Course Catalogue

The course will investigate Bangladesh’s culture in its diverse manifestations; trace its change over time by establishing a historical link between the past and present, and project into a globalized future. It will introduce various methodologies to appreciate cultural heritage based on an innovative and integrated perspective derived both from the human and the natural sciences. The subjects of the course include anthropological background of the people; major indigenous communities and their culture; human settlements and archaeological sites; sculpture and iconography; pata and rickshaw painting; arts and crafts; transportation systems; indigenous performances; festivals; indigenous games; cuisine and food habits; goddess worship, folk belief and superstition.

This course commences with an attempt to build a conceptual foundation of development; to solidify the foundation, it is followed by a discussion of environmental studies to cover the underlying concepts, science and resources of development/economy. It then covers various sustainable issues and solutions. Obviously the course ends with a discussion of our responsibilities. As a part of their active (experiential) learning, the students will participate in fieldwork.  For their self-development, the students are offered one or more of the following options:(i) a class on writing method on major assignment/essay/report; (ii) a workshop on digital photography for development (that starts with basics of photography); (iii) a workshop on (class) presentation for development; (iv) a workshop on some advanced MS Office skills (Word, PowerPoint).

The course offers a comprehensive idea on the discipline with extensive coverage of economic issues, institutions, and vocabulary, plus an introduction to economic analysis and its application to current social problems.

The course will deal with various aspects of Environment. Topics include Global Change: Ecology and Climate, world geography, pollution, Humans and Nature and the Environments in the 21 century. This will provide a clear idea how global change will affect ecosystems, considering how temperature, rainfall, and land use can modify the distribution of organisms in the future, and reduce biodiversity. Physical processes that shape the Earth’s surface provide an inescapable context for human activity. Moreover, this will examine the physical principles that govern erosion and sedimentation, slope stability, river and coastal flooding, and groundwater flow, and analyze how these processes affect land-use philosophies and decision-making.