DISABILITY AWARENESS ORIENTATION & INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE

 DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL WORK

 With regard to International week for the Deaf and the International Day of Sign languages a Disability Sensitisation programme was conducted at Christ Deemed to be University on the 24^th of September, 2022 by Winvinaya Foundation. P

WinVinaya Foundation, a Charitable Trust, is one of the very few NGOs in India which trains Persons with Disabilities(PWDs) in niche and futuristic skills including Software Development, Data Visualization, Robotic Process Automation(RPA) and more.  

 Report

Disability sensitization program was conducted at Christ University, Bengaluru as part of the International week for the deaf and the International Day of Sign languages for 100+ students.

 Quite a few students expected this to be a non-stop lecturing event about disability and inclusion.  But it turned out to be an enjoyable, informative and interactive event.

 Ms Akila, the co-founder of WinVinaya foundation, grabbed the attention of the audience by starting the session with interactive games in which even last benchers participated eagerly.

 Then Akila explained to us the Common Disability categories and also introduced us to the world of the two different disabilities- hearing and speech impairment and visually impairment .

 To comprehend the world of the visually impaired individual better, Akila (the resource person) chose two student volunteers, blindfolded them and handed them a white cane, and instructed them to walk around the hall. Three more student volunteers were brought in as obstacles in the walking path. After facing initial difficulties, in understanding their surroundings, the volunteers started relying on their auditory and sensory perceptions which allowed them to navigate around the hall without much of difficulties.  After seeing the volunteers try their hand at the activity, there was a demonstration by Yogitha who is a person with visual impairment and she walked around the same place where our volunteers were facing difficulties with such ease even though she was not using a cane and was new to that place.

 To understand the world of hearing and speech impaired individuals better, Ms. Gayathri who is a person with Hearing Impairment gave us insight into the Indian sign language and taught the students the sign language alphabets, and basic phrases like how are you? What is your name? etc.

 Then, Akila (the resource person) picked a few volunteers, gave a sentence, and asked them to communicate through sign language to Gayatri. It was fun watching the volunteers trying to converse with Gayathri since they did not know much of the sign language and they had to rely on their expressions and generic signs. The message was pretty clear that to have effective communication you don’t need vocal language as a medium.

 A demo on screen readers was done by Yogitha who is also a trainer working at the foundation. She demonstrated how she uses the screen readers in her laptop .and also showed how she orders food and shops from the online shopping applications on her smart phone (using the talk back feature).All of us learnt a lot and I hope the WinVinaya foundation organizes many more such events in the future, to build awareness about disability to build an inclusive community for all.

Placement Orientation for VPSEco

Interactive session with Mr Claudius V, Placement Officer, Center for Placements and Career Guidance

Date: July 18, 2022                

Venue: 201Classroom, Block 1

Time: 12 noon -1 pm

The Center for Placements and Career Guidance, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) offered an orientation session for the students of V PSEco. This orientation session was organised to help them to prepare themselves for the placement process and to clarify any doubts they may have. 

Mr Claudius V and Mr Anil P conducted the session. They provided an overview of the process followed at CHRIST, the registration process through the Knowledge Pro Accounts, as well as details on the offers received from organisations by students from the outgoing batch.

The hour-long session ended with a discussion during which they clarified doubts posed by the students.

Given below are some photographs as well as the attendance sheet from the session.

Attendance List:

INAUGRATION OF THE FILM CLUB “LIGHT’S ON , UNDARK”

 Department of Sociology and Social Work

Date:16/09/2022
Venue: Campus view
Time:1.00 pm - 2.00 pm

The inauguration of Film Club "Light's On, Un-Dark" A initiative by the students of the department of social work batch 2022, with the purpose of making students of Christ University aware about several issues through films. It is inteadeed to create awarness and encourage conversations among students about the latent aspects of flms.

The club was inaugurated by Ms. Sahana Anappa, who is a alumni of the department and actress. She gave a speech about how movies play a major role in changing society. Which was initiated with a welcome adress, An address by the Head of the Department, Dr Victor Paul was followed after which the chief guest addressed the gathering. The event concluded with a vote of thanks.

The club will be conducting several events, competition for the students and there will be a movie screening on Saturday of every week.

Video Link :- https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ciq8w0Mgk2W/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Student Association Inauguration and Observation of Gandhi Jayanti

Department of Sociology and Social Work

1st October, 2022 l Quadrangle, Christ PU College (Central Campus) l 11am to 12pm

The purpose of the event was to inaugurate this year’s Student’s Association and to also observe Gandhi Jayanti. 

Dignitaries Present:

1. Chief Guest Cedrick D’Souza, a Christ University MSW graduate (batch of 2011-13). Cedrick was born in Goa and brought up in Delhi and is currently working in GK & Aerospace.
2. HoD Dr Victor Paul and 
3. The faculty members 

The event was scheduled for 11 AM and started at 11:12 AM, with Poorvi Mishra (3 PSECO) and Niyathi Agarwal (3 PSECO) as the MCs for the day. 

Inauguration and observation was started by a formal introduction by the Cultural Secretary, Sarah Jain (3 PSECO). 

At 11:16 AM, ceremonial watering of plants was done by the dignitaries and the office bearers. 

Right afterwards, HoD addressed the gathering with a special emphasis on the coming together of Sociology and Social Work. He spoke about the introduction of Gandhian Philosophy into both our curriculum and extra curricular activities. He then went on to mention how the Student’s Association is a platform to lead, to love, and to leave behind a legacy and how it rightfully enforces the vision and mission of Christ University.

He mentioned CLASP which stands for (Credibility, Legitimacy, Accountability, Service and Political) and also about NAAC audit. The purpose of this was to speak of their individual and combined importance to the institution and for the students as well. His speech highlighted curriculum, teaching-learning assessment process, governance system, student support system, best practices (peer education) and distinctiveness. 

At 11:28 AM, after HoD’s speech, the Chief Guest took over the stage. He began by expressing gratitude for being invited and then elucidated the challenges in the corporate world and asked students to do justice to the time. He further reminisced about his 30 days fieldwork experience in Kolar as a part of CSA. At last, he spoke about focusing on career building opportunities in the sector of choice. The speech ended at 11:33 AM.

At 11:34 AM, Oath-Taking ceremony took place for 15 of the office bearers officiated by the HoD which ended at 11:36 AM.

At 11:37 AM, the President of the Association Meenakshi Prashanth (3MA Sociology) addressed  all gathered with special mention of ‘Collective Vision and Opportunities in the Department’. 

At 11:40 AM, a musical tribute by 6 students was paid to Mahatma Gandhi which ended at 11:45 AM. 

At 11:46 AM, Account of community service was done by Yash Kohli (3MSW CCP) 

At 11:50 AM, A speech on principles of ‘Gandhi- Swaraj and Swadesh’ was delivered by Hira (1MSW HRDM) 

At 11:54 AM, Talk on Gandhian Philosophy Shardul (3PSECO)

At 11:56 AM, a vote of thanks was presented by the General Secretary Joffin Angel (3MSW HR). 

And lastly, the event ended by 11: 57 when the expected end was 12 PM. 

3PSEco Student Orientation Programme

Date : 8th August 2022

Time: 9-4pm

Venue: Assembly Hall/III Floor/II Block

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On Monday, 8th August 2022, 3PSEco had an orientation program scheduled from 9am to 4pm. The program started with a silent prayer and in presence of Dr Sudipta Garai and Dr Jibrael Jos, the resource person. The program intended to initiate a collective feeling among the students keeping in mind the mission, vision and the core values of the University. It was all done through activities, fun, games and group work.

The students were then divided into groups of 8 and were each given an object to enact. The groups that show most creativity in their action were rewarded points. After 3 rounds of that game, groups were shuffled and the new tasks were to answer rapid fire questions and enact a scene. Different roles taken up by the group members in the scene were guessed by the audience. 

After a short break, the class was given a choice to choose their own groups of 3, 4 or 5 people. They were all given topics to speak about for 30 seconds each within the group. The next two tasks were where the class bonded and had the most fun. It was singing and dancing. For singing, they were divided into 2 groups and were given a choice to sing any 2 songs together. Once the dancing began, there were no more inhibitions or hesitation. There was a dance battle where each group followed the other group’s steps and grooved to the music. Following this was when sir sat the class down and spoke about how life has its ups and downs but it's always the individual's choice whether to see certain life events as bad luck and demotivate themselves or as good luck which would help them to work harder. 

After the lunch break, all the students were given a blank paper on which they had to draw their river of life. They were asked to write words and short phrases about their goals, places they wish to visit, and so on. The task was to make the paper look artistic while they mapped their life on it. Once they completed the river of life task, they were asked to think of how they want the next 2 years in PSEco to look like. All the students collectively wrote some goals and wishes they would want to achieve as a class along with fun things to do to bond with each other. The fun, eventful day ended with all of them showcasing their songs and dance moves to Dr Sudipta Garai (3PSECo/Class teacher) and a few feedback.

The students bonded as a class, spoke to people they wouldn't regularly speak to, and the best part of it all, broke the ice as a class. Dr Jos connected well with the students and brought the collective feeling among the students which shall help them beyond their academic life. The program ended with a silent prayer.

Student Activity Picture (River of Life)

Students activity Pictures (River of Life)

Academia and Community Connect: Engagement through Service Learning

Interactive session with Janaagraha: Center for Citizenship and Democracy

3PSECO 

DATE-24th August 2022 

Time:11am-12pm 

Venue:Room no 206, II Floor, 1st Block 

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On 24th August 2022, we had an orientation by Ms.Rajalakshmi. She spoke about the Janaagraha community and how they work. The interaction started with a light discussion about our education system, government and the need for social service. The students spoke about how rules in the society are made for a reason and not following it would be harmful to the society as a whole. One of the examples they discussed was of underage driving and its causes. Further the students were asked questions about the fairness of allowing individuals below the age of 18 to drive.  

Ms.Rajalakshmi then started explaining about the initiatives taken up by Janaagraha. She told us about the organization's mission, aims and goals. The organization focuses on helping citizens build an attitude that would serve the society. Their mission is to promote civic learning and engagement that would in turn aid in making citizens responsible.  

Bala janaagraha is an initiative that focuses on assisting students with their learning process and project work. A group of 5-6 students will be assigned a mentor who will play the role of a teacher. The mentor acts as a resource person that will help the students with their academics, project work and assignments. It is a way for students to develop skills like critical thinking, reasoning, problem solving and more through the assistance of a mentor. The mentor who is also a student will develop a sense of capability towards handling and helping peers of a younger age. 

The orientation ended with some information on the duration and process of getting into the service program. There were many questions from the students and all of them were answered by Ms.Rajalakshmi. Poorvi concluded the orientation by expressing gratitude and gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the whole class.  

Student Round Table on the Draft National Youth Policy (NYP)

 

 The Department of Sociology and Social Work, in collaboration with the  Centre for Social Policy and Research (CSPR) and Kerela Forum on United Nations Academic Impact (KFUNAI), organized a Student Round Table on the Draft National Youth Policy (NYP) on the 16 of September 2022. 

The Round Table discussion consisted of 6 panellists from variegated backgrounds who led the discourse along various dimensions of the Youth Policy and their requirements in the contemporary world. The Panel was moderated by Ms Supriya Bedi, currently the vice-chair for KFUNAI. The discussion was split into two rounds, with the first round engaging the panellists in conversations along the five priority areas as defined by the policy draft- education; employment & entrepreneurship: youth leadership & development; health, fitness & sports (including a focus on mental well-being); and social justice.

The first round of the discussion started with our first panellist Anshu Pal (3 B. Ed., Research Intern at CSPR), speaking about Environmentalism not as a mere response movement to Global environment crises but also as an employment opportunity and entrepreneurship prospect. He also mentioned apprenticeship as a possible means of increasing youth skills and employment. A gap between the education metrics and employability was highlighted during the discourse, which was then discussed by our next panellist - Aarav Vaidya (3 EPS). Aarav could highlight specific critical theories of economics like the ‘Big Push’ and relate them to the current education and employability scenario. He also brought on points pertaining to the impact of privatization on education and social justice, which acted as a segue for our next panel member - Mohinoor Singh Batra’s (B.A. EPS) discussion on the Juvenile justice system in India and how it fails to rehabilitate and forgive those who come in its fold with exceptionally high rates of child delinquents joining illegal means of livelihood after coming back from reform homes. Our next panellist Daniel M Abraham (Research Scholar, Department of Psychology), shed light on the usually ignored aspect of mental health well-being among the youth with particular focus on the impact of covid on the same. The discourse emphasized the social dimension of psychological well-being as well as how the current practice ignores the impact of environment and social aspects in all but theory. Ira Tokekar (MSW HR)) took up the discussion from here to talk about Physical Health and Sports. Ira’s discussion was a detailed discourse on PCOS and PCOD and their economic, social and medical dimension. The last but not the least member of the Panel Ankit Bhadra (M.Sc. Sustainable Development), spoke about Youth leadership and, through a story narration from the life of former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, brought out key aspects of leadership and also means and possible mechanisms to enhance the same among the Indian youth populace. 

The second round of discussion consisted of follow-up comments and focused discourses along with the previous round’s discussions. This was followed by a question and answer round by the audience, with which the Round Table Discussion was brought to an end.

Photographs

Department of Sociology and Social Work Post Convocation Alumni meet

Date: 21 July 2022 

Time:3-4 pm

Venue: 911, Central Block

Department of Sociology and Social Work

Post Convocation Alumni meet

Date: 21 July 2022 

Time:3-4 pm

Venue: 911, Central Block

The Sociology cluster of the Department of Sociology and Social Work organized an alumni meet on Thursday 21 July 2022 during 3-4.30 pm at Room number 911, central Block. Passed out students of MA Applied Sociology and BA PSEco attended the event. It was also graced by a few parents. The formal function began with student representatives welcoming students followed by the address of Dr Victor Paul, Head, Department of Sociology and Social Work. Members of alumni as well as parents shared their experience of life at Christ. Dr Sam, president, Alumni association welcomed the newly inducted alumni members and shared his vision for collaboration and active engagement with their alma mater. Along with interactions there were a few cultural events too. The event was closed by 4.15 pm which was followed by a photo session.