NLSIU invites interested persons to offer Elective Courses at the University in the third trimester (March 4, 2025 to May 23, 2025) of the Academic Year 2024-25.
An elective course at NLSIU requires 40 hours of classroom engagement. These courses may be delivered in the following format:
Full Term Elective with 40 hours of classroom engagement spread across 10 weeks (March 4, 2025 to May 23, 2025). All classes of full-term elective courses shall be conducted in-person on campus. On request, the University may support Visiting Faculty with an Academic Associate to assist with the delivery of the course.
Elective Courses vary in their focus and pedagogy. Three types of Elective Courses are common at NLSIU:
Taught Course (predominantly lecture/discussion based, with an exam);
Research Course (focused on review of primary and secondary research leading to a Term Paper);
Practice or Clinical Course (focused on field work, simulation, drafting or litigation exercises examined through the clinical methods).
All classes shall be held between 9 AM and 7 PM on weekdays only.
The University will reimburse one economy-class airfare, to-and-fro from Bengaluru for domestic flights only. The University will make necessary arrangements for accommodation for individuals selected to teach electives after mutual discussion for 10 days only. The University will not be able to provide any reimbursement for international flights.
Individuals who are desirous of teaching elective courses at NLSIU must invariably possess a graduate and post-graduate degree in law or the Social Sciences. Post-qualification experience of 3 years or more will be preferred. Alternatively, they may have at least 7-10 years of post-qualification experience in legal practice. Individuals who have published widely in their fields of expertise, shall be preferred.
To apply, kindly fill out the form here. The last date to submit the form has been extended to January 25, 2025.
Your proposal shall be reviewed by the Academic Review Committee (ARC) of the University. The course shall be finalised after registration of choices by students. Please note that a course is offered only if it meets: (1) the approval of the ARC, and (2) a minimum number of students as required by the University’s Academic Regulations subscribe for the course.
For any academic queries please contact Prof. Harisankar K Sathyapalan at . For any other queries, please contact Ms. Sneha Kumari at
FAQs
Here are some FAQs that will help you gain a better understanding of the electives courses and the process for applying to teach these courses. To know more, please click here.
The MK Nambyar Chair on Constitutional Law is pleased to announce that Dr. Shaunna Rodrigues, Core Lecturer in Contemporary Civilization at Columbia University’s Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, will be delivering a lecture based on her paper titled ‘Constitutionalism as the Language of Politics in India: Fraternity as the Key to Democracy.’ The lecture is scheduled for 19th December from 3:50 pm-5:00 pm.
If you are interested in attending this event, please fill out this form.
Abstract of the Paper
Across elite and popular sites of democratic constitutionalism’s moment of creation in India, democracy was viewed as a mode of participation in shaping common laws, norms, and the life of a political community. However, there was also an understanding that this practice of democracy could progress in a postcolonial democracy like India if and when its diverse participants actively knew one another.
Political thinkers like B.R. Ambedkar and Abul Kalam Azad captured this principle of knowing others in order to enable greater participation in democracy through the concept of fraternity. In addition to identifying communication and association as valuable tools for building fraternity in India, they also systematically reflected on the moral and ethical frameworks needed in Indian public life to enable the deepening of knowledge of others in Indian democracy. These moral and ethical frameworks did not operate through secular conceptions of toleration. Instead, they employed non-secular yet plural frameworks, driven by a reconstruction of Buddhist and Islamic conceptions of fraternity, which emphasized identifying one’s own good in the good of others by sharing in and understanding the vital processes of their lives.
This paper outlines how their ideas of fraternity contribute to both elite and popular interpretations of constitutionalism as democracy unfolds in India to justify why knowledge of one another enables greater participation, and thus progress, in postcolonial Indian democracy. Further, it compares their conception of fraternity to Hindutva’s conceptions of the political community to assess the effectiveness of the former as a democratic counter to the latter’s majoritarianism in constitutionalism’s current moment of crisis in India. Finally, it assesses if and how overlaps and divergences between epistemically different non-secular conceptions of fraternity have implications for a pluralist conception of democracy in India.
About the Speaker
Dr. Shaunna Rodrigues is a Core Lecturer at the Core Curriculum in Contemporary Civilization, and the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University, New York. She is a political theorist who uses historical methods to study how anticolonial ideas shape constitutionalism and the trajectories of democracy in postcolonial societies. She is currently working on her upcoming book, Anticolonial Constitutionalism: Fraternity, Progress, and Self-Respect in Indian Democracy. She has a BA in Economics from St.Stephens College, New Delhi, an M.A. in Political Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies from Columbia University, New York.
Excerpts from the talk
On Constitutionalism in India
“Why and how does constitutionalism sustain itself as the primary language of politics in democratic India? I will argue that it does so because it is constantly being reconstructed in and through Indian democracy while grounding itself in sustained justifications produced for it during India’s anti colonial movement. Other scholars have argued that justifications for constitutionalism in India have relied on ideas of nationalism, secularism, freedom, and rights. In contrast, I will argue that secularism, freedom, and rights, while important, have, more often than not, been justifications employed by the Indian state to further its interpretation of constitutionalism in India. Unlike the Indian state, justifications for constitutionalism emerging from India’s people have not necessarily always employed secularism, freedom, or even nationalism as normative goals or realistic grounds for popular understandings of constitutionalism. Instead, justifications for constitutionalism emerging from the people in India have been shaped by ideas of self respect, progress, and fraternity. My presentation today will focus on fraternity as a major justification for constitutionalism in Indian democracy.”
On Abul Kalam Azad and Bhimrao Ambedkar conceptualization of ‘fraternity’
“I will proceed to show how figures like Abul Kalam Azad and Bhimrao Ambedkar conceptualized fraternity as an anti colonial response to representative secularism. Both Azad and Ambedkar’s systematic and anti colonial reflections on fraternity provide Indian democracy with enduringly relevant answers to how and why fraternity acts as an important justification of constitutionalism. I use their overlapping but distinct conceptions of fraternity to explore why fraternity is important for progress in India, where progress is imagined as a deepening of accumulated learning between and of different groups of people in Indian society. Simply put, fraternity as knowing the other has enabled progress in India because it deepens democracy by sustaining a pluralist political imaginary.”
“Abul Kalam Azad strongly believed that laws and the founding principles that laws would be grounded in ought to be substantiated by universal ideas so that they would appeal to a wide diversity of people. However, he critiqued the construction of universality by and around principles of liberalism alone and argued instead that universal principles could be drawn from other sources, including those that thrived in India prior to British imperial rule… According to him, fraternity comprised two things. First, it referred to social solidarity that allowed people to reach out to the other, understand the other, and side with the other despite their differences. Second, fraternity referred to the familiarity that different people felt with each other because of the assumptions they share about important involvements in common life despite their differences.”
“Ambedkar identified Buddhism’s emphasis on learning about others who shared one’s world as a practice of fraternity. Ambedkar defined fraternity using J.S. Mill who wrote of fraternity as a natural sentiment when an individual came to identify himself with the good of others. But he also added an additional meaning to this liberal utilitarian conception of fraternity. He asserted that fraternity is not preaching that we are children of god or the realization that one’s life is dependent on mothers. Two ideals that Ambedkar’s political rival, Mahatma Gandhi, consistently preached. Instead, the condition for growth of the sentiment of fraternity lies in sharing the vital processes of life. So I’m going to quote him here: “Fraternity strengthens social ties and gives to each individual a stronger personal interest in practically consulting the welfare of others. It leads him to identify his feelings more and more with their good or at least with any, you know, with an even greater degree of practical consideration for it. With the disposition to fraternity, he comes as to instructively to be conscious of himself as being one who, of course, pays regard to others.””
“I want to put forward a critical conception of progress that emerges from these two ideas of fraternity. Such a conception of progress is marked by the deepening of democracy that is aided in many moments by technological innovation and material expansion, but not defined by these indicators. What is central to this second conception of progress is the deepening of democracy within a polity through its enablement of emancipation from hierarchy. Such a conception of progress upholds the promise of inclusive participation, not only by making political institutions more representative of particularly diverse identities, but also by empowering a form of social learning across diverse groups within a polity. Progress driven by collective learning across different groups of each other’s norms, interests, pasts, and aspirations allows for diverse world views to be brought into the public domain and employed in the articulation of common political principles… This critical conception of progress grounding in learning from each other could produce an antidote to majoritarian conceptions of fraternity that also influence democracy in India.”
“For majoritarian conceptions of fraternity, loyalty is of utmost importance. Loyalty to what? Predominantly to a conception of the nation. However, Ambedkar’s argument, when combined with Azad’s argument, gives us a counter conception of fraternity where fraternity enables progressing together by associating with the goods of others who are different from others because we are part of a political community.”
The National Law School of India University (“NLSIU”) established under the National Law School of India Act, 1986, invites email quotations from eligible contractors for ‘Printing of Answer Booklets.’
Date of Issue of Quotation: 04.12.2024
Last Date for Submission: Up to 5 PM on 09.12.2024
Please read the terms and conditions in the official notification here.
The National Law School of India University (“NLSIU”) established under the National Law School of India Act, 1986, invites sealed quotations from eligible firms/companies for the “Renewal of NLSIU’s Students Group Medical Insurance.” Interested parties are requested to submit their quotations in accordance with the terms and conditions outlined below:
Date of Issue of Quotation: 04.12.2024
Last Date for Submission: Up to 5.00 pm on 13.12.2024
For more details along with the terms and conditions, read the official notification here.
The Centre for Women and the Law (CWL) is organising an in-person workshop on December 14, 2024, on the NLSIU campus for a proposed volume titled ‘Politics of Waiting and an Expanding Gender Horizon: The Social, Political, and Legal Discourses in India.’
Overview
The proposed volume aims to reimagine ‘gender’ through the conceptual framework of the ‘politics of waiting’. As we explore the social and legal discourses shaping and transforming ‘gender’ as an analytical category, we intend to push our thinking to examine the intersection between gender and waiting. This one-day workshop, designed to deliver constructive feedback to the contributors, is instrumental for manuscript preparation. Twelve chapters with contributors from all over the country are invited to the NLSIU campus. The volume is currently under contract with Routledge (Taylor & Francis).
The India Child Rights Index (ICRI) is a tool to understand the comparative status of children in all States and union territories of India in three domains: Nutrition and Health; Education and Protection. The Index is developed based on 60 indicators across these three domains. The index categorises groups of States based on their performance across these indicators, and also ranks them domain wise.
Why ICRI?
Multivariable indices help measure and identify the critical problems by breaking a major issue in a particular down to the micro level markers. Indices have been prepared and used by governments, policy makers and civil society to compare different contexts on the same themes. Developing a comprehensive index on child rights serves the purpose of drawing attention of the policy makers and other stakeholders towards the gravity of the situation and challenges in comparative terms, while reflecting on the root causes and overarching issues. Most importantly, ICRI is useful in identifying sector wise priorities for each of the States and identifying key data gaps pertaining to child rights.
Methodology
Comparable data for the indicators across three domains was drawn from latest official reports for all the States and Union Territories. Standardized scores were used to rank the States and composite scores were used to categorize them in five groups, from best to worst performers for each of them for each indicator.
The indicators and the metrics taken into consideration under each of them are:
Nutrition and Health of children below five
Undernutrition and Overnutrition in Children
Access to health services
Mortality rate
Infant Young Child Feeding Practices
Women’s health
Education
Adjusted Net Enrolment Ratio
Trained Teachers by Education Levels
Pupil-Teacher Ratio
Facilities across Govt. Schools
Child Protection
Crimes under IPC
POCSO
JJ Act, Child Labour, Trafficking and other crimes
The HUPA Chair for Urban Poor and the Law, in collaboration with Writing Urban India Collective and the Urban Studies Foundation (UK), is hosting the third iteration of Writing Urban India Fellowship at NLSIU in 2025. NLSIU invites applications for the Fellowship for a duration of 10 months.
About the Fellowship
Writing Urban India Fellowship Round 3 (WUI 3.0) is a mentoring initiative to nurture early career scholars in writing and publishing on urbanisation in India. The initiative aims to enable candidates with the skills and knowledge required to produce a structured writing output that is academic in nature – through capacity-building workshops, seminars and one-to-one mentorship. The programme will involve offline and online interactions based on feasibility. The first two iterations of Writing Urban India Fellowship were anchored by the Centre for Policy Research.
Please note it is not a research fellowship. It is a writing fellowship.
If you are a research scholar-Ph.D., PostDoc, Junior Faculty member, a practitioner, consultant, architect, lawyer who has a lot of data and field material on the urban question, this fellowship is for you!
We will be especially looking out for those of you who come from social and educational backgrounds where historically, writing (particularly scholarly writing) has not been valued highly. We are looking forward to hearing from all those who are not regular front benchers – but who are from small towns across India and from those for whom writing / speaking / writing in English is not second nature yet. Not because you are disadvantaged but because you probably have a rich story to tell in writing.
Cohort size: We are looking to build a close cohort of 20 fellows
Duration of the Fellowship Programme: 10 months
Eligibility: Who can apply?
Urban Practitioners
Students (in Ph.D. programmes) with a focus on urban studies
Early career academics with a focus on urban studies
What’s in it for you?
Mentorship from a stellar network of urban researchers
A publishable writing output
Improved ability to frame research questions and establish a well-structured narrative around them
Opportunity to contextualise your research within a broader scholarly discourse
Membership of a supportive community of scholars
Financial Support
The Fellowship will provide financial resources to enable you to interact with mentors, attend workshops and access resources, subject to administrative limitations. No lump-sum stipend will be provided.
Application Process
Please use the Google form link available here to apply. Please read through the instructions on the form carefully before applying.
Application Deadline: The last date to apply is be December 25, 2024.
For any queries, please write to
FAQs
What is the Writing Urban India Collective?
We are a collective of scholars working on the urban question in India from a diverse range of perspectives. This collective first came into being in 2020-2021 as a mentoring initiative to nurture early career scholars in writing and publishing on urbanisation in India with the support of Urban Studies Foundation. This would be our third iteration.
What kind of a fellowship is this?
It is a WRITING FELLOWSHIP. Please note it is not a research fellowship.
The initiative aims to enable candidates with the skills and knowledge required to produce a structured writing output that is academic in nature – through capacity-building workshops, seminars and one-to-one mentorship.
The programme will involve offline and online interactions based on feasibility.
Who can apply?
– Urban Practitioners
– Ph.D. candidates with a focus on urban studies
– Early career academics with a focus on urban studies
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) was established in 1987 and is a premier institution for legal excellence in India. The University has remained the undoubted leader in legal education and research in India and has been ranked first among Law Universities in the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s National Institute Ranking Framework for the last seven years.
The University has embarked on a mission to become a global leader, catering to the requirements of the legal profession, academics, research and the judiciary. With this in mind, the University invites applications from accomplished committed, and dynamic legal minds for the following positions.
Please click on the titles below to view the official notifications of each position with the roles and responsibilities. Please note, multiple positions may be open under each of these titles.
The last date to submit applications for all positions has been extended to January 7, 2025 (5 PM).
Note:Only applications that are submitted through the successful completion and submission of the applicable Google form before the stated deadline will be considered.
We congratulate our student Vibha Swaminathan of the 3-Year LLB (Hons) programme for receiving the Rhodes Scholarship for 2025! This year, five Rhodes Scholars from India have been selected for 2025, marking the culmination of a rigorous national selection process. Vibha joins the list of 25 NLSIU scholars who’ve been awarded the Rhodes Scholarship so far (including this year).
After a competitive application process and two rounds of preliminary interviews, followed by an interview of the shortlisted finalists, five scholars from different parts of the country have been chosen to receive the prestigious scholarship – Bengaluru, Kolkata, Kurukshetra, Ghaziabad and Ranchi. They will be heading to the University of Oxford in October 2025 to join a cohort of more than a 100 scholars from around the world to undertake fully funded post-graduate studies.
In an official statement, Dr. Elizabeth Kiss, CEO of the Rhodes Trust, said: “The Rhodes Trust is delighted to introduce the extraordinary 2025 Class of Rhodes Scholars Elect who represent cultures and perspectives from every corner of the world. For more than a century, the Rhodes Trust has brought exceptional individuals to Oxford and fostered a vibrant global community. We eagerly anticipate the invaluable contributions these Scholars will make, not just during their studies, but throughout their lives as they join the community of Rhodes Scholar alumni who are creating a more equitable and sustainable future for the world.”
About Vibha Swaminathan
Vibha is a final year student from the first batch of the 3-Year LLB (Hons) programme at NLSIU that was launched in 2022. She holds a BA (Hons) in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. As Vibha is interested in the intersections of power and society, she said law was a natural next step for her to pursue after completing her political science degree.
“The Rhodes Scholarship is such an excellent opportunity and marks the beginning of a lifelong engagement, and also opens other pathways. I am interested in studying the political and legal fragilities of citizenship regimes, and hope to combine this academic engagement with a human rights litigation practice before trial courts in India,” said Vibha.
At Oxford, Vibha plans to pursue Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL), a postgraduate degree through which she hopes to gain a strong foundation in public law, constitutional law, equality law, and human rights law. She then wants to study MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice, and is particularly interested in exploring the Border Criminology Research Unit at the University.
Reflecting on her journey so far, Vibha also expressed gratitude towards her mentors who influenced her in different ways:
“This journey would not have been possible without the mentorship, support and efforts of many wonderful teachers. At NLS, I am particularly indebted to Dr. Mrinal Satish, Prof. Darshana Mitra and Dr. Atreyee Majumder, for always being available to discuss my aspirations, to refine my application, and for writing recommendation letters. I am also extremely grateful to Dr. Aparna Chandra, Dr. Gauri Pillai, Ms. Preeti Dash, and Dr. Sudhir Krishnaswamy, for invaluable conversations that pushed me to think deeper, during the application process and beyond.
I am also deeply grateful to Ms. Lubhyathi Rangarajan, Adv. Harsh Bora and Dr. Usha Ramanathan – my mentors outside the formal classroom, from whom I continue to learn immensely.
At Lady Shri Ram College, I am indebted to Dr. Snehil Kacker, for the continued support and mentorship, as well as the recommendation letter. I am also very grateful to all my teachers at LSR – especially Dr. Rina Kashyap, Dr. Mahesh Panicker and Prof. Ravindra Karnena – for nurturing my excitement to read deeply and critically. Lastly, I am deeply thankful to Mr. Sathish Jayarajan and Mr. Abhimanyu Arni from Mallya Aditi International School, for introducing me to the subjects I want to study, and for always believing in me.”
We wish Vibha the very best for her academic journey ahead.
About the Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship is the world’s preeminent and oldest graduate fellowship since 1903, and is awarded by the Rhodes Trust, an educational charity based at the University of Oxford. The Scholarships for India began in 1947 and have been awarded to five outstanding applicants each year.
“Students from anywhere in the world can apply for a Rhodes Scholarship and many find that taking part in our rigorous selection is a profoundly positive experience which leaves them well placed to go on to a Rhodes Scholarship or other opportunities worldwide. The Rhodes Scholarship aims to choose young people with proven academic excellence who also show exceptional character, leadership, energy to use their talents to the full and a commitment to solving humanity’s challenges. Rhodes Scholars form a lifelong community of people in many fields and careers, united by a commitment to having a positive impact on the world. Scholars from India have gone on to pursue careers ranging from public policy, literature, law, medicine, scientific research, etc.,” said a statement from the Rhodes Trust.
The official press release from the Rhodes Trust is available here.
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) was established in 1987 to be a pioneer in legal education. Over the last three decades the University has consistently been an innovative leader in legal education and research in India and has been ranked First among Law Universities in the National Institute Ranking Framework for the last seven years.
The University is committed to building on its legacy to become a leading Asian and Global law school in the next decade. The University accordingly invites online applications from accomplished professionals for 2 positions of Manager – Academic Administration. These are full time positions, based out of the NLSIU campus in Bangalore, and will report to the Senior Manager – Academic Administration, NLSIU.
The Manager – Academic Administration will be responsible for undertaking the following tasks:
To manage all the end-to-end academic processes for the University and work closely with faculty to assist in course delivery in physical and online modes;
Academic planning before and during semesters as follows:
– Create a list of courses to be taught each semester;
– Assign instructors in consultation with faculty group coordinators;
– Communicate list of courses and instructors in time for the creation of time tables;
– Ensure that course design is initiated and completed on time;
– Maintain an up-to-date repository of course and curriculum documents;
– Communicate with faculty about grading, deadlines and ensure that grading is accurate, completed and declared on time;
To manage the University academic time-table;
To effectively manage all the end-to-end academic processes for the University;
To manage end-to-end examination workflow (question paper verification, timetables, answer scripts management, grade publishing) in a timely manner;
To support the assessment and grading process;
To help and support the Convocation process;
To manage the admissions process including on-boarding selected students onto the ERP system;
To be responsible for the management and analysis of attendance;
To support the process of advertisement, applications, and allocations and uploading of courses onto the LMS for Elective Courses every trimester;
To manage the day to day ‘MIS’ and other reporting mechanisms;
To effectively contribute to University-wide developments in curriculum timetabling systems and procedures;
To coordinate NAAC and NIRF and other regulatory compliance related activities;
Query management & Helpdesk responsibilities.
The deadline for the submission of the application is 5 pm, November 13 (Wednesday), 2024.
For more details, view the official notification here.
To apply, click here.
The 
The Centre for Women and the Law (CWL) is organising an in-person workshop on December 14, 2024, on the NLSIU campus for a proposed volume titled ‘Politics of Waiting and an Expanding Gender Horizon: The Social, Political, and Legal Discourses in India.’
The 