The Department of
International Studies and History organised its annual PG fest, Battle of Brains
on 28 January 2020. There were five events in total of which two were
individual and three were tam events. The event was conducted in two sessions
with the first session started at 09:30 am with the individual events Just A
Minute (JAM) and Spontaneous Essay.
JUST A MINUTE
Venue: Room 612, Central Block
Time: 09:30 am – 10:40 am
The theme of the event
was ‘Multiculturalism in Contemporary International Relation Perspective.’ A
total of thirteen students participated in the event.
The speakers had to
select topics amongst multiple sub-topics under the main theme, which had
topics such as ‘Colonialism and Multiculturalism’, ‘Social Conflict Unavoidable
Due to Multiculturalism’, ‘Multiculturalism and Collective Identity Can Go Hand
In Hand’, and ‘Colonialism Invited Multiculturalism’. The speakers were given
30 seconds to prepare on their topics and one minute to deliver their ideas.
After all the speakers had finished their speeches, top five scorers amongst
the 13 were selected to participate in the final round. For the final round,
the speakers were given 2 minutes to prepare and 2 minutes to speak on their
topics. The topics once again revolved around the main theme of ‘Multiculturalism
in Contemporary International Relations Perspective’. The runner up for JAM was
Bishakha and the winner was Anushua.
The event was well
conducted and had a fruitful outcome, in which the speakers were able to keep
their diverse perspectives on the topics, and the audience got a chance to
listen to their perspectives and widen their own. Such events help the
application of courses students study in the classrooms in the contemporary
issues.
Spontaneous Essay
Venue: Room 613,
Central Block
Time: 09:30 am –
10:40 am
The Department of
International Studies and History conducted ‘Spontaneous Essay Writing’, on the
28th of January 2020. The theme of the event was ‘Multiculturalism in
Contemporary International Relation Perspective.’ A total of 37 members
participated in the event. The participants had to choose from a total of 07
topics like multiculturalism in India, How multiculturalism helps the economy?
Multiculturalism and Assimilation, Does multiculturalism pose a threat to
national identity?, Has colonialism invited multiculturalism?, Has the rapid
rise of multicultural society increased feelings of insecurity among the proper
regarding their own culture and Has multiculturalism promoted Xenophobia?. The
participants were given 90 minutes to finish writing the essay of about
900-1000 words. The runner-up for this event was Lakshmi (1MAIS) and the winner
was Alka (2MAIS).
This event was very
fruitful in the sense that it challenged the participants to analyze the concept
of multiculturalism from different perspectives. The essays written by the
participants portrayed originality and their clarity of the concept.
The Second session
started at 11:00 am with the team events Classical Debate, International Quiz
and Potpourri.
CLASSICAL DEBATE
Venue: Panel Room, II Block
Time: 11:00 am – 03:30 pm
The Classical Debate
had a total of 6 teams consisting of 2 speakers each. The debate was divided
into three parts, ‘Opening Statements’, ‘Core Argument’, ‘Conclusion’ and lastly
‘Rebuttal’. The speakers had a time limit of 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes
and 2 minutes respectively to put forth their perspectives on the given topics.
For the first round, the topics given to the participants were ‘Multiculturalism
Is a threat to Nation States’ and ‘Society as A whole Benefits From Diversity’.
After the first round, 4 teams were selected for the semi-final round and the
topic was ‘Immigration Leads to Rise in Extremism in Post-Nations’. The final
round was conducted in the Seminar Hall and the topic for the same was ‘Multiculturalism
and Collective Identity Go Hand in Hand’. The winners for the debate were
Nishant and Aishwarya.
The speakers spoke
with great enthusiasm on the given topics and were able to do justice for both
the perspectives of ‘for’ and ‘against’. Such activities help students to
increase their confidence and public speaking abilities, and also give a stage
for the speakers to debate on multi-faceted issues spanning across major
disciplines.
INTERNATIONAL QUIZ
Venue: Assembly Hall, Block II
Time: 11:00 am – 02: 30 pm
The theme for the
International Quiz was ‘Multiculturalism and Migration'. A total of twelve teams participated in the
event. There were four rounds conducted. The first round
was a written test round where only 5 out of the 12 teams would be selected. Since 5 groups
got a similar score a bonus tie breaker rapid fire round was put in place out
of which 2 groups qualified. The 3rd round focused
on Migration, was highly challenging for the four teams and was also a rapid
fire round with 2 teams qualifying for the final round while the other 2 were
eliminated. The
4th round was a final round that determined the winners. The event was well conducted with competitive
participants who were interactive and responsive to the questions posed. They
also showed charisma and perseverance towards the later rounds. The audience
was also involved, and provided answers to some difficult questions. The event
provided the students with perhaps a more detailed understanding of
multiculturalism, and also opened doors to further enhancing their knowledge to
understand contemporary issues. The
runner-up for this event was Anchal & Chaitra and the winner was Madhvi &
Harman.
Potpourri
Venue: Seminar
Hall, Block II
Time: 11:00 am –
02: 30 pm
The Potpourri was a
combination of three different types of competitions in one event. At the
beginning of the event the participants were asked to submit a team name of
their choice to the organizers. There were a total of 11 participating teams in
the first round. The competition took place in three rounds- Fastest First,
Crossword, and Cultural Trivia. In the Fastest First competition, the
participants were given a sheet of paper with a series of questions, where the
participants had to chronologically put the events in order within 5 minutes.
The event saw a very active participation from all of the 11 teams. This was
the elimination round from which the top 6 teams were selected for the second
round.
The second round was
the Crossword round. The second round began at exactly 11.45 am. The
participants were given a sheet consisting of a crossword puzzle to solve
within 30 minutes. The crossword round eliminated 2 more teams form the game,
and moved on to the last round i.e. the Trivia round. The round went smoothly,
where the teams showed dedication and enthusiasm in solving the crossword. A
total of top four teams were selected for the final round.
The final round was
the Trivia competition where the selected four teams were asked a series of 15
questions to be answered within 3 minutes. The teams chose their own set of 15
questions from a pot. This competition began post lunch. The competition was
very close cutting until the end, when the winning team won by staggering 26
points. The event took place in a smooth and timely manner, even leaving time
for orally giving solutions to each round at the end. The participants were
engaged in the event throughout. The event ended at around 3 pm.
The event ended with
the valedictory Session at 03:00 pm which was attended by both the classes of
MA International Studies and all the faculty members of the department. The
final round of the debate was also conducted in the valedictory session after
which the department coordinator Dr Madhumati Deshpande addressed the gathering
and gave the certificates to the final years MAIS students. Next Prizes
were given for each event to the winners by faculty members. Manisha Mahalingam
concluded the event by delivering the vote of thanks.
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