ConneXions : A webinar series that helps you discover the value of interdisciplinary thinking in the post-COVID-19 world

The disruptions that COVID-19 unleashed on us has awoken many to the value and relevance of digital technologies in our daily lives--particularly in the world of education. While we grapple with EdTech and virtual learning, the interdisciplinary field of digital humanities has been focused on the unique practices of knowledge production and learning made possible by digital tools. This webinar will describe the field of Digital Humanities (or DH, as it is commonly called) and address questions around digital affordances and the output of significant projects generated in the field.

“Necessity is the mother of invention”. Problems lead to startup opportunities and 2020 has shown that the world has numerous problems that need gritty entrepreneurs. According to the Kauffmann Foundation, 57% of Fortune 500 companies have been founded in a recession or a bear market. Successful startups such as WhatsApp, Credit Karma, Venmo, Instagram, Uber and Slack were started in the 2008-09 financial crisis. While starting a company at any given time is risky; starting one during a crisis forces entrepreneurs to think long term and be creative problem solvers. An interdisciplinary approach combining multiple viewpoints enables better decision-making with creativity and innovation, at both product and business model levels.

Creativity is what distinguishes between the ordinary and memorable/unique. In the world of marketing, creativity is what ensures that customers get value, they come back again, and become first become loyal, then Evangelists and later a Cult around the Brand. Brand building is a true inter-disciplinary process where various disciplines from Science, arts, visuals, poetry, music, theatre, film and media come together. This session focusses the Creative Process of Brand Communications and how top creative professionals create an amazing piece of advertising. We will also discuss how poetry and lyrics play a big role in brand communications and how an idea transforms from a client brief to the final commercial.

Life is marked by variety and change leading to uncertainty. Exciting and bewildering at the same time. Yet, we are able to function because there is 'order' too. Greater the understanding of the 'order', greater the ease in dealing with life's unpredictability. India has produced a great number of Rishis, who put in endless efforts to grasp the 'order'. Some of their expressions and deliberations became India’s scriptures, more numerous than any other country.

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Disease or starvation? Life or Livelihood? These are some of the stark choices facing millions of people across the globe. As many have said, this is a moment of reckoning for our approach to economic and social policy. How should we respond to this moment? How can we think of policy frameworks that offer more humane solutions? One way would be to ensure that policies are derived from broad understandings of justice and inclusion, rather than from rigid disciplinary perspectives. The presentation will argue that an interdisciplinary approach is needed to achieve such a transformative shift in our approach to policy.

Leaders from all walks of life are facing their toughest test ever as the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis is reshaping every rule in the leadership playbook. Prof. Dishan Kamdar, our Vice-Chancellor, will be conducting this webinar, moderated by FLAME alumni, Advait Makhija, and FLAME postgraduate student, Shravan Pandit, on how leaders can steer their organisations successfully through these challenging times and in the process crisis-proof them for the future.

Taking an interdisciplinary approach and drawing concepts from psychology, sociology and philosophy he will talk about how leaders should get their priorities right, take difficult decisions with sensitivity, exercise effective influence, empower people and create enthusiasm to bring about meaningful changes.

The WageIndicator Research Lab at FLAME University offers students the opportunity to gain interdisciplinary experience in data journalism and data visualization. More than 55 students have already gained a year-long internship under this programme. WageIndicator Foundation, Amsterdam is a not for profit organisation that has worked for labour market transparency over 20 years to cover data collection and preparing research reports of over 140 countries. While working on software like STATA, SPSS, Tableau, PLONE, and Google Analytics students collaborate with the global team of WageIndicator. This webinar will detail the collaborative efforts of Prof. Rupa Korde, Faculty of Economics, FLAME University, and Paulien Osse, Director, WageIndicator Foundation, Netherlands, along with student interns of WageIndicator FLAME Research Lab.

The rosy idea of ‘work from home’ stories changed after lockdown. What has changed? What do we do to cope with the changes? This pandemic has also had a significant impact on the mental health of people. Social media and other online platforms reacted with pro-mental health messages and initiatives. How does this affect the current mental health services profession and its future? What are the challenges for telehealth service professionals in India? How do they engage with individuals of cognitive difficulties, such as traumatic brain injury, dementia etc? What are unique opportunities presented by the Covid-19 crisis?

Join this webinar to explore these changes in psychological services from interdisciplinary perspectives with our panelists. They will discuss and share insights from their respective specializations: organisational psychology, clinical psychology and neuropsychology.

Over the past seven years, China has become the world's largest provider of development finance and the largest builder of global infrastructure projects. It has done this through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global connectivity initiative, now active in over 80 countries. When complete, the BRI will have transformed these countries' development prospects by providing a base of assured transportation, energy and other assets. The implications of the BRI could be profound in other ways as well, including geopolitical, environmental and social changes. The talk will discuss the progress of the BRI and its wider implications.

We live in disruptive times. How has Covid19 affected these trends? What are the successful leadership responses at such times? What is the role of values and purpose? Are there some underlying rules we can apply for dealing with crises?

If you have asked such questions and would like to know more, then this session is for you. We will discuss with examples, “Leadership and Purpose in a Disruptive world” and open up to discuss your questions.

The speaker is a retired global C-Suite executive with Nestle S.A and is now a Professor at the Indian School of Business, and also teaches at London Business School.

Digital technology is expected to change education systems, and discussions around the nature of this change have started to move beyond technocentrism or unfounded optimism, to focus on the nuances of integrating digital technology into the education system. Many applications and studies of digital media in education, however, either augment and reinforce text-based practices or replicate them on digital platforms.

Social relationships are central to human existence. The process of socialisation requires individuals to develop attachments, make connections, create solidarities, and construct social networks. Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases across the globe, many nations have enforced a lockdown and recommended practising quarantine, self-isolation, and social distancing to flatten the curve. Much has been written about the economic implications of the lockdown. However, the psychosocial impact of these measures remains underexplored. In this webinar, Sabah Siddiqui and Ninad Patwardhan will discuss how the pandemic is affecting us all, from attachment to alienation. This speculative dialogue will integrate psychodynamic, sociological, and social psychological perspectives to comprehend the phenomenon better.

During challenging economic times, many firms quickly find ways to reduce costs. But this is also a time to become more innovative, borrowing learnings from multiple disciplines, in finding ways to sustain and even grow sales revenue. In this session, we will discuss a number of proven approaches to identifying new sources of profitable demand for your products and services as well as identifying new service and product offerings you can bring to the marketplace often with minimal investment.

"The will must be stronger than the skill," Muhammad Ali famously said. When it comes to the highest level of sport, there is an unsaid assumption that success lies more in the mind, the six inches between your ears, than in skills. Why is it that most sportspeople fall short of achieving their potential? What are the unique traits of the ones that do achieve their highest potential - the ones we call 'champions'? What goes on in the complex minds of elite athletes? What makes a successful sports team? Many such themes will be discussed in this Q&A format interdisciplinary webinar which aims to connect the dots between sports and psychology drawing from many related fields. Who better than Mr. Anil Kumble to help us navigate the cognitive and behavioral strategies that go into defining sports performance.