Malabika Sarkar on what it takes to head liberal campus in illiberal times

Over lunch, Sarkar talks about critical differences between the pedagogies followed by older universities and Ashoka and what it is like to be at the vanguard of an academic revolution

As 2019 comes to a close, observers are defining it as the Year of the Indian Student. At a time when university campuses across the country are coming out to protest the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, students have come to be seen as the bravest and most vocal defenders of democracy, speaking truth to power. Which is why I’m particularly looking forward to meeting my guest, Prof Malabika Sarkar, Vice- Chancellor of Ashoka, the university credited with making the Liberal Arts both fashionable and saleable in India. Prior to joining Ashoka, Sarkar has served as Vice-Chancellor of Presidency and Jadavpur