In emerging frontiers of global economy, Economics as a discipline has emerged as a great employer. Today Economists work in range of settings from corporate sector, government departments as policy advisors and market gazers to risk analysts besides teaching and research. The possibilities are enormous if the training is rigorous. Doon University seized this potential, and started the School of Social Sciences with a Master degree program in Economics since July 2010 and from July 2011 session, intends to start a Five-Year Integrated M.Sc course in Economics with an opt out option after completion of three years with a BA (Honours) degree.
Doon University, with its emphasis on being a centre of excellence, aims to provide high quality education and teach the latest and best in the field of Economics. The programme has been also sensitized to meet local aspirations. The course structure and curriculum has been designed with an idea to develop independent and creative thinking among students and prepare them for higher studies and research as well as enhance their employability in the corporate sector, banks and financial institutions, NGO and/or other sectors. The focus is to develop analytical skills and their application to emerging economic issues of time.
Our vision is to flourish as a school of excellence in higher education focusing on sustainable development, responding to the current social, economic and psychological realities and visualize to provide a platform of ethics and moral values to the society more so in the context of globalization.
Since we are a state university, the School is also committed to pursue research to the specific needs of the region.
Prior to the commencement of this programme, a Brainstorming session of experts from different organization was held on 28th March 2010 to discuss the nature, focus and orientation of this programme as well as the curriculum and course structure. The eminent experts present during the meeting were Shri R.K.Singh, OSD Higher Education, Govt. Of Uttarakhand, Prof. S.P. Singh, Head Economics, IIT Roorkee, Prof. E. Somanathan, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi, Prof. Chetan Ghate, Associate Professor, Planning Unit, ISI, Prof. Tridip Ray, Associate Professor, Planning Unit, ISI, Prof. Arunava Sen, Planning Unit, ISI and Prof. Sripad Motiram, Associate Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai. And, through much debate, discussion and analysis, a comprehensive and contemporary course was designed.
The mandate of Doon University demands that the University provides quality education options to the school leaving students. The state particularly the city of Dehradun hosts a number of reputed schools drawing students from India and abroad. In the absence of good institutions of higher education, these students have no option but to go out after their schooling. Doon University is an attempt to fill this huge gap by providing a number of interdisciplinary and advanced courses in the field of economics in integrated mode.
Need for an integrated course is also felt due to growing richness of various disciplines in terms of ongoing developments in research and specialisation. Today, for instance, Environmental and Resource Economics has emerged as a vibrant field of specialisation. The changing character of disciplines demands a dynamic and comprehensive syllabus. The five year –Integrated Msc course is an attempt to achieve the desired dynamism in the advanced training in economics. No wonder, many Universities and leading institutions in the country are moving towards integrated mode. Among some important ones are:
The proposed five year integrated MSc in Economics by the Doon University will have three broad streams namely Economics, Environmental & Resource Economics and Business Economics. In the first three years the rigorous courses on economic theories and tools are designed to help students build their analytical skills and overall understanding of the discipline. The courses are of honours level and students have an option to exit with honours degree. The last four semesters will have papers on advanced and applied courses in the respective specialisation. The admission in the integrated course is on the basis of entrance test.
With the intention to start a five years’ integrated course in Economics, Doon University organized a Brainstorming session for the formulation and orientation of the course on 7th Feb 2011 at Conference Hall of the University. The panel of experts who participated in this Brainstorming session consisted of Dr. H.C.Pokhriyal, School of Open Learning,D.U., Prof S.P. Singh, IIT Roorkee, Prof. S.K.Jain,J.N.U., Dr. Indira Rajaraman, ISI, Delhi, Prof. Sripad Motiram,IGIDR, Mumbai, Dr. R.P.Mamgain,IIDS, Delhi, Prof. Ashok Mittal, A.M.U., Aligarh, Dr. M.Prasad, IIT Kanpur and Dr.. Meeta Kumar,Miranda House, Delhi. Through an exhaustive research and constructive debate and discussion, the course structure was drawn out.
