indian society and the psychology of marginalised communities.
'Understanding the psychology of oppression and prejudice, as well as the evolving mass psychology of youth in the age of AI and online relationships, is crucial for the development of a comprehensive psychological framework,' she said.