The Office of Interdisciplinary Studies (IDEAS) at O.P. Jindal Global University is a university-wide incubator for interdisciplinary research, innovative pedagogy, and collaborative scholarship across (and beyond) JGU’s various Schools and Institutes.

The M.Sc. Development Practice is a flagship program designed to critically engage with the complex and interlinked challenges facing countries in the Global South, such as jobless growth, climate crises, and social inequality, to name a few.

The program emphasizes theoretical rigor, interdisciplinary inquiry, and intensive field based engagement to learn and prepare students for socially impactful careers in areas of development research and practice.

The Masterclass seminar series at IDEAS, JGU are a critical part of the MSc Development Practice program and its knowledge dissemination.

Each of the seminar sessions are designed to help students connect what they learn in the classroom with real-world experiences in development, policymaking, academia, and social work. Scholars from all over the globe will be involved in offering lessons as part of their experience in this series.

Each week, students shall also have the opportunity to engage with experienced professionals, researchers, and practitioners whose work and research span diverse regions and contexts, bringing immense knowledge and nuanced perspectives on how development unfolds in varied settings.

There are two types of Masterclasses offered: in-person sessions on Wednesdays and online sessions on Saturdays. The in-person Masterclasses take place on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 6:30 PM at the Taj Mahal facility of Jindal International Academy.

While they are a core part of the MSc program, these seminar sessions are also open to other JGU students and interested participants from outside the university, especially those based in the Delhi-NCR region.

In addition to these in-person sessions, IDEAS also hosts online Masterclasses on Saturdays, featuring international faculty, researchers, and experts. These speakers come from different parts of the world and work across a wide range of development-related fields and themes: from climate change, migration, and gender justice to global health, decoloniality, and public policy.

The Saturday sessions allow students to engage with global perspectives and research, and to reflect on how development debates and practices differ across contexts.

Together, the Masterclass aims to broaden the horizons of a students' learning and understanding of development as practice and expose them to the multiple ways in which change can be realised on the ground.

These sessions, beyond the regular course work, are an important space for critical reflection, dialogue, and learning, enabling students to connect theory with practice and to imagine their own roles in shaping the future of development.