FDP on Alternative Pedagogies for the 21st Century Humanities Classroom

The Faculty Development Programme (FDP) on “Alternative Pedagogies for the 21st Century Humanities Classroom” was organised by the Department of English and Cultural Studies, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Pune Lavasa Campus, from 15 to 19 June 2026. The programme was conducted as a five-day faculty development initiative with the objective of strengthening pedagogical practices in humanities education and encouraging faculty members to explore innovative, participatory and multimodal approaches to teaching and learning. The programme was attended by faculty members of the Department and included a series of expert-led sessions conducted through both online and offline modes. 

The FDP was conceptualised in response to the growing need for participatory, multimodal and experience-based approaches in higher education. The programme recognised that conventional lecture-based teaching did not always address the diverse range of critical, creative and collaborative competencies expected from students in contemporary humanities classrooms. It therefore introduced participants to alternative pedagogical approaches that included comic pedagogy, ludic and game-based learning, collaborative inquiry, digital storytelling, visual methods and other participatory practices. The sessions also examined ways in which such approaches could be incorporated into existing courses while maintaining academic rigour and disciplinary relevance.

The programme featured a diverse group of academic experts, researchers and practitioners who brought interdisciplinary perspectives to humanities pedagogy. The sessions addressed themes such as learning beyond the classroom, storytelling and audiovisual pedagogies in the multimodal humanities classroom, critical pedagogies, AI and pedagogy, graphic designing, flipped learning, affective pedagogies, collaborative inquiry, memory studies and oral histories, and community-centric pedagogy. These sessions provided participants with opportunities to engage with different approaches to classroom teaching and to reflect on their relevance to contemporary higher education. The FDP particularly emphasised the relationship between pedagogy, curriculum design and assessment. Participants were encouraged to critically examine existing teaching practices and consider how participatory and multimodal methods could be integrated into course structures. Discussions also focused on process-based and reflective forms of assessment that could support students in developing critical, creative and reflective modes of academic engagement.

The programme thus moved beyond the theoretical discussion of alternative pedagogy and highlighted its possible practical application within postgraduate humanities education. The sessions on flipped learning, affective pedagogy, collaborative inquiry, memory studies, oral histories and community-centric pedagogy further broadened the understanding of student-centred and inclusive approaches to humanities education. The diversity of topics enabled participants to consider pedagogy from multiple disciplinary and methodological perspectives. The combination of online and offline sessions also facilitated interaction with speakers from different academic and geographical contexts, thereby enriching the scope of the programme. Overall, the FDP provided a meaningful platform for professional development, pedagogical reflection, interdisciplinary exchange and academic collaboration. It enhanced faculty awareness of alternative teaching approaches and encouraged participants to consider innovative ways of designing courses, assessments and classroom activities. The programme contributed to the institutional objectives of academic excellence, student engagement, curricular innovation and continuous professional development. It also strengthened the Department’s commitment to developing critically grounded and innovative approaches to humanities teaching in response to the changing academic landscape.