Jamia launches four courses

Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Delhi, has launched four courses in gender studies, biophysics, public health and disaster management.
The MA in gender studies has been started by the Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women's Studies (SNCWS), the MSc biophysics by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Sciences (CIRBSc), the ad vanced diploma in public health by the department of social work (DSW) and the diploma in disaster management by the department of geography.
Firdous Azmat Siddiqui, assistant professor, SNCWS, says, "We realised that there was an urgent need to address women's studies as an independent discipline. Currently, this is one of the subsidiary courses that students take but we wanted to develop a programme that would focus on carrying out valuable research around these issues."
The MSc biophysics will involve application of principles of physics to biology. "Disciplines like biotechnology and bioinformatics have grown tremendously but those involve application of technology for biological purposes. Biophysics, on the other hand, continues to be neglected," says Shafeeque Ahmed Ansari, professor, CIRBSc.
The two-semester advanced diploma in public health, open to postgraduates in social sciences, is aimed at fulfilling the demand for trained public health professionals and includes a four-week internship in each semester.
The diploma in disaster management is an add-on course, open only to JMI students.