IITs may be synonymous with engineering, technology and science, but their academic world extends well beyond these fields. Across the 23 IITs, students can explore Humanities and Social Sciences, from Economics, Psychology and Philosophy to Sociology, History, Linguistics and Development Studies.
Depending on the institute, these subjects are available through undergraduate programmes, electives, minors, master’s degrees and PhD research, offering students a broader academic path within India’s premier technical institutions.
IIT-WISE HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE OFFERINGS
| IIT | Key Humanities and Social Science offerings | Level |
|---|---|---|
| IIT Bombay | Human Sciences, Linguistics, Literature, Performance, Sociology, Philosophy | MA by Research, MA-PhD, PhD |
| IIT Delhi | Economics, History, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology; Culture, Society and Thought | UG, Minor, MA, MSc, PhD |
| IIT Madras | Economics, Development Studies, English Studies, Public Policy, Sociology, Philosophy and other HSS electives | UG, MA, PhD |
| IIT Kharagpur | Economics | UG |
| IIT Kanpur | English, Fine Arts, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology | UG, Minors, PhD |
| IIT Roorkee | Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Linguistics, Philosophy, Literature | UG, BS-MS/MSc, PhD |
| IIT Guwahati | Economics, English, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, History, Political Science, Geography, Development Studies | UG, MA, PhD |
| IIT Hyderabad | Development Studies, Health, Gender and Society, Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology, English Literature | MA, PhD |
| IIT (BHU) Varanasi | History, Philosophy, Sociology, English, Computational Linguistics | UG/PG courses, PhD |
| IIT (ISM) Dhanbad | Humanities and Social Science courses and research | UG, PhD |
| IIT Patna | Economics, English, Linguistics, Management, Psychology, Public Health, Sociology | BS, Dual Degree, PhD |
| IIT Bhubaneswar | Economics, Indian Philosophy, English, Psychology, Human Behaviour | UG breadth courses, PhD |
| IIT Gandhinagar | Literature, Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, History | UG, MA, PhD |
| IIT Ropar | Economics, English, Linguistics, Management, Philosophy | UG, PhD |
| IIT Indore | Economics, English, History, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology | UG, MA, PhD |
| IIT Jodhpur | Computational Economics, Computational Sociology and interdisciplinary liberal arts | MSc, UG/PG/PhD courses |
| IIT Mandi | Economics, English and World Literature, German Studies, Sociology, History, Himalayan Studies, Development Studies | UG, PG, PhD |
| IIT Jammu | Behavioural Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, Economics and Cognitive Science | BS, UG courses |
| IIT Tirupati | Economics, English, Philosophy, Public Policy, Organisational Behaviour and languages | UG/PG courses, MPP, PhD |
| IIT Palakkad | Philosophy, Economics, Culture Studies, Linguistics, History, Sociology, Political Science | UG, PhD |
| IIT Dharwad | Economics, Philosophy, Literature, Ethics and Political Economy | UG, PhD |
| IIT Goa | Economics, English Language and Literature, Language, Culture and Society | UG courses, PhD |
| IIT Bhilai | Indian Writing in English, Partition Literature, Postcolonial Literature, World Literature, Cultural Studies | UG courses, |
ECONOMICS, LIBERAL ARTS AND INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMMES
Economics is among the most prominent social-science offerings across the IIT system. IIT Patna currently runs a BS Economics, BS-MBA dual degree and PhD programme, while IIT Madras offers MA programmes in Economics, Development Studies, English Studies and Public Policy.
IIT Guwahati offers MA programmes in Development Studies and Liberal Arts, alongside 11 HSS disciplines including Economics, English, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, History, Political Science and Geography. Its Liberal Arts curriculum includes courses in literary studies, political theory, philosophy, history, cultural studies and Digital Humanities.
HUMANITIES MEET TECHNOLOGY
Some IITs have also developed interdisciplinary programmes connecting social sciences with computational methods. IIT Jodhpur’s two-year MSc Computational Social Sciences has specialisations in Computational Economics and Computational Sociology.
IIT Jammu introduced a BS in Behavioural Sciences and Predictive Analytics, combining psychology, sociology, economics and behavioural sciences with data science, statistics and predictive modelling.
IIT Indore’s MA English (Literature and Linguistics), meanwhile, includes emerging areas such as Digital Humanities, Medical Humanities, Literature-Art and Performance Studies and Applied Linguistics.
FROM HSS ELECTIVES TO FULL DEGREES
The offerings show that Humanities and Social Sciences do not follow a single model across the IIT system. At some IITs, HSS primarily supplements engineering education through compulsory or elective courses. Others have standalone bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral programmes.
IIT Kanpur, for instance, allocates more than 15% of total undergraduate course credits to HSS and offers courses in English, Fine Arts, Philosophy, Psychology and Sociology. IIT Bombay offers a two-year MA by Research in Human Sciences, Linguistics, Literature and Performance, and Sociology.
The result is a broad spectrum: students at IITs can encounter Humanities through a single elective or pursue dedicated programmes spanning Economics, Liberal Arts, Development Studies, Behavioural Sciences, Literature, Public Policy and Computational Social Sciences.
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