diyscholar

[diyscholar]

Domain 3 : The Sciences

The DIY Scholar came into to being to expand my ideas and opinions and skills. There are 17 subjects that constitute the Program. 15 of them are domain centric and 2 of them are variable focused.

Domain centric - the subjects fall under the umbrellas of the Arts, the Sciences and the Humanities.

Variable focused - reading the assigned texts and taking MOOCs.

This post’s aim is to share with you the syllabus I have designed for myself in the domain of the Sciences. In here you will find the subjects I have decided to study and the learning materials I have assigned for them.

1. Python 

 Before we can think about making a computer bend to our wishes we need to know what does it mean to compute. Among the plethora of programming languages out there Python, as far as my research and survey went, seemed a nice place to start. 

To accompany John Guttag’s book is John Guttag’s series of lectures titled ‘Introduction to Computer Science and Programming’ at MIT.

‘Introduction to Computer Science and Programming’ by John Guttag

2. Mathematics

A little bit of Math never hurt nobody. I want my interest in Science to pay off to an extent where I may be able to understand ideas in a mathematical context. And for that tutoring and practice is the best option. To bolster my understand and my interest I have assigned myself the following texts.

Tom Leighton, the cofounder of Akamai, the legendary tech company takes a class at MIT conveniently (in my case) titled ‘Mathematics for Computer Science’. These texts are to be accompanied by the rigour of Leighton’s lectures.

‘Mathematics for Computer Science’ by Tom Leighton

For a better understanding of a rich history of Mathematics in India I have also prescribed a series of lectures given at IIT Bombay titled, ‘Mathematics in India - From Vedic Period to Modern Times’, delivered by M.D. Srinivas, M.S. Sriram and K. Ramasubramanian.

‘Mathematics in India - From Vedic Period to Modern Times’ by M.D. Srinivas, M.S. Sriram and K. Ramasubramanian.

3. Biology

Biology is a science whose time has come. To understand the impact and the mechanics of Biology I have assigned myself these texts. 

In parallel, I plan to pay close attention to the video lectures of Robert Sapolsky’s course at Stanford titled, ‘Human Behavioural Biology’. Along with that I also intend to brush up and update my Biology basics with Robert Weinberg’s ‘Introduction to Biology’ course at MIT. 

‘Human Behavioural Biology’ by Robert Sapolsky

‘Introduction to Biology’ by Robert Weinberg

The text, ‘The Emerging Mind’, is based on a series of talks under the auspices of the ‘BBC Reith Lectures Series’ by V.S. Ramachandran in 2003. 

‘The Emerging Mind’ by V.S. Ramachandran

4. Psychology

I want to make sense of myself in relation to my mind and no science can more clearly provide me answers for this search than Psychology. The reason for the addition of Psychology is for me to intuitively grasp and concatenate ideas with respect to Biology as well. Here are the assigned texts.

Coupled with these assigned texts are two lecture series. The first is titled ‘Introduction to Psychology’ and its given by Paul Bloom at Yale. The second is titled ‘Philosophy and Science of Human Nature’ and its given by Tamar Gendler at (once again) Yale. 

‘Introduction to Psychology’ by Paul Bloom

‘Philosophy and Science of Human Nature’ by Tamar Gendler

5. Artificial Intelligence

Probably the most important innovations in the coming few decades will be in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Its invention and reasoning techniques will disrupt industries and change the way we live. I think its very important to have a decent understanding of the mechanics of the ideas in Artificial Intelligence as it can aide in our betterment.

Deepak Khemani’s lectures on Artificial Intelligence at IIT Madras have been prescribed along with his book, ‘A First Course in Artificial Intelligence’. Also assigned are the series of lectures given by Patrick Winston at MIT titled ‘Artificial Intelligence’. In addition, for the sheer joy of what boundless imagination and creativity looks like, I have assigned myself a series a lectures delivered by Marvin Minsky at MIT titled ‘The Society of Mind’ which has Marvin’s book, ‘The Emotion Machine’ as its primary text.

‘Artificial Intelligence’ by Deepak Khemani

‘Artificial Intelligence’ by Patrick Winston

‘The Society of Mind’ by Marvin Minsky

This effectively brings me to the end of my syllabus/ curriculum design in the Sciences domain with respect to my DIY Scholar Program.

Thanks for reading.

[diyscholar]

Domain 2 : The Humanities

The DIY Scholar came into to being to expand my ideas and opinions and skills. There are 17 subjects that constitute the Program. 15 of them are domain centric and 2 of them are variable focused. 

Domain centric - the subjects fall under the umbrellas of the Arts, the Sciences and the Humanities. 

Variable focused - reading the assigned texts and taking MOOCs.

This post’s aim is to share with you the syllabus I have designed for myself in the domain of the Humanities. In here you will find the subjects I have decided to study and the learning materials I have assigned for them. 

1. Philosophy

I’ve been influenced by ideas- I’m talking about the ethereal concept of thought- all my life. Philosophy is not only inquiry into ideas that aim at answering the Big Questions, but also gives me a chance to teleologically understand the Intellectual Tradition we inherit.

I have also assigned myself to watch Peter Millican’s ‘General Philosophy’ course at Oxford University.

General Philosophy by Peter Millican

2. History

I’ve always loved History I was in school. Due to the education system’s love of erecting silos among different branches of academia, my love affair with history was brutally cut short. With the DIY Scholar I’ve taken it upon myself with rekindle that intellectual affinity.

Lectures to accompany these assigned texts involve those given by Richard Buillet at Columbia University under the banner of ‘Introduction to World History’. Also included is Vinay Lal’s lectures at UCLA titled ‘History of Indian Civilisation’.

‘Introduction to World History’ by Richard Buillet

‘History of Indian Civilisation’ by Vinay Lal

3. Creative Writing

I can say with a certain degree of honesty that if there is an art form that gives the greatest pleasure, I’d go out on a limb and say that its Writing. I love thinking in terms of words and a beautifully crafted sentence is often music to my ears. Here are a couple of books and a program I intend to follow to give this passion of mine a better structure.

Apart from these core texts I also intend on follow what I’d like to call ‘The Bradbury Program’ named after the famed writer, Ray Bradbury. In a talk at the University of California, Bradbury advised all aspiring writers to undertake a program. The program asked all the aspirants to read a short story, a poem and an essay every night for the next 1000 nights before going to bed. And I intend on following this program. Here are the assigned texts for this undertaking.

I have also assigned the ‘Film Experience’ course conducted by David Thorburn at MIT. Along with this I have also assigned myself to watch ‘Introduction to Theory of Literature’ course conducted by Paul Fry at Yale.

‘The Film Experience’ by David Thorburn

‘Introduction to Theory of Literature’ by Paul Fry

4. Business

Lastly, of course, Business Studies. No amount of theory or abstraction is of any worth if one doesn’t know the value of creating something unique. The list of recommended texts for Business Studies contain Management and Innovation Classics. 

Apart from these classic texts, I’ve also assigned myself :  1. How to Start a Startup by Y Combinator

2. Steve Blank’s MOOC - How to Build a Startup (Udacity) 

This effectively brings me to the end of my syllabus/ curriculum design in the Humanities domain with respect to my DIY Scholar Program.

Thanks for reading.

[diyscholar]

Domain 1 : The Arts

The DIY Scholar came into being to expand my ideas, opinions and skills. There are 17 subjects that constitute the program. 15 of them are domain centric and 2 of them are variable focused. By domain centric I mean they fall under the umbrellas of the Arts, the Sciences or the Humanities. Reading the assigned texts and taking MOOCs come under the category of variable focused.  

This post’s aim is to share with you the syllabus I have designed for myself in the domain of the Arts. In here you will find the subjects I have decided to study and the learning materials I have assigned for them. 

1. Sketching

I come from the world of Product Design. Design is a world dominated by the image. I am somebody who finds comfort in words. Therefore, I felt that it was imperative that I develop this skill to represent the ideas that come to me in words to represent them, share them via images. Sketching is a crucial tool and its acquisition comes only through practice, practice and practice. 

The books I have assigned for myself to understand its intricacies in greater detail include :

There are also video tutorials I have assigned for greater clarity and to pick up neat tricks. These are :

Analog Sketching Tutorials by IDCreatures Basic Drawing Elements and Principles by Alphonso Dunn Sketching Techniques by [the design sketchbook]

2. Adobe Photoshop

In design, presentation and creative output is the name of the game. Softwares have been exclusively developed by companies to aid artists and none of them can match Adobe when it comes to the aforementioned. Mastering Adobe’s Photoshop software is key to my development.

For doing so I have decided to use the TastyTuts creative video tutorials. Their courses contain 33 video lectures, a PDF document for reference and a Project Folder to follow as the video lectures progresses. Its an intense learning environment and I hope to succeed in mastering Adobe Photoshop.

Video Lectures PDF Worksheet Project Folder

3. Adobe Illustrator

Another key creative software to master comes again from the Adobe creative software suite, Adobe Illustrator. Again, I’m sticking to TastyTuts.

They have a course that comprises of 19 video lecture, a PDF document and a Project Folder. 

Video Lectures PDF Worksheet Project Folder

4. Processing

Processing is a flexible software sketchbook and a language for learning how to code within the context of the visual arts. In a changing world, I believe its absolutely critical that a designer employs and sees the world in many ways; visually, syntactically, sonically, computationally, logically, empathetically etc. A coupling of code that aids in the generation of visual art is a great place to start.

There are two texts I have assigned for this course. These are :

These texts are to be coupled with Daniel Shiffman’s video lectures on Programming with Processing. Dan Shiffman is a prof at the Interactive Telecommunications Programme at NYU’s Tisch School of Arts. His lectures are DIY in nature, engaging and his enthusiasm is contagious. Given below is the link to his Processing tutorial.

Learning Processing :  A Beginner’s Guide to Programming Images, Animation and Interaction

5. Music

According to Nietzsche, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” And I agree. Music allows me to think sonically, and carnatic music in particular has a tendency to be viewed as a very mathematical form of music. I play the mrudangam and over time I am beginning to realise that there is a significance in thinking in terms of music. I have been very indisciplined when it comes to my musical training and I want to right this wrong. 

As with sketching the only way to improve is through practice. But just as there is artistry to art, there is musicianship to music. And I believe there is a theory, an épistème to it, that needs to be understood (if not mastered). 

There is only one book that I have prescribed for this course.

Coupled with the study of this book is a series of video lectures that the author, T.M. Krishna, gave at the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI). The link to it is given below.

T.M.Krishna’s Lectures on Music at the CMI

This effectively brings me to the end of my syllabus/ curriculum design in the Art domain with respect to my DIY Scholar Program. 

Thanks for reading.

[diyscholar]

Here is the time table that I have designed for myself. 

It constitutes 17 subjects; 15 bucketed and 2 unbucketed. By ‘bucketed’ I mean domain focused and by ‘unbucketed’ I mean variable change influenced subject domain. 

The 15 bucketed subjects fall under the categories of Art, Science and the Humanities.

The 2 unbucketed subjects include time for reading for the Assigned Texts and the taking of MOOCs.

In the posts to follow I shall elaborate on the structure and the elements that make up the syllabus.

Thanks for reading.

[diyscholar]

Intro

The DIY Scholar begins with a simple, yet very powerful question. 

can you redesign the art of scholarship ?

This is a question of great importance, personally, because I believe we are moving into a world of buckets (or silos); when we should rather be moving into a world of palettes.

The artists of yore, in my opinion, the likes of Michelangelo or da Vinci, were true polymaths. They understood not only art, but also biology, anatomy, engineering, literature, philosophy, et al. They were simply not limited by the identity of their profession or domain, and neither did they fear crossing boundaries. Their knowledge only added to the Art; it never subtracted.

Their Art was a translation of their knowledge and the repertoire of skills they brought (cognitively; the ability to think in metaphors and be inspired by other worlds of knowledge) is something the Common Man of the 21st Century seems to gotten out of his system. 

Whether this was a deliberate choice or a result of Education, I don’t know. What I do know is that there is an inexplicable deficiency, a wave of anti-intellectualism, anti-futurism teetering on the brink. And this is something that I sincerely don’t like. 

Do I give in to this contagion or do I fight it ? I choose to Fight.

The DIY Scholar is a parallel blog (to whatisivignesh) to relay weekly progress and expressions on a truly personalised, self-education and see how things turn out.

I’m not an expert, I’m not proclaiming the passage of any magic route or programme; I’m just someone who is sick and tired of the options being presented to me and I am going to pave my own way. 

The DIY Scholar blog will share things such as the Time Table that I have designed for myself that I am going to follow over the course of the next few months, the syllabus that I have prescribed for myself and my ensuing thoughts, opinions, ideas. 

Whether this is going to work out or be a sure thing, I don’t know; but I will never know unless I try, right ? So, here goes nothing.