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4 Year UG Syllabus for the Age of AI
The Rise of Neo Sapiens: A New Era of Education
While we may continue debating the beginning or end of Kali Yuga, there is no debate that the Age of Artificial Intelligence is already upon us. We, Homo sapiens, the dominant species on Earth, now find our apex position challenged by a new species—Neo Sapiens—the AI systems and the physical robots they control.
The question of how to stop AI is the topic of the hour, but let’s not delude ourselves into believing that such a thing is possible. As Victor Hugo once said, "No army can stop an idea whose time has come," and AI is certainly one such idea. The best we can do is prepare ourselves for an honourable co-existence with this new form of intelligence.
The Changing Nature of Work
In terms of skills and competence, there is little that Homo sapiens do today that Neo Sapiens cannot or will not do better, faster, and at a lower cost tomorrow. This includes, but is not limited to, traditional fields such as accounting, programming, banking, agriculture, manufacturing, law, medicine, and even surgery.
The loss of both white-collar and blue-collar jobs is inevitable, and so far, there is no clear sign of new jobs emerging at a scale that can compensate for this displacement. If we wish to survive without the indignity of a universal basic income, we must equip ourselves with a new set of abilities—ones that go beyond what is currently offered in traditional college programs.
In this article, we propose a 4-year undergraduate program designed to help students not only survive but thrive in this era of AI-driven transformation.
A New Education Model: Beyond Traditional Learning
India’s National Education Policy (2020) prescribes a 4-year, 8-semester, 160-credit undergraduate structure. Of these, 80 credits are allocated to the core major—the student’s primary field of study—while the remaining 80 credits are spread across minor subjects, multidisciplinary courses, skill and ability enhancement modules, internships, and dissertations. Students have the flexibility to exit after one, two, three, or four years, earning a certificate, diploma, bachelor's degree, or bachelor's (honours) degree, respectively.
In our proposed program, we retain the 80 credits for the major, allowing institutions to continue teaching traditional disciplines such as Science (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics), Arts (History, English, Sociology), Commerce (Accounting), Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil), Computer Science, Law, and other established fields. This ensures that students meet the requirements of conventional academic programs.
However, it is the other 80 credits that will define the next generation of human capability.
Three Pillars of Human Intelligence
What separates Homo sapiens from all other species is:
Our ability to think critically—our sapience.
Our ability to comprehend and interpret the world, preserve knowledge, and communicate it across generations.
Our ability to create—to innovate, imagine, and build something entirely new.
These three pillars—Cogitation, Comprehension & Communication, and Creativity—form the foundation of our proposed 4-year UG program, which aims to strengthen these uniquely human abilities. By focusing on these fundamental pillars, we can ensure that future generations are equipped not just with knowledge but with the cognitive tools necessary to adapt, evolve, and lead in an AI-driven world.
So net-net, in each of the four years, we have 20 credits reserved for the core or Major area and the other 20 credits are distributed over the three pillars Cogitation (8), Comprehension & Communication (8) and Creativity (4). We will now explore what is there in each pillar.
Pillar # 1 Cogitation
Cogitation translates into the human ability to think critically and solve problems. Here we are less heavy on complex theory and more focus on practical thinking. Also no deep mathematical or statistical courses, just enough for practical use.
This will be addressed through a set of 16, two-credit courses spread across 8 semesters as follows:
In the first year, we seek to build the foundation with focus on basic reasoning, logic and cognitive biases by having these four courses
In the second year, we teach how to apply logic to real-world decision-making and creativity. Through these four courses
In third year, we move to strategic and advanced problem solving by exploring game theory, strategy and systems through these four courses
In the fourth and final year, we see to impart mastery over real world applications with a hands on approach with these four courses
Of course, a list of course names can be rather confusing because each of these courses can or will be understood differently by prospective teachers. To reduce this confusion, we have in Annexure A given a little more explanation about each of these courses along with a text book around which these courses can be designed. Based on this input, knowledgeable teachers should be able to create sensible and useful courses on these topics.
Each of these 16, two credit courses, will involve two contact hours per week or thirty contact hours in a 15 week semester. This pillar contributes 32 credits towards the program.
Pillar # 2 - Comprehension and Communication
After the ability to think critically, or cogitate, the next important ability is to be able to understand the world around us. This of course is a lifelong process but to get a head start we need to take the help of our predecessors who have understood the world and have communicated it well. Hence the second pillar consists of a reading of global literature. Here we propose another 16, two-credit courses where students are required to critically read and then write and speak about one book in each course. Of course, the choice of these books is very subjective and every syllabus will have its own selection based on the perceptions of those who teach it. However, here is a list of sixteen books that need to be read over eight semesters.
In the first year we introduce stories an cultures with engaging easy to read novels like
In the second year, we could explore colonialism, identity and social change by reading stories that effects of history and social transformation through novels like
In the third year, we move to complex narratives that focus on magical realism, complex and fragmented storytelling and deep socio political themes through novels like
Finally in the fourth year we look at philosophical, post-modern and experimental masterpieces like
Do note that we have kept out classics like Shakespeare out of the purview because we are focussed on a modern interpretation of our society. Classical texts are best addressed in the syllabus of the core area. In this case, Shakespeare would be compulsory for those who take an English or Literature major.
In each of these 16, two-credit courses, students would be required to not only read the text but present two term papers, mid term and end term, that summarises and critiques these novels. Since term papers can be generated by ChatGPT and other GenAI tools, students will also be required to submit a 15 minute YouTube video where they verbally explain whatever they have written in the end-term term paper.
This 32 credit pillar will equip students with the ability to not only understand the nuances and complexity of the world around them but also to articulate the same in persistent format for others to benefit from. Once again, these 16 books, see Annexure B for more details, represent the perspective of the author who is based in India but can be replaced with any other set of 16 books that preserve the spirit of universality of the human experience.
Pillar # 3 - Creativity
After 64 credits of theory in the first two pillars, it is time for 16 credits of practical work. For this we suggest a set of 8, two-credit courses that involve having to physically perform certain creative tasks in a structured manner. Again individual teachers or institutions can choose their own themes and ideas but here is a basic outline based on popular YouTube channels that can serve as a guideline, or starting point.
In the first year, we encourage basic hands-on creativity with simple paper crafts, origami and basic DIY projects as explained and demonstrated in these YouTube channels.
In the second year we move to more structured crafts like woodworking, clay modelling and small mechanisms
In the third year we move to more advanced handcrafting and mechanical projects that involve carpentry, metalworking and complex structures as shown in
The fourth and final year is a little tricky because we would need to differentiate between students who have an inclination towards STEM and those who are inclined towards the liberal arts. Hence we could offer two kinds of projects.
For the STEM inclined we would offer expert level builds in robotics, engineering and automation as demonstrated in
For the liberal arts students we could consider arts and sculpture themed projects based on the following themes
The third pillar will force the students to move from consumption of knowledge to creation of something tangible and physical and meet the NEP2020 requirements of internship and research.
Once again, this set of YouTube channels can be replaced with similar activities depending on the availability of teaching talent and the perspective of the institution offering these courses. More details are available in Annexure C, What is non-negotiable however is that students must create a hard deliverable that can be physically evaluated for appropriate grades.
Since these 8, two-credit courses are practical, each will involve 4 contact hours per week or 60 hours per 15 week term. They will also contribute another 16 credits to the program.
So we have 32 credits in the Cogitation pillar, 32 credits in the Comprehension & Communication pillar and 16 credits in the Creativity pillar, giving a total of 80 credits. The other 80 credits will of course be provided by the core or major area.
A Syllabus for the Future
Some may critique this syllabus for being English-centric and not incorporating regional mother-tongue languages. While this is an important discussion, it is a separate debate best addressed elsewhere. The reality remains that the corpus of learning materials available in English far exceeds that of any other language. Translating these resources into regional languages would not only be an immense challenge but could also lead to a significant loss of quality and accessibility.
Moreover, India’s vast linguistic diversity makes it impractical to adapt such a syllabus to any single regional language. Doing so would introduce a narrow, sub-national perspective, limiting its relevance to students seeking global opportunities in an interconnected world.
In an era where skills become obsolete at an unprecedented pace, education must go beyond teaching a fixed set of knowledge. Instead, students must be equipped with the ability to adapt, evolve, and continuously learn new skills as needed. The three pillars—Cogitation, Comprehension & Communication, and Creativity—ensure that students develop the intellectual agility to succeed, regardless of their chosen field.
This is the uniqueness of our syllabus: it is not just about learning something—it is about learning how to learn anything.
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