Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Sept 11: With the introduction of Odissi dance in its curriculum, Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar (IITBBS) has become the first IIT in the country to introduce dance as a subject in the Bachelor of Technology course.
IITBBS, which will hold its fourth convocation in its permanent campus at Arugul on the outskirts of the city Saturday, has also planned to introduce a range of elective subjects in its BTech courses such as National Services Scheme (NSS), National Cadet Corps (NCC), yoga, volleyball, cricket and badminton in the first year. Classical Odissi will be an extracurricular activity having one credit in the first year.
“We have come up with a course pattern for the new subject of Odissi dance, which will consist of a maximum 12 credits. Each credit will have weekly five hours of study. The subject will be elective for the students,” said Rajakumar,” said IITBBS director Ratnam Vadra Rajakumar in a pre-convocation press conference Friday.
“The girls have shown tremendous interest in learning Odissi. We have till now admitted ten students in the Odissi dance subject. Most of them are from outside Orissa. The students will have to clear their chosen elective subject to earn their degree,” added Rajakumar.
The students can pick Odissi as an elective subject in the second and third years. They can also opt for financial management, entrepreneurship and international relations in these two years.
However, in the fourth or the final year, students who continued studying Odissi can either retain it as a purely optional subject or can opt out. Students learning Odissi in the final year would get a diploma in dance as well, said Rajakumar.
Union minister of human resource development Smriti Irani will attend the fourth convocation of IITBBS.