ANNUAL QUALITY ASSURANCE REPORT (AQAR) OF THE IQAC

ANNUAL QUALITY ASSURANCE REPORT (AQAR) OF THE IQAC Name of the Institution: SOPHIA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN (Affiliated to the University of Mumbai) Year of...
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ANNUAL QUALITY ASSURANCE REPORT (AQAR) OF THE IQAC Name of the Institution: SOPHIA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN (Affiliated to the University of Mumbai)

Year of Report: 2011-2012

Part A: What is the plan of action chalked out by the IQAC in the beginning of the year towards quality enhancement and what is the outcome by the end of the year?

The IQAC was set up at Sophia College in November 2003. In 2011-2012 it comprised the following members: Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese – Principal (Chairperson of IQAC) Ms. Jennie Mendes – Vice-Principal (Arts) 1

Dr. Roshan D’Souza – Vice-Principal (Science) Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal – Vice-Principal (Admin.) & Co-ordinator of SCWSD Sr. Annie Peter – Vice-Principal (Junior College) Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha – faculty member Ms. Gilda Pereira – faculty member Ms. Bina Gonsalves – faculty member Ms. Nivedita Iyer – faculty member Ms. Prabha Suresh – Librarian Ms Juliana D’Costa – representative of office staff Mr.Ramesh Ramane – representative of other non-teaching staff Mrs. Nevah D’Mello – ex-student Mrs. Sheila Master – ex-student (Member Co-ordinator IQAC) Sr. Teresa Pereira – Management Representative

The following plans for 2011-2012 were chalked out for quality enhancement in the College, and were included in the IQAC Report of 2010-2011: 1) To introduce MIS, beginning with the FYBA/FYBSc and FYBMM class of 2011-2012. (Outcome: this was introduced; but more work needs to be done on it) 2) To apply for affiliation for the BSc in Information Technology (Outcome: the application was sent to the University; the college representatives were called to the University for a meeting on December 12, 2011 regarding this application; a local enquiry committee appointed by the University visited the College in February 2012 in this respect; the University forwarded the application to the Government. The Government permission is awaited) 3) To introduce the Model United Nations (MUN) on a trial basis, as an intra and intercollegiate student activity, to which even higher secondary school students could be invited. The MUN at Sophia would be on a socially relevant theme. For the year 2011, it was proposed to be on the theme of ‘Human Rights, Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Nature’. (Outcome: this was carried out very successfully) 4) To carry forward the activities planned under ‘Strategic Planning’ and ‘Brand Building’ of the College. (Outcome: this was done to some extent) 5) To further enhance the College Infrastructure and ICT Teaching-Learning facilities (Outcome: this has been done to some extent)

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6) To launch a fund-raising campaign towards building up a corpus for College Development (Outcome: a fund-raising drive was launched with a beautiful appeal prepared for the same and a ‘gifting tree’ being worked out. Some funds have been raised; but much of it went into further infrastructure development)

ALL OTHER GOOD AND HEALTHY PRACTICES AND PROGRAMMES THAT WE HAVE AT SOPHIA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN WILL BE CONTINUED IN 2011-2012 IN ORDER TO IMPART QUALITY, VALUE-BASED EDUCATION TO OUR STUDENTS.

Part B: 1. ACTIVITIES REFLECTING THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE INSTITUTION: Sophia College Goals (as reformulated in 2001) “Sophia is essentially a women’s college, committed to the integrated development of women for individual and societal transformation. Our goals therefore are: 1. To enable each student to develop her full intellectual potential through a focused academic experience that is simultaneously rich, extensive and collaborative. 2. To offer students scope for critical thinking and discernment, leading to the development of value-based convictions. 3. To help students develop a degree of self-reliance and determination to respond with courage and sensitivity to personal and social issues. 4. To generate among students an awareness of women’s issues, human rights and environmental issues, so that they understand and respond constructively to these. 5. To sensitize students to look at the world from the perspective of the less privileged and to respond with concern and in a humane manner. 6. In the context of globalization, to foster in students a sense of national identity that is secular and multicultural, with respect and tolerance of all cultures and religions. 7. To encourage Christian students develop their religious convictions in an atmosphere of respect for other faiths and for each individual’s personal beliefs.” At the beginning of the academic year, in June 2011, each department met and chose specific goal(s) to focus on and drew up activities for the same. An end-of-the-year report of what was done/achieved during the year was submitted by the departments to the Principal. This included activities carried out reflecting the goals of the College.

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All the activities carried out by the departments under the theme of the year of ‘Education for Justice and Peace’ were in keeping with Goal 4. All the activities of innovative teaching as well as of research work were in line with Goals 1 and 2. The community services and outreach programmes conducted reflect Goal 5, while the activities of our Counselling Centre are in keeping with Goal 3. We have also tried to implement Goal 3 through the co-curricular activities as well as through the social service programmes. Goals 6 and 7 were lived out in the Peace Fortnight activities as well as in various inter-religious prayer services conducted during the year. The details of all of the above are given under the various points listed below.

2. NEW ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES INITIATED Certificate Courses The Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development (SCWSD), set up in 2001, conducted the following certificate courses:  Certificate Course in Food & Nutrition  Certificate Course in Women’s Empowerment  Certificate Course in Social Work Focussing on Issues related to Women and Girls  Certificate Course in Baking

In addition, several outreach courses and other programmes, especially for school drop-outs and other girls from marginalized backgrounds, were conducted by SCWSD:

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No. 1

Date 17.09.11

2

23.09.11

Course Perfume Making Dantamanjan Making

3

24.09.11

Perfume Making

4

30.09.11

Perfume Making

5

07.10.11

Perfume Making

6

08.10.11

Perfume Making Utne Making and Dantmanjan Making

7

14.10.11

8

15.10.11

9.

21.10.11

Perfume Making Orientation of Outreach course & Chocolate Making demo

10

04.11.11

Perfume Making

11.

04.11.11

Face pack Making

12. 13. 14.

05.11.11 08.11.11 09.11.11

Chocolate Making Perfume Making Chocolate Making

15.

11.11.11

Perfume Making

16. 17.

12.11.11 12.11.11

Chocolate Making Chocolate Making

18.

18.11.11

Perfume Making

19. 20.

19.11.11 22.11.11

Chocolate Making Chocolate Making

21.

29.11.11

Perfume Making

22.

30.11.11

23.

03.12.11

24.

21.12.11

Chocolate Making Perfume & Face pack making Workshop on Communication Skill

25. 26.

22.12.11 23.12.11

Chocolate Making Chocolate Making

Venue Viva College, Virar (W)

Duration 1 day

Viva College, Virar (W) Sai Mandir Hall, Nallasopara (W) Mahanagar Palika Vachanalay, Virar (E) YST Club, Chanakya Chowk, Virar (W) Ram Mandir Hall, Bolinj, Virar (W)

1 day

Participants 85 65 35

1 day 28 1 day 35 1 day 56 1 day 45

YST Club, Chalpeth, Agashi, Virar (W) YST Club, Chalpeth, Agashi, Virar (W)

1 day 48 1 day 26

Navjeevan, Remand Home, Chembur. Vasai Pragati Co. Credit Soc., Virar (W) Vasai Pragati Co. Credit Soc., Virar (W) Vasai Pragati Co. Credit Soc., Virar (W) Arnalagaon, Virar (W) Arnalagaon, Virar (W) Z.P.School, Kalamb gaon, Nallasopara (W) Z.P.School, Kalamb gaon, Nallasopara (W) SCWSD, Mumbai Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, Kathe Pada Navapur, Virar (W) Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, Kathe Pada Navapur, Virar (W) Satpala village, Virar (W) Lucky Compound, Bhayandar (E) Hakela Nagar, Mira Road (E)

1 day 24 1 day 24 1 day 47 1 day 1 day 1 day

22 26 36

1 day 42 1 day 1 day

07 16

1 day 26 1 day 1 day

110 55

1 day 35 1 day 08

SCWSD, Mumbai

1 day 18

SCWSD, Mumbai Tiles Factory, Shanti Ngr, Mira Road (E) Near Ayappa Mandir,

1 day 120 1 day 1 day

55

5

27.

11.01.12

Chocolate Making

28.

12.01.12

Chocolate Making

29.

13.01.12

Chocolate Making

30.

14.01.12

Chocolate Making

31.

17.01.12

Perfume Making

32.

18.01.12

Chocolate Making

33.

19.01.12

Chocolate Making

34.

24.01.12

Chocolate Making

35.

25.01.12

Chocolate Making

36.

Perfume Making

37.

27.01.12 21.01.12 to 18.02.12 (on Sats.)

38.

01.02.12

39.

21.02.12

40.

22.02.12

41.

23.02.12

42.

24.02.12

43.

Prakash Deep, Naringi Rd., Virar (E) Siddhartha Nagar, Kargir Rd., Virar (E) Siddhartha Nagar, Kargir Rd., Virar (E) Vishwakarma Hall, Vasai (W) Ram Mandir Hall, Bolinj, Virar (W) Vartak High School Hall, Vasai (W) Anandi Hall, Nallasopara (E)

1 day

125 65

1 day 85 1 day 45 1 day 135 1 day 147 1 day 43 1 day 77 1 day 161 1 day 28 1 day 15

Food Craft (Cake Making) Food Craft (Cake Making) Perfume Making Dantmanjan & Face Pack Making Dantmanjan & Face Pack Making Dantmanjan & Face Pack Making Dantmanjan & Face Pack Making

44.

25.02.12 12.03.12 to 28.03.12

45.

16.03.12

46.

17.03.12

47.

21.03.12

Food Craft Course (Breakfast items) Chocolate Making Course Perfume Making Course Liquid Soap & Face Pack

48.

22.03.12

Dantamanjan

27.03.12

Liquid Soap Face Pack

49.

Bhayandar (E) Manvel pada, Virar (E) Nirankar Bhawan, Naringi gaon, Virar (E) Gaurangi Bldg. Jivdani Pach Payri, Virar (E)

SCWSD, Mumbai

5 days

SCWSD, Mumbai J.B.Vartak High School, Vasai (W) Ram Mandir, Bolinj, Virar (W) Shiva Temple, Bhati Bandar, Aagashi, Virar (W)

7 days

Kargir Nagar, Virar (E) Vidya Sadan Apt., Manvel Pada, Manvel Pada, Virar (E)

1 day

14 350 1 Day 43 1 day 56 1 day 123 126 1 day 17

&

SCWSD, Mumbai Jidnyasa Mahila Mandal, Phoolpada, Virar (E) Jidnyasa Mahila Mandal, Phoolpada, Virar (E) Anandi Sabhagriha, Nallasopara (E) Anandi Sabhagriha, Nallasopara (E) Shankeshwar Nagar Rahiwasi Kalyankari Samaj Hall, Nallasopara

12 days 35 1 day 32 1 day 24 1 day 24 1 day 32 1 day

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50.

51.

28.03.12 16.03.12 to 28.03.12

Dantamanjan & Chocolate Making

(E) Shankeshwar Nagar Rahiwasi Kalyankari Samaj Hall, Nallasopara (E)

1 day

Food Craft Course (Meal Items)

SCWSD, Mumbai

12 days

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3. INNOVATIONS IN CURRICULAR DESIGN AND TRANSACTION: As an affiliated institution, it is not possible for the College to design the curriculum of the regular courses. However, in our autonomous P.G. Courses, namely, the Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Analysis (DCA), the Post-graduate Diploma in Laboratory Management and the Post-graduate Diploma in Quality Assurance in the Foods and Pharmaceuticals Industry (QA), we are able to vary the curriculum to meet the needs of industry. The Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development designs the curricula of the courses it offers and these are constantly being upgraded or changed to suit the changing needs. A number of staff members were elected / nominated to the Boards of Studies of their respective subjects or were on syllabus revision committees of the University of Mumbai. For example:  Dr. Trevor Allis was elected as member of the Board of Studies in Logic and Philosophy and he was also a member of the MA Syllabus Review Committee.  Dr. Aninha Lobo was elected as member of the Board of Studies in Psychology.  Dr. Perpetua Miranda was elected as member of the Board of Studies in Sociology. She was also appointed as convenor for the syllabus revision committee for 20122013 for the TYBA papers in ‘Social Theory’ and ‘Research Methodology’  Dr. Trevor Allis, Dr. Aninha Lobo and Dr. Perpetua Miranda were also elected as members of Faculty of Arts. Dr. Aninha Lobo is also on the Faculty of Science.  Dr. Roshan D’Souza is on the Board of Studies of Zoology and the MSc Part I syllabus revision committee in Zoology.  Ms Gilda Pereira is on the syllabus revision committee for Sociology Paper III.  Ms Anagha Tendulkar is on the syllabus revision committee for Sociology Paper II.  Dr. Yasmin Khan is on the syllabus revision committee for the FYBSc Life Science paper, for revision required for the credit/semester system.  Dr. Gail Carneiro is a member of the syllabus committee for MSc Part I – Organic Chemistry.  Dr. Chinmoyee Vatsyayan is a member of the Board of Studies in Biochemistry as well as a member of the core committee for the MSc syllabus revision. 7



Dr. Nirmala Tripathi is a member of the SYBA Syllabus reviewing sub-committee in Hindi.

A number of our teachers are on the Board of Studies of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Mumbai, e.g. Dr. Roshan D’Souza (Zoology), Ms Swarupa Kamat (History), Dr. Gail Carneiro (Chemistry), Dr. Chinmoyee Vatsyayan (Biochemistry), Dr. Nirmala Tripathi (Hindi).

Innovative academic activities are carried out through our Excellence Programmes in Arts (EXAP) and Science (EXSP). In the Excellence Programmes a variety of creative papers were prepared / presented: EXAP (Education to Excellence in Arts Programme) EXAP (Batch XVII) students prepared and presented the following research papers:  Divya Das, Diya Anna John and Shruti Asokan, “Conformity in Education and Career Choices – A Comparative Study of Chennai and Mumbai” (staff guides: Ms Gilda Pereira and Dr. Andrea Coutinho)  Nalika Braganza, Sweta Narsale and Nehal Jain, “Contemporary Urban Teenage Poetry in English: The Representations of the Theme of ‘Self’” (staff guide: Dr. Sufiya Pathan)  Ria Patnaik and Devika Kher, “The Impact of Foreign Investment on the Indian Banking Sector” (staff guide: Ms Sunita Jadhav)  Dhvani Doshi and Madhuri Dhariwal, “Facebook: A Comparative Study of the Social Impact of Facebook on 12-40 year olds in the cities of Mumbai and Raipur” (staff guide: Ms. Rashna Poncha) EXAP (Batch XVIII) presented the following seminar papers:  Ketaki Savnal, “The History of Women’s Education in Bombay City from 1840 to 1947 – A Look at the Contribution of Different Communities” (staff guide: Ms. Rashna Poncha)  Harini Alladi, Devika Kerkar and Marina George, “In His Shoes – Conquering Male Bastions” (staff guide: Ms. Jaya Kanoria)  Farah Chitalwala, Gitanjali Hiranandani and Vitasta Kaul, “Our Leading Ladies – The Face of Theatre in Mumbai” (staff guide: Dr. Jennie Mendes) EXAP (Batch XVIII) cultural component papers were presented as follows:  Vitasta Kaul, Madhurima Chatterjee and Farah Chitalwala, “The Echo of Mt. Olympus in the Renaissance” (staff guide: Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal)  Ketaki Savnal, Hiral Shah and Binita Modi, “The ‘Mane’ Story” (staff guide: Ms Swarupa Kamat)  Sampurna Maitra, Garima Raghuvanshy and Ayesha Thomas, “Brassieres and Feminine Identity” (staff guide: Mr. Ivan John)  Harini Alladi, Gitanjali Hiranandani and Marina George, “Westward Ho! Pioneer Life in the American West” (staff guide: Ms Jihasa Vachcharajani) 8



Aisharya Pillai, Ruchika Radhakrishnan, “The Aborigines: Indigenous Australian Culture” (staff guide: Ms Rashna Poncha)

EXSP (Education to Excellence in Science Programme): BATCH XXI (2011-2014): The FYBSc EXSP students prepared and presented seminars. The details are given below: Sr. No. Name of Name of Guide Topic Student 1. Almeida Ulrica Ms Tanaz Asha Biopolymers 2. Qureshi Rabia Ms Tanaz Asha Biopolymers 3. Karol Haiquea Mr M Garud Explosives 4. Rosario Zenia Dr R. D’Souza Progeria 5. Pereira Smeetal Dr R. D’Souza Progeria 6. Khan Juveria Ms Latika Sethi ART 7. Khan Saima Ms Latika Sethi ART 8. Mayekar Ms Latika Sethi ART Mithila 9. Khalid Zoya Ms S. Prabhu Extremophiles 10. Khaire Divya Ms S. Prabhu Extremophiles 11. Doma Mariya Dr. H. Plant-Animal interactions-Fig Ramachandran Wasp 12. Arvind Chiti Dr. H. Mitochondrial DNA Ramachandran 13. Dutt Mohini Dr. H. Mitochondrial DNA Ramachandran 14. Banerjee Ms Sandhya Anaemia Shibanti Kadiru 15. Mascarenhas Mr. M.R. Garud Explosives Ria

BATCH XX (2010-2013) The SYBSc EXSP students prepared Literature surveys and were evaluated for the same. The details are given below: SR. Name of student Topic Name of the guide No. 1. Leandra Oat Meal Best Meal Ms Archana Fernandes Kulkarni 2. Marina John Bacterial Bioluminescence Ms Shraddha Prabhu 3.

Pearl Rodrigues

Cancer prevention in Women

Ms Jyoti Mantri

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4.

Mubashira Ghure Oat Meal Best Meal

5.

Sirat Shaikh

Chromosome 15

Ms Archana Kulkarni Dr. Sree Kumar

6.

Steffie Rodrigues Designer Babies

Ms Latika Sethi

7.

Janki Fulwala

Chromosome 15

Dr. Sree Kumar

8.

Eram Ansari

Dr. R. D’Souza

9.

Ammara Ansari

Human Embryonic Stem Cell and regenerative Medicine Problems related to foetus

10.

Noorafsha Khatri

Ms S. Dugal

11.

Lisa Marak

12.

Purva Phaterpekar Nazia Chaudhary

Schizophrenia – Types and Remedies Schizophrenia – Types and Remedies Problems related to foetus Bacterial Bioluminescence

Ms Sandhya Kadiru

13.

Dr. Sree Kumar

Ms S. Dugal Dr. Sree Kumar

Human Embryonic Stem Cell and Dr. R. D’Souza regenerative Medicine The above students have also started working on their research projects and will complete and submit the same at the beginning of the next academic year. 14.

Saima Nakhwa

BATCH XIX (2009-2012) The TYBSc EXSP students have completed their research component as well as their literature survey and were evaluated for the same. The details of which are given below:

Name of student 1. Rosemary Humstoe 2. Saranya Govindan 3. Anjum Sarigat 4. Fatema Husain 5. Pratednya Sakpal 6. Brucena Barretto

Research Topic Antimicrobial effects of Cow’s Urine The antibacterial action of herbs and spices on skin microflora Reduction of algal blooms

Guide Mrs. Ila Shah Dr. R. Dehiya Ms Jyoti Mantri

To develop a model to study regeneration using zebra Dr. Yasmin Khan fish larvae. Antimicrobial effects of Mrs. Ila Shah Cow’s Urine Protein estimation of Dr. H. Ramachandran various food stuff. 10

7. Stephanie Mascarenhas 8. Flora Chettiar

9. Srivani Sirpuram 10. Saniya Thomas 11. Aalifiya Maimoon

12. Priyanka Solanki 13. Minoshka Xavier

To develop a model to study regenation using zebra fish. The antibacterial action of herbs and spices on skin microflora Toxicity testing of copper and diclofenac using zebra fish embryos Protein estimation of various food stuff. To develop a model to study regeneration using zebra fish larvae. The antibacterial action of herbs and spices on skin microflora Habituation in snails and tracing of its neural pathway

Dr. Yasmin Khan Dr. R Dehiya

Dr. Yasmin Khan Dr. H. Ramachandran Dr. Yasmin Khan

Dr. R. Dehiya Ms L. Sethi and Dr. M. Rajyadhyaksha

Though the curriculum for our regular courses is set by the University, each department uses innovative teaching-learning methods. In addition, various activities were carried out under the theme of the year, ‘Education to Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Nature’ The following are some of the creative / innovative methods of teaching and learning: use of ICT, audio-visuals, OHP and Power-point presentations by teachers; the screening of films followed by discussion; class seminars, workshops and student presentations; field trips, guest lectures; wall newspapers; class debates and discussions; placement/internships; hands on research work; creative project and assignment work etc. The following are some examples of these: Use of ICT  For FYBA History Paper I, which is on the History of Mumbai and Maharashtra, aspects of geography of Maharashtra and Mumbai were taught using Google Earth. The TYBA History Single Major students were given a session in the computer laboratory to teach them how to access information from websites and how to acknowledge these.  The Psychology Department regularly uses various interactive ICT programmes in class such as the Live Psych, MyPsychLab etc.  For the FYBSc students of Mathematics a computer workshop on EXCEL and ‘MathLab for Unique Mathematical Functions’ was conducted in August 2011. In December 2011 an ICT workshop was organised for the students in which they learnt how to make power-point presentations and use MathMax software. On January 10, 2012, a one-day workshop on ‘Math – 3 d graphs using MathLab’ was held for the FYBSc mathematics students in the computer centre by Ms Sandra Mendes. The 11

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students also made power-point presentations on mathematicians like Euclid, Newton, Aryabhatta, Euler, Taylor, Lagrange, Pascal etc. The Education Departments gets its students to make power-point presentations on topics related to the syllabus as part of their internal assessment work. Ms Shraddha Prabhu (Microbiology Department) organised an E-learning workshop for her FYBSc class on November 22, 23 and 24, 2011.

Use of OHP, slides and power-point presentations: Teachers of various departments use the Overhead Projector and transparencies or slides and power-point presentations quite regularly. For example, in English Paper VIII a power-point presentation on ‘The Russian Revolution’ was shown, while for Paper VII there was one on ‘Thomas Hardy’ and for Paper IV one on ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and one on ‘The Theatre as a Playhouse’. For Paper V, ‘the History of English Language’ was presented both as a power-point presentation as well as through a lecture. In History, during the first term for FYBA Paper I, a power-point presentations on ‘Early Modes of Transport in Bombay’, ‘Architecture in Mumbai City’ etc. were shown. The SYBA students were shown power-point presentations on ‘Renaissance Art, Architecture and Sculpture’, ‘Indus Valley Civilisation’, ‘Buddhist Art and Architecture’ etc. For TYBA Paper VI power-point presentations on ‘Caves’ and ‘Numismatics’ were shown in class. The TYBA class was also shown a power-point on ‘History of Bombay’. In the second term, for the paper on Medieval India, power-point presentations or slide-shows on the topics ‘Art and Architecture of the Delhi Sultanate’, ‘Mughal Art and Architecture’, Vijayanagara Art and Architecture’ and ‘Bahmani Art and Architecture’ were shown to the TYBA class. The Zoology Department showed power-point presentations on topics such as ‘Arthropoda’ and ‘Mollusca’. Screening of relevant films / documentaries/VCDs:  The BMM Film Society: - ‘The Black Swan’ (June 17, 2011) - ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ (July 1, 2011) - ‘Million Dollar Baby’ (July 8, 2011) - ‘Where is the Friend’s Home’ (July 15, 2011) - ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ (July 23, 2011) - ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ (July 29, 2011) - ‘Chicago’ (August 6, 2011) - ‘Jogwa’ (August 19, 2011) - ‘ET: The Extra-Terrestrial’ (November 18, 2011) - ‘Silence of the Lambs’ (November 25, 2011) - ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ (January 13, 2012) - ‘Vertigo’ (January 21, 2012) - ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (January 27, 2012) - ‘Match Point’ (February 3, 2012) 12

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‘Persepolis’ (February 17, 2012)



Other film screenings by BMM - On August 20, 2011 there was the Film screening of the documentary film ‘Aamakar’ by Surabhi Sharma for all the BMM classes as part of the enrichment programme. - September 6, 2011: Ms. Harini Calamur screened two films, ‘The Story of India’ and ‘Freakonomics’, for the TYBMM Journalism class as a part of Feature and Opinion (Journalism course). - September 6, 2011: Documentary film ‘The Days that Shook the World: The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Hitler’s Suicide’, was screened for the FYBMM History class. - September 7, 2011: Vaishali Sinha screened and discussed ‘Made in India’, a film on surrogacy, for the FYBMM Sociology class. - September 10, 2011: Documentary film ‘India Untouched’, on the issue of untouchability in India, was screened for the FYBMM Sociology class. - November 19, 2011: the film ‘Land Gold Women’, written and directed by Avantika Hari, on the issue of honour killings, was screened for all the BMM classes. - November 29, 2011: TYBMM Journalism students viewed a documentary ‘The Corporation’ by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. - November 30, 2011: TYBMM Journalism students viewed a film ‘Wall Street’ directed by Oliver Stone, starring Shia LaBeouf, Michael Douglas and Carey Mulligan. - January 10, 2012: Ms Harini Calamur guided a film-viewing session of ‘News War Part 1’ by Director Raney Aronsan Rath, for the TYBMM Journalism class. - January 12, 2012: Ms Harini Calamur guided a film-viewing session of ‘News War Part 2, Part 3, Part 4’ by Director Raney Aronsan Rath, for the TYBMM Journalism class. - January 27, 2012: Ms Reena Agarwal guided a film-viewing session of ‘Bombay Our City’, by Anand Patwardhan, for the TYBMM Advertising students.



History Department regularly screened films / documentary films for its TYBA single major class touching on various issues related to the syllabi: - 21/6/11:'Truman Show' (Globalisation and Media) - 28/6/11: 'Ayatollah Khomeini ', a documentary film (Revolution in Iran) - 5/7/11: 'Crash' (Racism in USA) - 19/7/11: ‘Nero's Guests: The Age of Inequality' (Poverty) - 26/7/11: ‘The Inconvenient Truth' (Development and Environment ) - 2/8/11: 'Bicycle Thieves' (Poverty in post-war Europe) - 9/8/11: 'Letter of Iwo Jima' (World War II in Asia) - 5/9/11: 'Turning Against the West' (Racism in Japan during World War II) - 13/9/11: 'Death before Surrender' (Shintoism and Militarism in Japan during World War II ) - 15/9/11: ‘Little Miss Sunshine' (Subjectivity of Perception) - 27/9/11: ‘The Pianist' (Anti-Semitism in Poland ) 13

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15/11/11: ‘Mirch Masala’ (Women’s Rights) 14/12/11: ‘Krisallnacht and the Birth of Israel’ (Hitler and the Birth of Israel) 7/2/212: ‘Mussolini’ (Dictatorship in Italy) 14/2/12: ‘Hitler’ (Dictatorship in Germany)



The English Department organised regular film weekly screenings for its TYBA class in connection with Paper IX on Film and Literature. The following were screened: ‘The Bicycle Thieves’ (16/6/11), ‘Day for Night’ (23/6/11), ‘Rome, Open City’ (30/6/11),‘Psycho’, ‘Citizen Kane’, ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’, ‘Metropolis’, ‘Battleship Potemkin’, ‘Breathless’, ‘Rashomon’, ‘400 Blows’ (15/9/11), Zeffirelli’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (22/9/11), Luhraman’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (29/9/11), ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (BBC series) (17.11.11), Joe Wright’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ (24.11.11), Roman Polanski's ‘Macbeth’ (8.12.11), ‘Throne of Blood’ (15.12.11), ‘Maqbool’, ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman (19.1.12), and ‘Charulata’.



Others: - The Chemistry students of TYBSc were shown a film on the ‘Origin, Nature and Use of Radioactivity’ in July 2011. - The students of Political Science Paper IV were shown the film ‘Ram ke Naam’ on September 27, 2011. This was followed by a discussion. - The Zoology Department screened documentary films such as ‘Seasonal Forests’ for its FYBSc class on July 7, 2011 and ‘Deserts’ for its SYBSc class on October 1, 2011 from the Planet Earth Series during the first term. During the second term the following were screened: ‘Great Plains’ (November 17, 2011), ‘Life of Mammals: Return to Water’ (November 26, 2011), and ‘Drift Fishing’ (December 15, 2011) for the SYBSc class, and ‘Fresh Water’ (January 5, 2012) and ‘Recombinant Technology’ (January 13, 2012) for the FYBSc class. - The Psychology Department has a large number of videos and video clippings on various subject-related topics which were shown in class, usually integrated with the lecture. In addition, during the first term the film ‘Mathrubhoomi’ was screened and also the movie ‘Fly Away Home’. - The Philosophy Department screened the movie the movie ‘Matrix’ for its TYBA class on June 25, 2011; the movie ‘Fire’ for its SYBA class on July 4, 2011; ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ for the TYBA class on July 16, 2011; and the movie ‘Platoon’ for its SYBA class on February 3, 2012. - The Education Department screened ‘Taare Zameen Par’ for its SYBA class on February 13, 2012.

The Life Science Department has a ‘Movie Maker’s Club’ which met on many Saturdays in the year for the screening of movies followed by a discussion on the movie. Peer Teaching / Student Presentations:  For FYBA English Paper I students made presentations in class on various aspects related to The Man-Eater of Malgudi. In SYBA English Paper II, students gave introductions on Mathew Arnold and on Eunice de Souza; students, working in 14

groups, also did an analysis of three poems from Arun Kolatkar’s Jejuri which they presented in class. For SYBA English Paper III, students presented in class for the benefit of peers, the following background topics: ‘Early Indian Novel’ on September 13, 2011, ‘Early Indian Poetry’ on September 15, 2011, ‘Partition Literature’ on September 20, 2011, and ‘Diaspora Literature’ on September 22, 2011. In TYBA Paper VII there were student presentations on ‘The Life and Work of Tennyson’, ‘Life and Work of Browning’, and ‘Browning’s Patriot’. 

For TYBA History Paper VIII, students made presentations in class on topics such as ‘USA’s role in Vietnam’, ‘UNO and its Organisational Structure’, ‘Arab-Israeli Wars’, ‘Economic Miracle in Japan’ etc. during the first term.



The Psychology Department organised various student presentations in class, following which the teachers gave some additional information and explanation. In the FYBA Psychology class presentations were made by students on the following topics: ‘Problem Solving and Creative Thinking’, ‘Hunger Motivation’, ‘Eating Disorders’, ‘Freud’s Theory of Personality’, ‘NeoFreudians’, ‘Freud: Division of Mind and Personality’, ‘Trait Theories’ and ‘Behavioural Genetics’. For TYBA Paper VI on Industrial-Organisational Psychology, the following power-point presentations were made by student in class during the year: ‘Quality of Modern Leadership’, ‘Leadership Theories’, ‘Leader Member Exchange’, ‘Characteristics of Successful Leaders’, ‘Leadership Styles’, ‘Role of Power’, ‘Pressures and Problems of Leaders’, ‘Leader Functions’, ‘Diversity and Management’, ‘Working Mothers, Flexibility and Work-Life Balance’, ‘People of Indian Origin in Mauritius’, ‘Job Training’, ‘Performance Appraisal’, ‘Advertising Strategies for Effective Communication’, ‘Network Markets and their Marketing’. Some other presentations in the TY class for other papers included ‘Art Therapy’, ‘Effect and Handling Menopause’, ‘Street Children and their Problems’ etc.



A peer teaching instrumentation workshop was conducted in October –November 2009 by seniors of the Life Science Department (i.e. M.Sc. part II and a JRF) to induct their juniors (M.Sc. Part I) into good lab practices, basic instrumentation and protocols.

Participation by students in seminars, workshops, talks and sessions outside College  Some FYBSc students of Physics attended a lecture on Astronomy held at the Nehru Planetarium on July 16, 2011.  Some of the SYBMM and TYBMM (total 27 students) attended the ‘Citizen Journalism Workshop’ conducted by ‘Journalism Mentor’ at St. Andrew’s College, July 22 to 24, 2011.  Staff and TYBA S/M students of the English Department attended a two-day national seminar, entitled ‘From Script to Screen’ at St. Andrew’s College, Bandra, Mumbai, on September 9-10, 2011.

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Economics students, accompanied by a staff member, attended a panel discussion on the theme ‘India: A Sustainable Economic Power’ organised by NMIMS and BSE and held at the Bombay Stock Exchange on September 22, 2011. Two staff members and 18 TYBA students of the Sociology Department attended a one-day National Seminar held at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences on ‘Financial Accessibility of the Street Vendors in India: Cases of Inclusion and Exclusion’, on September 24, 2011. Six TYBA single major students of Sociology attended an International Conference on ‘Global Communication – 2011 and International Communication Fest (ICF) – Ankura 2011’, held at Bengaluru University, November 17-18, 2011. Two TYBA History students attended a workshop on Indian Art and Architecture organised by Heras Institute, July 11-15, 2011. Some students attended a talk on ‘Bombay and the HK Maritime Linkages in the Colonial Period’ organised by the Maritime History Society on July 15, 2011. A few attended a talk by Dr. Tristram Hunt on ‘Marx, Engels and Colonialism’ held at St. Xavier’s College on November 25, 2011. A number of History students attended the international seminar on ‘Krishnadevaraya and His Times: Cultural Perspectives’, held by the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute on December 7-8, 2011. FYBSc Physics students were taken to the Nehru Science Centre on January 21, 2012 for their Science Festival and move screening on the evolution of our planet earth. MSc Analytical Chemistry students participated in an ‘Industry Academia Conclave’, organised by BASF, and held at the Seminar Area of the Indo-German Urban Mela, on April 19, 2012.

Field trips:  The Life Science Department organized an industrial visit to United Breweries for its TYBSc students on June 16, 2011.  On July 3, 2011 the Chemistry Department organised a monsoon trip to Lohagad.  On July 30, 2011, the Economics Department organised an educational trip to Khandala.  During the first term, the TYBA students of History were taken to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya for an exhibition on Sir Gilbert Scott on July 30, 2011, and to the RBI Numismatics Museum on September 17, 2011. After the latter visit, they were also taken on a walking tour of the Fort and Churchgate areas of Mumbai city.  On September 3-4, 2011, the Department of Life Science organised its annual ‘Khandala Workshop’ for its students of TYBSc and MSc. The staff of the department and 45 students attended the workshop at which MSc Part II students made presentations on their projects. Dr. Robin Mukhopadhyaya of ACTREC, Mumbai, and Mr. Annirudha Chouji from Pugmarks, Pune, were the outside resource persons at this workshop.  The SYBSc students of Zoology were taken on a field trip to Taraporevala Aquarium on September 9, 2011. 16





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On September 20 – 21, 2011, a two-day field trip and off site seminar for FYBMM students was held at the Yusuf Merally Center, Karnala. The seminar had three objectives: first, a Sociological academic seminar; second, a cocurricular rural orientation programme to sensitise the students; lastly, with the help of various group therapy sessions, introspective and retrospective exercises and trust exercises to bring about a greater self awareness among the students. The Economics Department took students for a visit to the Bombay Stock Exchange on September 22, 2011. On the same day some students accompanied by one staff member attended a panel discussion at the Stock Exchange on ‘India: A Sustainable Economic Power’. On December 8, 2011, the Microbiology Department took SYBSc students to visit the Nehru Science Centre The Microbiology Department organised a field trip for its FY, SY, TY and MSc Part I students to Pune on December 22-23, 2011, in order to visit the Serum Institute and Govardhan Diary. Four staff members of the department accompanied the students on this trip. On September 22, 2011, the MSc Part I and II students of Biochemistry visited PRS Permacel, an Indo Swiss venture. On January 10, 2011 the FYBSc Microbiology class was taken on a visit to Jijamata Udyan (Zoo) at Byculla. On January 11, 2012, the History Department took its TYBA students to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya to visit the museum and three exhibitions that were on display, namely the Maritime Exhibition, an exhibition on Headgear and an exhibition on Kalighat paintings. On January 21, 2012, the Physics Department took students to the Nehru Science Centre and Nehru Planetarium. On January 23, 2011, the SYBSc class of Microbiology was taken on a visit to Shantivan. The QA Department took its students on a field trip to Bangalore and Mysore from February 2 to 10, 2012. In Bangalore they visited Bangalore Dairy, National Dairy, Research Institute, Brittania Biscuits, Hindustan Unilever, and Monsanto. In Mysore they visited the Silk Factory and the Central Food Technology and Research Centre. A field trip was organised for its FYBSc class by the Life Science Department to the Mangroves at Vikhroli on February 3, 2012. A field trip to Taraporevala Aquarium was organised by the Zoology Department for its FYBSc class on February 8, 2012. On February 12, 2012, FYBA and SYBA History students were taken on an opendeck bus trip around South Mumbai to view the heritage buildings. On February 18, 2012, the History Department organised a field trip to Elephanta Caves for its TYBA class. February 10-11, 2012, the TYBMM students went for a field trip to the Yusuf Meherally Centre at Karnala for a seminar which had three objectives: an academic seminar on contemporary issues, a rural orientation programme, 17

introspective and retrospective exercises to bring about greater self awareness and group bonding. Guest lectures / sessions: The BMM Department organised interactive sessions, talks and other creative sessions, especially on Saturdays for the students:  On July 2, 2011, Dr. Aloke Thakore conducted an interactive session on ‘Communications’ with the students of all three classes.  On July 16, 2011, Paromita Vohra, well-known documentary film-maker, screened her film ‘Partners in Crime’, followed by a discussion.  On July 29, 2011, Mrs. Reena Agarwal conducted a session with SYBMM on ‘Amar Chitra Katha and the Construction of Identities’ as part of their Cultural Studies course.  On July 30, 2011, eight former students of the department, who are now media professionals, had an interactive session with the current students of all three years to share their work experiences and to speak about career choices and to evaluate the academic programme at the undergraduate level with reference to professional requirements.  On August 5, 2011 an interactive session was conducted by Smruti Koppikar, Associate Editor (West) Outlook, on ‘Why Journalism? The Journalist’s Role in Society’.  September 3, 2011: an interactive session was conducted by Kiran Rao on the five stages of film making.  September 9, 2011: Abhay Kumar screened and discussed his film ‘Just that Sort of a Day’.  September 17, 2011: Subir Chatterjee conducted a workshop on narration in film, editing films and the making of advertising films.  November 26, 2011: an interactive session was conducted by the national and international award-winning filmmaker Ram Madhvani, Equinox Films, on ‘The Craft of Advertising Films: the Making of the Airtel and Bisleri Advertisements’.  December 10, 2011: An interactive session was held with Dr. Binayak Sen, Magsaysay award winner, National Rural Health Scheme programme developer and Human Rights activist.  January 14, 2011: An interactive session was conducted by Amba Salelkar, criminal lawyer, and Siddharta Sarangal on ‘Women and the Law’.  January 21, 2012: An interactive session was conducted by Neeta Kolhatkar, Bureau Chief News X Channel Senior Assistant Editor at DNA newspaper.  January 28, 2012: Film viewing and interactive session with Sr. Eileen Gaitonde, Directress, S. P. J. Sadhana School. A short film of the work of the Sadhana School was screened, and it was followed by a question and answer session with Sr. Gaitonde. The BMM Department also organised training programmes by experts that were conducted over a number of sessions: 18



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An Advanced Computer Skills Workshop was conducted by Mr. Andrew Gonsalves of ‘Font and Pixel Media Pvt. Ltd.’ for the TYBMM Journalism class during the first term, in order to give the students in depth knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and Quark Xpress. Dr. Aloke Thakore conducted special sessions on ‘Newspaper and Magazine Making’ for the TYBMM Journalism class during the first term. During the first term, an in-service training with the advertising agency ‘Yes, Yes. Why Not’, was organised for the TYBMM advertising class wherein each student spent 8-10 hours on two consecutive days writing a brief, participating in a brainstorming session leading to the production of a “Mind Map” and making one advertisement. The project was supervised by Mr. Tapan Mody.

Other sessions / guest lectures held for BMM students:  August 2, 2011: Dr. Sufiya Pathan conducted a session on ‘Orientalism’ with the SYBMM for Cultural Studies.  September 7, 2011: Vaishali Sinha screened and discussed ‘Made in India’, a film on surrogacy, for FYBMM Sociology.  September 14, 2011: Supriya Nair, journalist, Mint Lounge, discussed Urdu Journalism in India and Mumbai with the TYBMM Journalism students.  September 16, 2011: An interactive session with Manisha Lakhe on film criticism was organised for the SYBMM and TYBMM (Journalism) students.  September 17 and 28, 2011: An interactive session with Shoaib Ahmed, CNN IBN on ‘Reporting’ was organised for TYBMM Journalism students.  September 23, 2011: Dr. Aloke Thakore conducted a session on ‘Newspaper and Magazine making’ for TYBMM Journalism.  November 23, 2011: TYBMM students attended an interactive session with Professor Sudhakar Solomon Raj on ‘The Geo Political History of the 20th Century’. Others:  On June 20, 2011, the Departments of Psychology and Life Science held a guest lecture by Neha Gothe of the University of Illinois on ‘Kinesiology and Community Health’.  The Life Science Department invited Dr. Momna Hejmadi of the University of Bath, U.K., to give a lecture on ‘Hypoxia and Mutants of C.elegans’ on June 24, 2011.  Mrs Hira Steven gave two guest lectures to the TYBA S/M students of the English Department on ‘The Language of Film’ on June 21 and 28, 2011.  Ex-students Sharanya Murali (who has just done her MA in “Staging Shakespeare” at the University of Exeter, UK) and Pallavi Patel (doing MA Part II at the University of Delhi) addressed the SYBA Eng A/M students in August 2011 about what studying literature has done for them, and the possibilities that open up after a BA in English Literature.  On August 10, 2011, the Life Science Department organised a lecture by Dr. Kaumidi Joshi, University of Pennsylvania, USA, on ‘Gene Duplication and Evolution of Cortex’. 19

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On September 7, 2011, the Chemistry Department organised a lecture on the ‘Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy’. On September 12, 2011, the English Department organised a guest lecture by Parvati Sharma, an author of contemporary Indian literature, who read out excerpts from her collection of short stories entitled ‘The Dead Camel and Other Stories and Other Stories of Love’. On September 17, 2011, the Departments of Psychology and Life Science organised two guest lectures on ‘Functional MRI’ by Dr. Wayne Lee and Dr. Margot Taylor both from the Hospital for Sick Kids, Toronto, Canada. Faculty and students from others colleges as well as some from KEM hospital attended these talks. On September 17, 2011, the Chemistry Department organised a talk by Dr. P. Chobe of BASF on the ‘Scope and Importance of Analytical Chemistry’. The Biochemistry Department organised some sessions with guest speakers for its MSc Part I students, e.g. on ‘Chromatography’ by Prof. P. Nabar on September 14, 2011, on ‘Perfumery’ by Prof. P. Nabar on September 20, 2011 and two sessions on personality development by Mr. Hoshang Velati on September 7 and 21, 2011. On November 21, 2011 the English and History Departments organised a guest lecture by Anna Funder, an Australian novelist, who read excerpts of her book ‘All that I Am’, followed by discussion. On November 24, 2011, the History Department organised a guest lecture by Prof. Frank Conlon on ‘Bombay’s Trams’. On December 8, 2011, the English Department invited Dr. Shireen Vakil to give a lecture on Polanski’s ‘Macbeth’. On December 10, 2011, the Department of Chemistry organised a popular science lecture on ‘The Life and Work of Marie Curie’ by Dr. Reddy, Head of the department of Analytical Chemistry at BARC (in commemoration of the Centenary of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry which was conferred on December 10, 2011). On December 19, 2011, the Department of Chemistry hosted a popular science lecture, sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry – West India, as the closing function of the International Year of Chemistry – 2011, on ‘The Role of Chemistry in Moulding Materials of the Future’ by Dr. Sourav Pal, Director of the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. The talk was chaired by Dr. Nand Kishore, Head of the Chemistry Department of IIT – Mumbai. On December 21, 2011, the English Department organised a guest lecture by Prof. Akeel Bilgrami, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Humanities of Columbia University, on ‘The Political Possibilities of the Long Romantic Period’. The Economics Department organised talk by Mr. Purv Shah of the Bombay Stock Exchange on ‘Financial Markets’ on January 13, 2012. On February 11, 2012, Dr. Sanjana Seth gave a talk to the FYBA Psychology class on ‘Personality Assessment’. The Life Science Department invited Dr. Shubha Tole, of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, to address its students on ‘How to do Scientific and Thesis writing’ on February 22, 2012. 20



The Life Science Department also invited a number of its former MSc students, who are currently doing doctoral research at various prestigious institutions in India to share on their research work with the current MSc students.

Class debates and discussions, quizzes:  The Economics Department organised a debate on July 26, 2011 on the topic ‘An Ordinary Hawaldar Today has to be Corrupt if he Wishes to Survive’.  The Departments of Life Science, Philosophy and Education organised a discussion on the Jan Lokpal Bill on August 26, 2011.  On December 10, 2011 the Chemistry Department organised an inter-collegiate Chemistry quiz. This was held in commemoration of the centenary of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry (conferred on December 10, 1911). Internships / Placements and other forms of experiential learning:  FYBA students of Sociology are sent to work with NGOs such as Alert India which works for the eradication of Leprosy, and Akanksha which works for the education of underprivileged children.  Psychology students of SYBA Paper III are placed with NGOs working with the underprivileged or handicapped in order to give them an exposure to career opportunities in Psychology and to provide them with skill training. The students submit a written report on their experience.  Six students of Economics were selected through interviews conducted in College for Internship at HDFC Subject-related activities going beyond the syllabi:  The Chemistry Department organised a number of activities through the ChemClub. For example, intra-collegiate poster and Chem-crossword competitions were held on July 27 and 29, 2011 respectively. An intercollegiate poster and Chemcrossword competition was also organised on August 2, 2011, for the Chemistry students of South Mumbai colleges as part of the celebrations of the ‘International Year of Chemistry – 2011’.  The FYBSc Mathematics students were asked to present posters in class on any one application of the topics that they were studying. The topics on which students made poster presentations were ‘Simpson’s Paradox’, ‘Hilbert’s Hotel Paradox’, ‘Tanagram’, ‘Tower of Hanoi’, ‘Cantor’s Paradox’, ‘Four-colour Problem’, Boolean Algebra’, Game of Nim’, ‘Seven Bridges of Konigsburg’ etc.  The Microbiology Department held a festival called M-Xtravaganza on December 21, 2011, at which various events and competitions related to the subject were organised. The events included Micro-housie; poster display on topics such as ‘Genetically Modified Organisms – pros and cons’, ‘Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria’ and ‘Bioremediation’; Movie making on topics such as ‘Extreme Microbes’, ‘A Day with a Microbiologist’ and ‘Microbes – Angels or Devils?’; a quiz competition; and a treasure hunt.

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The Philosophy Department celebrated ‘Philosophy Day’ on January 20, 2012, which was attended by students of all three classes of the degree college. A number of fun-related activities all connected with Philosophy were held on this day.

Creative projects, assignment work teaching methods:  For the SYBA Applied Component paper on Nutrition and Dietetics, the students were each given a dietary score card and a food guide pyramid in order that they could monitor their eating habits on a daily basis and analyse the scores. Wall-newspaper / Update board: The Microbiology Department has an update board where newspaper articles on current developments in the field of Microbiology are regularly displayed. Mentoring:  The English department had a Contact Group system for the TYBA S/M class; the students were met regularly throughout the year to solve difficulties, to forge a closer relationship and give individual attention. The department also had google groups for its TYBA single and double major groups. These groups were used extensively to provide e-material to the students.  Many other departments, e.g. History, kept in contact with their third year students through Facebook groups. Self-Study Programmes:  TYBA History Paper IX is on General Knowledge and Current Affairs. This paper is mainly done through the self-study method. For General Knowledge, various topics are assigned to the students and they are given weekly tests. Current Affairs is taught by students taking up topics which they research and on which they write précis, for circulation to classmates after the same has been corrected by the teacher. Exhibitions:  The Microbiology Department organised an exhibition showcasing Career Options in Microbiology on December 8 and 9, 2011 which was visited not only by students of Sophia College, but also children from Anjuman-e-Islam School and Greenlawns School.  The Chemistry Department, in collaboration with the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, organised an exhibition on ‘Atomic Energy and its Uses for Peaceful Purposes’ for school children from December 9 to 10, 2011. This was held in commemoration of the centenary of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry and to celebrate the International Year of Chemistry – 2011. Remedial Teaching / Enhancement Classes:  Students of the FYBA Com Skills Group A, have special remedial classes as well as weekly tutorial sessions in language skills. 22





The Economics Department organised a number of remedial coaching / enhancement classes during both terms: Ms Vartika Arora from CRISIL and Ms Anuradha Pandey conducted remedial coaching in SYBA Economics; an Economics Enhancement Course for TYBA Paper VI was conducted by Ms Fatema Shahabuddin. The Chemistry Department organised remedial coaching in English for some of its students who were weak in English.

4. INTER-DISCIPLINARY PROGRAMMES STARTED: Interdisciplinary / Interdepartmental / Intercollegiate programme conducted:  Sept. 7, 2012: A talk on ‘Nuclear Energy’ by Dr. Ignat Mendes was attended by the students of the Departments of History, Mathematics and Statistics and Political Science. In addition, many of the seminars conducted during the year were interdisciplinary in nature.

5. EXAMINATION REFORMS IMPLEMENTED: Among our on-going examination reform initiatives are the following:  From this year the University of Mumbai has introduced the semester-cum-credit based grading system, beginning with the FY class of 2011-12. Under this scheme, regular class tests were administered and assignments were given to the students.  Internal Assessment Scheme: Although the University system does not require it, at Sophia we have the system of continuous testing and evaluation for other classes as well. For the second year class, a schedule of tests, assignments and projects for the year in every paper is drawn up and the comprehensive schedule is displayed on the student notice-board. For the Third Year classes, generally two tests/assignments are held in the First Term and one in the Second Term.  Unsupervised Examination Scheme: This was introduced for the first time in 1969, the Gandhi Birth Centenary Year. Since then, with modifications it has continued. The facility of unsupervised tests and examinations is only offered to the Third Year classes.  Analysis of performance at tests and examinations is also a practice at Sophia College. All the teachers discuss the test and examination papers with their respective classes. Question Banks are also given to students. Some use creative evaluation method such as quizzes, crosswords, open books tests etc.

6. NUMBER OF CANDIDATES QUALIFIED IN NET/SLET: Nil 23

7. INITIATIVE TOWARDS FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME In order to strengthen the teaching-learning process, as well as for the enhancement of teacher quality, the faculty members are encouraged to keep abreast with the latest developments in their field by the book grant scheme every year (whereby all permanent teachers are given reimbursement for any book bought for personal work up to Rs. 500/per teacher) and also by encouraging them to attend seminars, conferences and workshops as follows. Regular staff seminars for the entire teaching faculty are a feature at Sophia. In addition, staff members are encouraged to attend seminars and workshops outside college and to take up research assignments (details are given under other questions 8 and 9). The following attended Orientation / Refresher Courses during the year:  

Ms Shraddha Prabhu (Dept. of Microbiology) attended a Refresher Course in Biosciences, organised by the UGC Academic Staff College, University of Mumbai, and held at Guru Nanak Khalsa College from September 26 to October 15, 2011. Ms Sirisha Murthy (Dept. of Chemistry) attended an Orientation Course held by the Academic Staff College from February 7 to March 6, 2012.

8. TOTAL NUMBER OF SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS: a) SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS CONDUCTED: Staff Seminars  An orientation for new staff members was held on two afternoons, namely, on June 9 and June 16, 2011. It was organised by Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal. Sessions were conducted by Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese, Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal, Ms Swarupa Kamat and Mr. Ivan John.  On February 25, 2012 there was a staff seminar on ‘Gender Concerns in Women's Studies and Women's Movement in a Contemporary Context’. The resource person was Dr. Vibhuti Patel.  On March 21, 2012 a workshop for teaching staff on ‘Common Health Problems of Teachers and Remedies Using Ergonomics and Physiotherapy’ was conducted by Dr. K.S. Ramakrishnan and colleague. Seminars Conducted by Departments (held in College and attended by students and faculty, besides outsiders) in many cases):  The workshop on ‘Investigative, Financial and Magazine Journalism’, conducted by Professors Steve Schifferes, Barbara Rowlands and Rosie Waterhouse of the Postgraduate department of Journalism, City University, London, on August 1, 2011. It 24

was attended by the SYBMM and TYBMM Journalism students as well as by some of the TYBA students. 

The National Level Seminar, organised by Sahitya Academy, Delhi, jointly with our Department of English was held on September 16-17-18, 2011, on ‘Idea of the Demonic in the Indian Tradition’. The seminar was conducted by Dr. Alok Bhalla, Convener, English Board, Sahitya Akademi. The keynote speaker, Mr. Prasanna, well-known Kannada theatre personality, threw open the seminar with the thoughtprovoking distinction that the Indian traditions, unlike the Western Christian traditions, did not see good and evil as being mutually exclusive polarities. The seminar took up this and many other such insights for close examination. The papers presented were clearly from inter-disciplinary perspectives and speakers included experts in Literature, Anthropology, Psychology, Psychiatry and Indology. The areas of investigation were also extremely varied, covering the idea of the ‘rakshasas’ or ‘dasyus’ in the Indian traditions and how we may interpret these figures through literary and psychological approaches; cases of ‘possession’ and its treatment in the Indian traditions; the study of tribal practices related to blood sacrifices and to temples dedicated to the ‘anti-heroes’ such as Duryodhana in the Mahabharata. The seminar very interestingly wove together scientific, social and literary approaches to the notion of the ‘demonic’ while also staying conscious of the political implications of such a category and its use in history.



The one-day city level seminar organised by the Department of Microbiology on September 17, 2011, on ‘Understanding Mathematical Concepts in Biology’.



The Lecture-Workshop on ‘Science in Research and Industry’ organised on November 25, 2011, by the Department of Biochemistry



The National level Refresher Course on ‘Techniques in Neurosciences – From Behaviour to Molecules’ conducted by the Department of Life Science, Sophia College for Women, from November 23 to December 8, 2011. This refresher course was aimed at providing hands on training in model systems to study neurosciences at organismic, cellular and molecular level. The course was conducted by kind support of the Science Academies, The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore; Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi; Indian National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad. Eleven out station candidates from various parts of the country and nine local candidates were selected from a large number who responded to the announcement in Current Science, August 25, 2011.The faculty consisted of eminent scientists/ Professors. The academic session started with a brilliant introduction to basic anatomy of the human brain and the imaging methodology (especially FMRI) used to understand its function by Dr. Meher Ursekar. The new and complex science of cognitive neurobiology was discussed by Dr. N. Srinivasan. Dr. H. Ramachandran and Dr. A. 25

Lobo demonstrated how these protocols were actually used. A day-long session on overview on Drosophila and its use as models for neurodegenerative diseases was conducted by Prof. Subash Lakhotia. An equally exciting session was conducted by Dr. Sandhya Kaushika on maintenance and neurobiology of Ceanorabhditis elegans. The third module, in vitro systems in neurobiology, was introduced by Dr. Rajani Bhisey on tissue culture and cell lines. The microscopy and microphotography session was conducted by Dr. Nishigandha Naik. A long laboratory session with hands-on experience was provided by Dr. Yasmin Khan, Mr. Mustafa Motiwala and Ms Archana Iyer. A part of this aspect was continued in NIRRH (National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health) as demonstration of confocal microscopy by Dr. Nafisa Balasinor and flow cytometry by Dr. Shraboni Mukherjee. The session on molecular techniques used to elucidate differential gene function was conducted by Dr. Rita Mukhopadhyaya and Ms. J Italia. The extension of this module was demonstration of Real Time PCR by Dr. Gitanjali Sachdeva and microarray technology by Dr. Deepak Modi at NIRRH. A very enlightening set of sessions using state-of-art technology were conducted at NIRRH by Dr. Smita Mahale, si RNA by Dr. Deepak Modi and proteomics by Dr. Vrinda Khole / Dr. Kaushiki Kadam. The Biostatistics session was conducted by Ms. Sandra Mendes. Dr. M.C. Arunan conducted a session on neuroscience education. Dr. Padma Shastry gave an overview on how to write a project proposal. The participants were encouraged to write project proposals which were presented by the participants and evaluated by a very senior scientist, namely Dr. H.S. Juneja, Ex –Director, NIRRH. The refresher course included a visit to the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and interactions with the eminent scientist Dr. Shubha Tole. The participants also attended a talk organized on the campus by Ms Medha Patkar. 

The National Symposium on ‘Is Sustainable Development a Distant Dream: in the context of Gender Equity’, on December 7-8, 2011, organized jointly by the Economics Department and the Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development. This was partly funded by the grant from UGC for ‘Human Rights and Ethics Education’ that the College had received. It included the following:  Address by Chief Guest by Prof. Maithreyi Krishnaraj  Key Note Address by Ms. Anne Stenhammer, Regional Programme Director, UN Women South Asia  Address by Ms Medha Patkar  Valedictory address by Dr. Vibhuti Patel (SNDT Women’s University) and papers by:  Dr. Indra Munshi (EPW) on "Losing Ground: Land and Forest Issues Concerning The Adivasi Women" 26

 Prof. (Dr.) Padmini Swaminathan (TISS) on “Mainstreaming Gender, Engendering Development: Re-Interpreting Existing Policies to Achieve Gender Justice”  Dr. Anuradha Jain & Ms. Ashima Gureja (Delhi) on “Achieving sustainable development by reducing exploitation of women: with special reference to media”  Prof.(Dr.) Alka Parikh (DAIICT) on “Women in Agriculture”  Ms. Sangeeta Dubey (Sophia College) on “BT cotton & Employment”  Ms. Swati Vaidya (B.M. Ruia Girl’s College) on “Common Property Resources in Mumbai”  Ms. Minal Mapuskar (Kirti College) on “Development Induced Displacement : a gender perspective”  Ms. Nisha Yadav (Sophia College) on “Sustainability of Urbanization”  Dr. Veena Poonacha (RCWS) on “Maharashtra’s Experience with Micro finance”  Dr. Suniti Nagpurkar (VES College) on “Marching towards equality: a journey continues…..”  Ms.Sunita Jadhav (Sophia College) on “The Economic Empowerment of the SHG members in the Mumbai district of MAVIM”  Ms. Uzma Nahid (IIWA) on “The Poverty of the Indian women & Solutions” and a presentation by the Economics students of Sophia College on “ Invisible Hands of the Rural India”. 

The UGC-sponsored National Seminar on ‘Human Rights Education’ hosted by the Department of Education in collaboration with the Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development, on December 13, 2011. The National Seminar was inaugurated by Justice Kshitij Vyas, Chairperson of the State Human Rights Commission, while the Keynote Address was given by Justice Suresh Hosbet, Chairperson of the Human Rights Law Network. The Panel Discussion on “Human Rights & Relevance of Educational Practices” was moderated by Prof. Kannamma Raman, Prof and Head, Dept of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai. The panelists included Ms. Simantini Dhuru, Human Rights Educator, Mumbai, Mr. Ravi Nair, Executive Director of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC), New Delhi, Mr. R.Thirunavukkarasu, Associate Director, Institute of Human Rights Education, People's Watch, Tamil Nadu, and Mr. Avkash Jadhav, Associate Professor, Department of History, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. From an academic perspective this National Seminar focussed on Human Rights Education - Teaching, Training and Research; for the creation of an awareness of Human Rights for promotion of Peace, Non-Violence and Conflict Resolution. The main thrust of the seminar was on the global perspective of Human Rights Education to sensitize college and university students, teachers, administrators and the general population on Human Rights. The Seminar also focused on Human Rights problems at various levels – Local, Regional, National levels that dealt with issues pertaining to rights of women, disabled persons, minority groups & other disadvantaged groups in India. Student presentations on “Right to Education” were followed by paper27

presentations on “Human Rights & Relevance of Educational Practices”, “Gender Disparities in Education”, “Human Rights Education and Access to Education” and “Formal and Non-formal Modes in Education” by Teachers, NGOs and Researchers. 

This year's Mumbai-themed International seminar at Sophia College, ‘Women’s Spaces, Women’s Voices in Mumbai’, was organized by the Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development in collaboration with the Departments of English and Mass Media, Sophia College, and the Social Communications Media Department, Sophia Polytechnic on January 6-7, 2012. It was an interdisciplinary seminar attended by around 500 people, including many students. The two-day event included paper readings by academics and students, panel discussions, a screening of films made by students, as well as talks and performances by well-known women artists. This was jointly funded by the Luigi and Laura Dallapiccola Foundation, UK, and the UGC Human Rights Education Programme.



The city-level workshop and seminar organised by Diploma in Clinical Analysis and the Microbiology Department on ‘Hemostasis – The Thick and Thin of It All!’ on February 12, 2012. The speakers and their topics were: - Dr. Shanaz Khodaiji: ‘Quality Control in Coagulation’ - Dr. Rajesh Munde: ‘Normal Hemostasis’ - Dr. Kunal Sehgal: ‘Principles of Basic Coagulation Assays’ - Dr. Tina Dadu: ‘Case Based Studies’ Besides the talks, there was also a presentation on ‘Manual v/s Optical Methods in Coagulation’.

Seminars Conducted / Papers read at Seminars and Conferences / Public Lectures Delivered by Staff Members Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese (Dept. of History, Principal) presented:  The following papers at an International Seminar on “Krishnadevaraya and His Times: Cultural Perspectives”, organised by the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, Mumbai, on January 7-8, 2011: - ‘Krishnadevaraya and the development of South Indian Temple Architecture’ - ‘Growth of the Capital City of Vijayanagara under Krishnadevaraya and the Tuluvas’  A paper on ‘Ramayana at Vijayanagara: Sacred Topography, Temples and Culture’ at the National Seminar held at the Ananthacharya Institute, Mumbai, on March 24-25, 2012 on ‘Valmiki Ramayana: with Reference to Ethics, Religion, Philosophy and Social Life in It’. Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal (Dept. of English and Hon. Coordinator of Sophia Women’s Centre):  Presented a paper ‘Through a Glass Darkly: Artistic Representations of Biblical Women’ at two day national seminar on “From Script to Screen” at St. Andrew’s 28

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College, Bandra on September 9-10, 2011, and also chaired a session on ‘Literature in Art, Music and Drama’. Gave the keynote address at a one-day seminar on “Myth” at Jai Hind College, at which she was the chief guest, on August 10, 2011. Presented a paper on ‘Chick Lit literature in Mumbai’ at the National Seminar on “Women’s Spaces, Women’s Voices” held at Sophia College on January 6-7, 2012.

While on her Fulbright Teaching Fellowship in the US:  Was invited, with all expenses paid, to the Sacred Heart School at Atherton, California, USA, March 24-25, 2012, where she lectured to the Class XI and XII students on Indian Postcolonial writing, and on E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India. She also delivered a lecture to faculty and students on ‘Education of Girls and Women in the Indian Context’. On March 25, she was a resource person at the India Project Retreat for faculty and senior students.  Was invited to Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA, with all expenses paid, from April 11 to 13, 2012. Here she gave a public lecture on ‘Myth, Folklore and Gender-role Prescriptions in India’ at the University, attended by about 200 people. She also gave a lecture to the undergraduate and postgraduate students of the English Department, on ‘Women Writing in India’. Further, she interacted with a number of faculty members of the English, Women’s Studies, History and Sociology Departments.  Gave a flash seminar organised by the Information Technology Services, the Faculty Development Center for Ignatian Pedagogy, and the University Libraries, Loyola University, Chicago, on April 18, 2012, on ‘Buddhism: a Non-violent Path to Subversion’.  Attended an international conference on “Women and Labour” at Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, USA, April 20-21, 2012. Here, she presented a paper on ‘Woman’s Body Reified: an Examination of Woman’s Work in some stories by Mahasweta Devi’ and also was part of a panel discussion on ‘The Work We Do: a Labor of Love and Necessity’. Also, on April 19, she gave a lecture to the students of the Women’s Studies Department, on ‘Myth, Folklore and GenderRole Stereotypes in India’.  Gave a public lecture on April 23, 2012, which was open to faculty and students of Loyola University, Chicago, as well as to members of the public, entitled ‘Heart to Heart: the Intimate Discourse of Women Mystic Poets’. Ms Jaya Kanoria (Dept. of English) attended the National Seminar “Women’s Spaces, Women’s Voices in Mumbai” held at Sophia College on January 6-7, 2012, where she presented a paper on ‘Mother and Daughter: Stagestruck in Mumbai’. Dr. Sufiya Pathan (Dept. of English) was invited with all expenses paid to attend the Third International Conference on “Rethinking Religion in India: European Representations and Indian Responses”, held at Pardubice, Czech Republic, October 11 to 14, 2011, where she presented a paper on ‘Secularism: the Indian Trajectory’. 29

Ms Sunita Jadhav (Dept. of Economics):  Presented a paper on ‘The Economic Empowerment of the SHG Members in the Mumbai District of Mahila Arthik ’ at the National Seminar held at Sophia College on December 7-8, 2012 on “Is Sustainable Development a Distant Dream: in the context of Gender Equity?”.  Presented a paper on ‘Harmonising Urbanisation for Inclusive Growth’ on February 7, 2012 at a seminar on “Urbanisation in India- Prospects and Challenges”, organised by Shailendra College, Dahisar. Ms Nisha Jadhav Dept. of Economics):  Presented a paper on ‘Urban Sustainability and Women’ at the National Seminar held at Sophia College on December 7-8, 2012 on “Is Sustainable Development a Distant Dream: in the context of Gender Equity?”.  Presented a paper on ‘Urban Sustainability’ on February 7, 2012 at a seminar on “Urbanisation in India- Prospects and Challenges”, organised by Shailendra College, Dahisar. Ms Anagha Tendulkar (Dept. of Sociology) attended:  A National Seminar on “Sociology in India and the Bombay School: Retrospect and Prospects”, organised by the Department of Sociology, University of Mumbai and the Indian Sociological Society, on September 23-24, 2011, where she presented a paper on ‘Doing and Teaching Research at the Undergraduate Level’.  The “Indian Sociological Society – Diamond Jubilee Celebrations, XXXVII All India Sociological Conference”, at the Centre for Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, on December 11-13, 2011, where she presented a paper titled ‘Federation of Senior Citizen’s Organisations of Maharashtra: A Case Study of the Mumbai Region’. She also chaired a session. Dr. (Ms) Jennie Mendes (Dept. of Psychology) attended a two-day National Seminar on “Adolescence: A Journey from conflict to Integration” held at St. Xavier’s College, Goa, September 23-24, 2011, where she presented a paper on ‘Boredom Interest Continuum in the Adolescent: A Cognitive Model’. Sr. Patricia D’Souza (Dept. of Psychology) attended a two-day National Seminar on “Adolescence: A Journey from conflict to Integration” held at St. Xavier’s College, Goa, September 23-24, 2011, where she presented a paper on ‘Home Environment and Self Esteem through the Lenses of Adolescence’. Dr. Aninha Lobo (Dept. of Psychology) and Dr. Hemlatha Ramachandran (Dept. of Life Science) attended the XXIst Annual Convention of National Academy of Psychology (NAOP_ held at Anand, December 12-14, 2011, where they presented a paper titled ‘The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Attention’. Dr. Aninha Lobo (Dept. of Psychology) and Dr. Hemlatha Ramachandran (Dept. of Life Science) made the following presentations along with MSc Life Science students: 30

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‘Music and EEG’, at the one-day research meet in “Biotechnology, Environmental Science and Phytochemicals”, at Jai Hind College, Mumbai, on December 10, 2011 (Poster presentation). ‘The effect of Aerobic Exercise on Attention’, at the XXI Annual Convention held in Indian Rural Management Anand, Gujarat held on December 12-14, 2011 (Oral Presentation). ‘The effect of Mindful music listening on attention and mood’, at the International Symposium on “Current Trends of Life Sciences held at Department of Life Sciences”, University of Mumbai, Kalina on March 9, 2012 (Poster presentation). ‘Study of preferred music on attention with mild / moderate dementia patients’, at the International Symposium on “Current Trends of Life Sciences held at Department of Life Sciences”, University of Mumbai, Kalina on March 9, 2012 (Poster presentation).

Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha and Dr. Yasmin Khan (Dept. of Life Science) made the following presentation along with MSc Life Science students:  ‘Investigation on glial cell death in response to two independent stresses - hypoxia and glutamate toxicity’, at the DAE-BRNS Life Sciences Symposium (LSS2011) on “Advances in Molecular and Cell Biology of Stress Response”, held at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, on September 14, 2011.  ‘Study of regeneration of zebrafish caudal fin and characteristics of regenerating cells in vitro’, at the UGC sponsored National Conference on “Evolution of Research and Development in Bio Sciences”, conducted by Department of Life Sciences, K. C. College, Mumbai, on January 5-6, 2012 (Poster presentation). Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha (Dept. of Life Science) made the following presentation along with MSc Life Science students:  ‘Caenorhabditis elegans- a model system to study the effect of stress on behaviour’, at the DAE-BRNS Life Sciences Symposium (LSS2011) on “Advances in Molecular and Cell Biology of Stress Response”, held at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, on September 14, 2011.  ‘Investigations on effect of hypoxia on behaviour, using C. elegans as a model system, at the International Symposium on “Recent Trends in Neurosciences & XXIX Annual Conference of Indian Academy of Neurosciences - Translation of Knowledge into Clinical Practice”, held in New Delhi, from October 30 to November 1, 2011 (Poster presentation).  ‘Effect of High Concentration of Glucose on Development Chick Retinal Pigment Epithelium’, at the UGC sponsored “National Conference on Evolution of Research and Development in Bio Sciences”, conducted by Department of Life Sciences, K. C. College, Mumbai, on January 5-6, 2012 (Poster presentation). Dr. Hemlatha Ramachandran and Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha (Dept. of Life Science) made the following presentation along with MSc Life Science students:  ‘Effect of High Concentration of Glucose on Development Chick Retinal Pigment Epithelium’, at the UGC sponsored “National Conference on Evolution of Research 31

and Development in Bio Sciences”, conducted by Department of Life Sciences, K. C. College, Mumbai, on January 5-6, 2012 (Poster presentation). Dr. Hema Subramanium (Dept. of Life Science) made the following presentation along with MSc Life Science students:  ‘Comparison of Chironomus and Mosquito olfactory behaviour’, at the “XIth Symposium on Vectors and Vector-borne Diseases”, held at the Regional Medical Research Centre, Jabalpur, October 15-17, 2011.  ‘Identification of Putative Chemoreceptors involved in Ovipository Behaviour of Mosquito’, at the International Symposium on “Recent Trends in Neurosciences & XXIX Annual Conference of Indian Academy of Neurosciences - Translation of Knowledge into Clinical Practice”, held in New Delhi, from October 30 to November 1, 2011 (Poster presentation). Dr. Yasmin Khan (Dept. of Life Science) made the following presentation along with MSc Life Science students:  ‘Effect of Lithium on hypoxia Induced Cell Death on C6 glioma cells’, at the International Symposium on “Recent Trends in Neurosciences & XXIX Annual Conference of Indian Academy of Neurosciences - Translation of Knowledge into Clinical Practice”, held in New Delhi, from October 30 to November 1, 2011 (Poster presentation).  ‘Differential cytotoxic effect of two types of nanoparticles on C6 glioma cells’, at the International Symposium on “Current Trends of Life Sciences held at Department of Life Sciences”, University of Mumbai, Kalina on March 9, 2012 (Poster presentation). Dr. Sree Kumar (Dept. of Life Science) made the following presentation along with MSc Life Science students:  ‘Chemosensory Behaviour of Daphnia sp. under normoxia and hypoxic condition’, at the UGC sponsored “National Conference on Evolution of Research and Development in Bio Sciences”, conducted by Department of Life Sciences, K. C. College, Mumbai, on January 5-6, 2012 (Poster presentation). Dr. Hemlatha Ramachandran (Dept. of Life Science) attended a two-day “National Conference on Evolution in Research and Development in Bio Sciences", held on January 5-6, 2012 at K.C. College, where she presented the paper entitled ‘Recipe for Success in Science: Boundless Enthusiasm for Teaching and Research!’. Dr. Sree Kumar (Dept. of Life Science) attended the International Symposium on “Current Trends in Life Sciences, organised by the Mumbai University Department of Life Science on March 9, 2012, where she presented a poster, done jointly with Shanta Nair, on ‘A Study on Players Involved in DMS flux at SW Coast of India Dona Paula Bay’.

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Dr. Arjumanara Surti (Dept. of Microbiology) attended a National Symposium on “Emerging Trends in Life and Material Sciences: Mission Mankind”, held at Vaze College on January 25, 2012, where she presented a poster on ‘Study of Microorganisms Degrading PCB Mixture Aroclor 1242 and Analysis of its Biodegradation by Free Cells’. Ms Suparna Dugal (Dept. of Microbiology) presented two posters, the abstracts of which were published, at the “National Conference on Recent Trends in Life Sciences with Special Reference to Animal Physiology, Biotechnology and Biodiversity”, held at Sadguru Gadage Maharaj College, Karad, October 19-20, 2011. The posters were entitled:  ‘Effect of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) on Aquatic Organisms’  ‘Formulation and Evaluation of a Novel Mucoadhesive Drug Delivery System for An Antimycotic Agent to Treat Intestinal Candidiasis in Immunocompromised Patients’ (presented jointly with Andrea Fernandes) Ms Suparna Dugal also attended a National Symposium on “Emerging Trends in Life and Material Sciences: Mission Mankind”, held at Vaze College on January 25, 2012, where she presented a poster, jointly with Monica Gangawane, on ‘Isolation and Characterization of Heavy Metal Resistant Bacteria and Fungi’. At the National Conference on “Biotechnology, Bioinformatics and Bioengineering” organised by the Society for Applied Biotechnology’ and held at Kolhapur on February 24-25, 2012, Andrea Fernandes (co-author) presented the following poster prepared by her and Suparna Dugal: ‘A New Approach for the Treatment of Abnormal Gut Fermentation’. At the International Symposium on “Current Trends in Life Sciences”, organised by the Mumbai University Department of Life Science on March 9, 2012, the following poster by Suparna Dugal and Andrea Fernandes was presented: ‘Use of Natural Polymers for the Preparation of a Sustained Release Medicinal Formulation’. Dr. Rajbinder Kaur (Dept. of Microbiology) presented a poster that she had prepared along with one of her MSc students at a National Symposium on “Modern Research Trends and Applications in Life Sciences”, organised by Elphinstone College and Bhavan’s College (Andheri) jointly and held on January 7, 2012. The poster was awarded a certificate of appreciation. Mrs. Jyoti Mantri (Dept. of Microbiology) presented a poster that she had prepared along with one of her MSc students at a National Symposium on “Modern Research Trends and Applications in Life Sciences”, organised by Elphinstone College and Bhavan’s College (Andheri) jointly and held on January 7, 2012. The poster was awarded the third prize.

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Seminars/Workshops conducted under the ‘Education for Justice and Peace’ Theme of the Year, including Ananya (December 2011) (see Point Number 41)

b) SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES ATTENDED BY FACULTY MEMBERS: Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese (Dept. of History) attended:  The Heras Memorial Lecture on ‘The City and Modernity: Bombay/Mumbai Changes in the 19th Century’ by Prof. Jim Masselos, held at the Heras Institute, St. Xavier’s College, on December 14, 2011.  The international seminar on ‘Krishnadevaraya and His Times: Cultural Perspectives’, held by the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute Mumbai, January 7-8, 2012.  A talk in ‘Krishna in South Indian Painting’ by Dr. Anna Dallapiccola at the Chattrapati Shivaji Vastu Sangrahalaya (Museum) on January 23, 2012.  The 31st Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. P.V. Kane Memorial Lecture at the Asiatic Society of Mumbai on ‘Kalamukha and Pashupata Shaivism’, by Dr. Vasundhara Filliozat, on February 6, 2012.  A lecture by Prof. David Shulman at Jnanapravaha on February 16, 2012, on ‘Making Things Happen with Your Mind: the Story of Simantini’.  A lecture by Dr. George Michell at NCPA on ‘Discovering the Deccan’ on March 28, 2012.  A lecture by Dr. M.K.Dhavalikar on ‘Kanheri – A Survey’ at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya on March 30, 2012. Ms Jaya Kanoria (Dept. of English) attended a lecture on ‘The Buddha’s Eight Hairrelics: An Odyssey to Burma’, by Dr. Donald M. Stadtner, at Jnanapravaha on March 12, 2012. Ms Jihasa Vachharajani (Dept. of English) attended:  A workshop on the revised FYBA Paper I syllabus on July 6, 2011, held at Jai Hind College.  A talk by Tristram Hunt on ‘Marx, Engels and Colonialism’ held at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, on November 25, 2011. Dr. Sufiya Pathan (Dept. of English) attended a workshop on the revised Communications Skills paper for FYBA held at St. Andrew’s College on July 11, 2011. Dr. Nirmala Tripathi (Dept. of Hindi) attended:  A workshop on the syllabi of the FYBA AM and Compulsory Hindi paper held on July 2, 2011 at K.C. College.  A seminar on ‘Vishnu Prabhakar’, organised by the Department of Hindi, University of Mumbai on January 17-18, 2012.  A seminar on ‘Sahitya Samaj Aur Media’, held at K.C. College, Ferbuary 17-18, 2012. 34

Dr. Sumanika Sethi (Dept. of Hindi) attended a workshop on the syllabi of the FYBA AM and Compulsory Hindi paper held on July 2, 2011 at K.C. College. Ms Usha Tiwari (Dept. of Hindi) attended a workshop on the syllabi of the FYBA AM and Compulsory Hindi paper held on July 2, 2011 at K.C. College. Ms Swarupa Kamat (Dept. of History) attended:  A seminar on the new credit and grade system, held at Wilson College on June 16, 2011.  A two-day workshop on ‘Hermaneutics’, held at Heras Institute, St. Xavier’s College, on August 10-11, 2011.  A State-level UGC sponsored seminar on ‘Journey through the History of Tribes in India’, held at Khalsa College on October 5, 2011.  The Heras Memorial Lecture on ‘The City and Modernity: Bombay/Mumbai Changes in the 19th Century’ by Prof. Jim Masselos, held at the Heras Institute, St. Xavier’s College, on December 14, 2011. Mrs. Rashna Poncha (Dept. of History) attended:  A workshop on ‘Research Methodology’, held at Heras Institute, St. Xavier’s College, on July 25-26, 2011.  A two-day workshop on ‘Hermaneutics’, held at Heras Institute, St. Xavier’s College, on August 10-11, 2011.  The Heras Memorial Lecture on ‘The City and Modernity: Bombay/Mumbai Changes in the 19th Century’ by Prof. Jim Masselos, held at the Heras Institute, St. Xavier’s College, on December 14, 2011.  A lecture on ‘Khanbahadur Muncherji C. MUrzban – A “Native” Architect in the 19th Century Colonial Bombay’, held at the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute on March 10, 2012. Dr. Aninha Lobo (Dept. of Psychology) attended the ‘Brain and Cognition Workshop’ held at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, July 5 to 14, 2011. Sr. Patricia D’Souza (Dept. of Psychology) attended a workshop on the Syllabi for Psychology at the SYBA (Semesters II and III), held at Ruparel College, on April 9, 2012. Dr. Perpetua Miranda (Dept. of Sociology) attended:  A workshop on the SYBA Paper III syllabus held on July 20, 2011 at St. Andrew’s College  A one-day National Seminar held at TISS on ‘Financial Accessibility of the Street Vendors in India: Cases of Inclusion and Exclusion’, on September 24, 2011.  An International Conference on ‘Global Communication – 2011 and International Communication Fest (ICF) – Ankura 2011’, held at Bengaluru University, November 17-18, 2011. 35

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A one-day seminar on ‘Research Avenues and Challenges in Higher Education’, organised by the University of Mumbai on November 18, 2011. A one-day Orientation Workshop on the revised syllabi of the SYBA Sociology papers, held at K.C. College on April 19, 2012.

Ms Gilda Pereira (Dept. of Sociology) attended:  A workshop on the SYBA Paper III syllabus held on July 20, 2011 at St. Andrew’s College  A one-day National Seminar held at TISS on ‘Financial Accessibility of the Street Vendors in India: Cases of Inclusion and Exclusion’, on September 24, 2011.  An International Conference on ‘Global Communication – 2011 and International Communication Fest (ICF) – Ankura 2011’, held at Bengaluru University, November 17-18, 2011.  A one-day Orientation Workshop on the revised syllabi of the SYBA Sociology papers, held at K.C. College on April 19, 2012. Ms Anagha Tendulkar (Dept. of Sociology) attended a one-day Orientation Workshop on the revised syllabi of the SYBA Sociology papers, held at K.C. College on April 19, 2012. Dr. Andrea Coutinho (Dept. of Education) attended a National Workshop on ‘E-Content Development for Higher Education’ conducted by Christ University, Bangalore, from March 29 to 31, 2012. Ms Nisha Yadav (Dept. of Economics) attended a talk by Kaushik Basu on ‘Is India Ready for Global Change’, organised by the Forum of Free Enterprise’ and held at K.C. College on January 6, 2012. Ms Shahnaz Shaikh (Dept. of Political Science) attended a National Seminar on ‘Trends in Nuclear Power: One Year after Fukushima’, organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies and held at the Nehru Centre, on April 10, 2012. Dr. Hema Subramaniam (Dept. of Life Science) attended the ‘XI Symposium on Vectors and Vector –Borne Diseases’, organised by the Regional Medical Research Centre for Tribals, Jabalpur, October 15-17, 2011. Dr. Gail Carneiro (Dept. of Chemistry) attended:  The lecture series on ‘Lecture Series on NMR Spectroscopy’, held on July 30, 2011  ‘Royal Society of Chemistry’s West India Popular Lectures for PG Students’ on Organic Synthesis, held at SIES College on August 3, 2011, at which there were three lectures.  A lecture on ‘The Fascinating World of Chemistry’ by Prof. M.M. Sharma, at K.J.Somaiya College, on December 1, 2011.

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Dr. Ignat Mendes (Dept. of Chemistry) attended:  Two-day training workshop on Analytical Chemistry Equipment held by BASF on July 14, 2011 and September 16, 2011.  A National Conference on ‘Advance Materials in Industry’, February 10-11, 2012, held at Ismail Yusuf College.  A National Conference on ‘Chemistry – Challenges and Opportunities’, February 1618, 2012, organised by St. Joseph’s College Bangalore.  A National Seminar on ‘Trends in Nuclear Power: One Year after Fukushima’, organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies and held at the Nehru Centre, on April 10, 2012. Dr. Prabha Shetty (Dept. of Chemistry) attended:  Two-day training workshop on Analytical Chemistry Equipment held by BASF on July 14, 2011 and September 16, 2011.  A five-day workshop for resource generation for the Chemistry Olympiad, at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education from September 14 to 18, 2011. Mr. M.R.Garud (Dept. of Chemistry) attended:  Two-day training workshop on Analytical Chemistry Equipment held by BASF on July 14, 2011 and September 16, 2011.  A workshop on ‘Green Chemistry’ held at National College on December 8, 2011. Ms Rochelle Ferns (Dept. of Chemistry) attended:  A National Seminar on ‘Trends in Nuclear Power: One Year after Fukushima’, organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies and held at the Nehru Centre, on April 10, 2012. Ms P. Sirisha Murthy (Dept. of Chemistry) attended:  A workshop on the new Credit System for FYBSc Chemistry, held at K.J. Somaiya College on June 22, 2011.  Royal Society of Chemistry’s West India Popular Lectures for PG Students on ‘Organic Synthesis’, held at SIES College on August 3, 2011, at which there were three lectures. Ms Tanaz Asha (Dept. of Chemistry) attended:  A workshop on the new Credit System for FYBSc Chemistry, held at K.J. Somaiya College on June 22, 2011.  A one-day UGC sponsored National Level Seminar on ‘New Methodologies in Chemistry Education’, held at Royal College on December 20, 2011. Ms Bushra Sheikh (Dept. of Chemistry) attended:  Analytical Instrumentation Workshop held at Ramnarain Ruia College, in collaboration with Shimadzu Analytical (India) Pvt. Ltd. on June 27, 2011.

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A National Seminar on ‘Trends in Nuclear Power: One Year after Fukushima’, organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies and held at the Nehru Centre, on April 10, 2012.

Ms Suparna Dugal (Dept. of Microbiology) attended the DBT sponsored conference on ‘Interdisciplinary Strategies in Biology’ held at Welingkar Institute of Management and Research, on December 16-17, 2011. Dr. Rajbinder Dehiya (Dept. of Microbiology) attended a workshop on ‘Credit Based Semester and Grading System for FYBSc Microbiology Syllabi’, held on June 24, 2011 at Bhavan’s College, Andheri. Ms Shraddha Prabhu (Dept. of Microbiology) attended:  The DBT sponsored conference on ‘Interdisciplinary Strategies in Biology’ held at Welingkar Institute of Management and Research, on December 16-17, 2011.  A workshop on ‘Practicals in Bioinformatics’ held at Wilson College on January 16, 2012.  A workshop at ACTREC on ‘Applications of Bioinformatics’ on February 9-10, 2012. Dr. Roshan D’Souza (Dept. of Zoology) attended:  A workshop on the Credit Based System in Zoology held at National College on July 12, 2011.  The Ninth Symposium on ‘Reproductive Physiology of Fish, 2011’ held in Cochin, India, August 9-14, 2011.  A seminar on ‘NAAC Accreditation’, organised by Welingkar Institute of Management, on March 22, 2012. Ms Sandhya Kadiru (Dept. of Zoology) attended an international symposium on ‘Current Trends in Life Sciences’ organised by the Department of Life Sciences, University of Mumbai, on March 9, 2012. Ms Vidya Konar (Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics) attended a conference on ‘Indian Women and Mathematics’ at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, January 8 to 10, 2012. Ms Fatema Suterwala (Dept of Physics) attended the three day Physics Olympiad, conducted by the Homi Bhabha Science Centre on March 4-6, 2012, which provided training to Physics teachers. Dr. Meeta Saxena (Dept of Physics) attended a National Seminar on ‘Trends in Nuclear Power: One Year after Fukushima’, organised by the Centre for Air Power Studies and held at the Nehru Centre, on April 10, 2012.

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Ms Prabha Suresh (Librarian) attended:  A seminar on ‘Open Access Movement in the Age of Innovation and ICT’ at Nagindas Khandwala College on January 6-7, 2012.  A State Level Conference on ‘Academic Libraries in the Electronic Era’ organised by SNDT Women’s University Library on January 17-18, 2012.

9. RESEARCH: Under-graduate Research: Through the Excellence Programmes in both Arts and Science undergraduate students are exposed to research activities. This year, some undergraduate students also got an opportunity to present papers / posters at conferences:  Madhuri Dhariwal and Dhvani Doshi (TYBA) attended a two-day National Seminar on ‘Adolescence: A Journey from conflict to Integration’ held at St. Xavier’s College, Goa, September 23-24, 2011, where they presented a poster on ‘A Study of the Social Impact of Facebook on 12-20 Year Olds in the Cities of Mumbai and Raipur’.  Moitrayee Das (TYBA) attended a two-day National Seminar on ‘Adolescence: A Journey from conflict to Integration’ held at St. Xavier’s College, Goa, September 23-24, 2011, where she presented a poster on ‘Street Children in Mumbai and Their Incomplete Adolescence’.  Pooja Tolia, Radhika Das and Koninika Roy, FYBA Psychology students, participated in ‘Trishool’, a Psychology Research Convention for students organised by Smt. Doshi Women’s College, affiliated to SNDT University, and presented a paper on ‘Internet Addiction and Impulsivity’.  Diya John and Prarthana Sharma participated in the ‘Bombay Psychology Annual Convention 2012’ held in January 2012. Diya John presented the paper ‘Working Mothers, Job Flexibility and Work-Life Balance’, while Prarthana Sharma presented the paper ‘Network Markets and their Marketing’. Post-graduate Research: Research is an integral part of the MSc programmes of the College. The MSc Life Science students carried out the following research projects:  Arun Shankar, ‘Insect Gustatory Receptors’ (Staff Guide: Dr. H. Subramanium)  Vibha Kawa, ‘Acute Aerobic Exercise and Attention: A Neurocognitive Study’ (Staff Guide: Dr. H. Ramachandran)  Akash Dubey, ‘Mechanisms of Learning and Memory’ (Staff Guide: Dr. M.S. Rajadhyaksha)  Leanne Gracias, ‘Caenorhabditis elegans- a model organism for Neurosciences with special reference to olfaction’ (Staff Guide: Dr. M.S. Rajadhyaksha)  Durga Chougule, ‘The regulatory role of Hypoxia Inducible Factor1 (HIF 1) in hypoxic responses’ (Staff Guide: Dr. Y.Khan)  Sana S., ‘Embryonic and Adult neurogenesis: A comparative perspective’ (Staff Guide: Dr. Y.Khan) 39

  

Princely Manbhat, ‘Phylogenetic relationship of Nervous System across the Taxa Crustacea’ (Staff Guide: Dr. H. Ramachandran) Neha Taishete, ‘Diabetic Neuropathy and Retinopathy’ (Staff Guide: Dr. H. Ramachandran) Charmi Daund, ‘Standardization of Dictyostelium as a model for study of Autophagy’ (Staff Guide: Dr. Y.Khan)

The MSc students of Microbiology carried out the following research projects:  Andrea Fernandes, ‘A Novel Approach for the Treatment of Abnormal Gut Fermentation’ (Staff Guide: Ms S. Dugal)  Jharna Somaiya, ‘Application of Microbial Fuel Cells in Desalination’ (Staff Guide: Dr. R. Dehiya)  Neha Jadhav, ‘Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Marketed Hand Sanitizers’ (Staff Guide: Ms I. Shah)  Mayuri Chaudhary, ‘A Study of Bacterial Protease and its Applications’ (Staff Guide: Ms I. Shah)  Monika Gangawane, ‘Evaluation of Heavy Metal Tolerant and Bioaccumulation Potential of Pencillium spp and Pseudomonas spp and their use in Waste Water Clean-up Operations’ (Staff Guide: Ms S. Dugal)  Madura Naik, ‘Isolation and Purification of Pyoverdine for “Trojan Hourse” Mechanism’ (Staff Guide: Dr. R. Dehiya)  Jhanvi Rane, ‘Microbial Synthesis of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAS) in Azobacter spp: Their Optimization and Characterization’ (Staff Guide: Dr. A. Surti)  Benita Pareira, ‘Khadi Honey as a Quorum Quencher: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to the Treatment of Wounds’ (Staff Guide: Ms J. Mantri)  Mamta Dhavre, ‘Moringa Olifera as a Natural Coagulant to Obtain Potable Water’ (Staff Guide: Ms J. Mantri) The MSc students of Analytical Chemistry carried out the following research projects:  Preeti Alphanso, ‘Quantative Estimation & Characterisation of antioxidants added in plastics’  Kalpesh Parab, ‘Quantative Estimation & Characterisation of UV- stabilizers added in plastics ‘ MSc students are also encouraged to take part in seminars and conferences outside the College and even to present posters of their research work, e.g. MSc students of Life Science presented the following papers or posters, along with their teacher-guides during the year:  Durga Chougule, Afsha Khan, Yasmin Khan and M. S. Rajadhyaksha, ‘Investigation on glial cell death in response to two independent stresses - hypoxia and glutamate toxicity’, at the DAE-BRNS Life Sciences Symposium (LSS2011) on ‘Advances in Molecular and Cell Biology of Stress Response’, held at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, on September 14, 2011.

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  





Leanne Gracias, Akash Dubey, Sneha Kumthekar, Nabila Sorathia, M.S. Rajadhyaksha ‘Caenorhabditis elegans- a model system to study the effect of stress on behaviour’, at the DAE-BRNS Life Sciences Symposium (LSS2011) on ‘Advances in Molecular and Cell Biology of Stress Response’, held at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, on September 14, 2011. R. Yelukar, S. Gangavane, S. Fanibunda, A. Shankar and H. Subramaniam, ‘Comparison of Chironomus and Mosquito olfactory behaviour’, at the ‘XIth Symposium on Vectors and Vector-borne Diseases’, held at the Regional Medical Research Centre, Jabalpur, October 15-17, 2011. Leanne Gracias, Akash Dubey, Sneha Kumthekar, Nabila Sorathia, and M.S. Rajadhyaksha, ‘Investigations on effect of hypoxia on behaviour, using C. elegans as a model system, at the International Symposium on ‘Recent Trends in Neurosciences & XXIX Annual Conference of Indian Academy of Neurosciences - Translation of Knowledge into Clinical Practice’, held in New Delhi, from October 30 to November 1, 2011 (Poster presentation). Durga Chougule, Richa Modi and Yasmin Khan ‘Effect of Lithium on hypoxia Induced Cell Death on C6 glioma cells’, at the International Symposium on ‘Recent Trends in Neurosciences & XXIX Annual Conference of Indian Academy of Neurosciences - Translation of Knowledge into Clinical Practice’, held in New Delhi, from October 30 to November 1, 2011 (Poster presentation). A. Shankar A, H. Mayekar, R. Yelukar R, and H. Subramaniam, ‘Identification of Putative Chemoreceptors involved in Ovipository Behaviour of Mosquito’, at the International Symposium on ‘Recent Trends in Neurosciences & XXIX Annual Conference of Indian Academy of Neurosciences - Translation of Knowledge into Clinical Practice’, held in New Delhi, from October 30 to November 1, 2011 (Poster presentation). Divya Sinha, H Ramachandran and A Lobo, ‘Music and EEG’, at the one-day research meet in Biotechnology, Environmental Science and Phytochemicals, at Jai Hind College, Mumbai, on December 10, 2011 (Poster presentation). Vibha Kawa, Divya Sinha, H. Ramachandran and A. Lobo, ‘The effect of Aerobic Exercise on Attention’, at the XXI Annual Convention held in Indian Rural Management Anand, Gujarat held on December 12-14, 2011 (Oral Presentation). S. Shaikh, M Rajadhyaksha and Y. Khan, ‘Study of regeneration of zebrafish caudal fin and characteristics of regenerating cells in vitro’, at the UGC sponsored National Conference on Evolution of Research and Development in Bio Sciences conducted by Department of Life Sciences, K. C. College, Mumbai, on January 5-6, 2012 (Poster presentation). Princely Manbhat and Sree S. Kumar, ‘Chemosensory Behaviour of Daphnia sp. under normoxia and hypoxic condition’, at the UGC sponsored National Conference on Evolution of Research and Development in Bio Sciences conducted by Department of Life Sciences, K. C. College, Mumbai, on January 5-6, 2012 (Poster presentation). Neha Taishete, H Ramachandran and M.S. Rajadhyaksha, ‘Effect of High Concentration of Glucose on Development Chick Retinal Pigment Epithelium’, at the UGC sponsored National Conference on Evolution of Research and Development in 41









Bio Sciences conducted by Department of Life Sciences, K. C. College, Mumbai, on January 5-6, 2012 (Poster presentation). Vibha Kawa, Divya Sinha, H. Ramachandran, and A. Lobo, ‘The effect of a single bout of aerobic exercise on attention: a neuroscience perspective’, at the International Symposium on ‘Current Trends of Life Sciences held at Department of Life Sciences’, University of Mumbai, Kalina on March 9, 2012 (Poster presentation). Richa Modi, Venissa Machado, Yasmin Khan, ‘Differential cytotoxic effect of two types of nanoparticles on C6 glioma cells’, at the International Symposium on ‘Current Trends of Life Sciences held at Department of Life Sciences’, University of Mumbai, Kalina on March 9, 2012 (Poster presentation). Divya Sinha, A Lobo and H Ramachandran, ‘The effect of Mindful music listening on attention and mood’, at the International Symposium on ‘Current Trends of Life Sciences held at Department of Life Sciences’, University of Mumbai, Kalina on March 9, 2012 (Poster presentation). Shareha Siddiqui , A Lobo and H Ramachandran, ‘Study of preferred music on attention with mild / moderate dementia patients’, at the International Symposium on ‘Current Trends of Life Sciences held at Department of Life Sciences’, University of Mumbai, Kalina on March 9, 2012 (Poster presentation).

MSc students of Microbiology attended seminars and presented their research work as follows:  Mayuri Chaudhary presented a poster on ‘Study of Bacterial Protease’ at the research meet held at Jai Hindi College on December 10, 2011.  Monika Gangawane presented a poster on ‘Isolation and Characterization of Heavy Metal Resistant Organisms’ at the research meet held at Jai Hindi College on December 10, 2011.  Mamta Dhavre presented a poster on ‘Use of Moringa olifera as a Coagulant to obtain Potable Water’ at the research meet held at Jai Hindi College on December 10, 2011.  Benita Pereira presented a poster on ‘Honey and its Quorum Quenching Properties’ at a National Symposium on ‘Modern Research Trends and Applications in Life Sciences’ organised by Elphinstone College on January 7, 2011. She won the third prize for this poster.

Staff Research: PhD RESEARCH:  Under the UGC’s Faculty Improvement Programme during the XIth Plan the following were on leave for a part of the academic year: - Ms Anagha Tendulkar (Department of Sociology); topic of her thesis: ‘Community Care for Elderly in Mumbai’. She submitted her thesis during the year. - Ms Giani Erevelles Mapara (Department of Microbiology); topic of her thesis: ‘Development of a Rapid Method for Detection of Listeria Monocytogenes in Food Samples’. She submitted her thesis in April 2012. 42

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Ms Sangeeta Dubey (Department of Economics); topic of her thesis: ‘An Enquiry into the Viability of BT Cotton’.

PhD Awarded: Mrs. P. Sirisha Murthy (Dept. of Chemistry) was awarded the PhD Degree in Chemistry for her thesis ‘Synthesis of biologically interesting oxa- and aza- heterocycles’. Mr. T.C. Roymon (Dept. of Philosophy) was awarded the PhD Degree in Philosophy for his thesis ‘The Transcendental Idealist Method of Kant and Shankara: A Comparison’.

FACULTY RESEARCH PROJECTS: Major Research Grants from the Department of Science and Technology (DST)  Dr. M.C. Arunan (Hon. Professor) who had been sanctioned a DST-SERC project by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for three years (2010-2013) continued with his work. The topic of his research: ‘Developing Simple Model Systems and Experimental Paradigms in Cognitive Sciences for Undergraduate Science Education’. The total amount of the grant is Rs. 28,74,000/-. 

Dr. Aninha Lobo (Department of Psychology), jointly with Dr. H. Ramachandran (Department of Life Science), had submitted a major research project to the Department of Science and Technology, under the Cognitive Science Research Initiative for a project on ‘Exercise to Focus Attention: An ERP Study of the Potential Benefits of Cognition, Mood and Self Esteem’. The project was approved by DST in 2010-2011 and was sanctioned a JRF for a period of three years and money for computers, consumables and miscellaneous expenses. The total amount sanctioned for three years: Rs. 13,55,000/-. Of this amount, the first instalment, totalling Rs. 4,64,600/-, was received in this year.

Major Research Grants from the Department of Biotechnology  Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha (Department of Life Science) had submitted a major research project to the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, for seed funding for a pilot study entitled “Epigenetic Regulation of Hypoxia Signalling in Neuronal Models: Role of H1F1 and its Regulation in Behaviour of Ceanorahditis elegans and in Neuronal Cultures” to be carried out in collaboration with Dr. Momna Hejmadi of Bath University, UK. While the verbal sanction had been received the previous year, the sanction order was received this year. The total amount for three years is Rs. 18,47,000/-; the first instalment of Rs. 5,57,000/- for equipment was received in the first week of July 2011. 

Dr. Yasmin Khan (Department of Life Science) has an on-going a major research project, as Co-Investigator, from the Department of Biotechnology to be carried out in collaboration with Dr. Subha Tole of TIFR, Mumbai. The title of the project: “Cell Migration in the Developing Olfactory Bulb: an evolutionary study”. This project was sanctioned for a three-year period (2011-2014). The total sanctioned amount is 43

Rs. 74.31 lakhs, of this Dr. Yasmin Khan’s share of the grant, which will come to Sophia College, is Rs. 34.43 lakhs. Of this, the first instalment of Rs. 18.87 lakhs was received in April 2011. Post Doctoral Research Award – UGC Application Dr. Prabha Shetty had applied for a post doctoral research award to the UGC in 20102011. She was called to the UGC office, New Delhi, for an interface meeting on September 28, 2011.

Minor Research Grant from UGC  Dr. Arjumanara Surti (Dept of Microbiology) was sanctioned a two-year (2010-2012) minor research grant by UGC for her research on ‘Screening of Microorganisms Degrading PCB-118 and Studies on its Biodegradation by Microbial Cells with Magnetic Nanoparticles’. Total amount of the grant is Rs. 1,20,000/-. Short term research project  Dr. Roshan D’Souza, Department of Life Science, collaborated with Dr. (Mrs.) Tarala Nandedkar, Former Deputy Director of the National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai, on a research project entitled ‘Localization of Octapeptide, an indigenous anti fertility agent, by using fluorescent labelled antibody to OP in Zebra fish during development’. The following Minor Research Scholarship from the Rotary Club was awarded at the Annual Prize-Day Function, – The Rotary Club of Bombay Mid-Town Smt. Sumitradevi Jatia Research Award (Rs. 10,000/-) for the year 2011-2012 to:  Dr. Rajbinder Kaur Dehiya for her project ‘Setting up of a Laboratory Scale Microbial/Bio Desalination Cell’. The Smt. Dhandevi Mahindra Research Fellowship Award (a Sophia College research award of Rs. 60,000/-), was awarded for the year 2011-2012 to:  Ms Sirisha Murthy and Ms Tanaz Asha (Dept. of Chemistry) for their project on ‘Use of Green Methodologies for the Synthesis of Some Organic Compounds’. The Lobo-Dubey Research Scholarship (a Sophia College research award) was shared between:  Ms Jyoti Mantri for her project ‘Moringa Olifera (drumstick) as a Natural Coagulant for Drinking Water’ (Rs. 10,000/-).  Dr. Perpetua Miranda for her project ‘Identifying Multipliers of Talent in an Organisation; and the Best Practices they Adopt’ (Rs. 8,000/-). The Dr. (Mrs.) Barbra Naidu Memorial Scholarship (a Sophia College research award of Rs. 10,000/-) was awarded for the year 2011-2012 to: 44



Dr. Sree Kumar for her project ‘Establishing Dictyostelium as an Effective Pharmacological Model for the Study of Neuroprotective and Anti Cancer Drugs’.

On-going Research Projects Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese has the following on-going research projects on hand:  “Major Themes in the Arts of Southern India under Vijayanagara and its Successors”  “Art and Empire in South India under Vijayanagara and the Nayakas – 1350-1700” In connection with these projects, she undertook a field trip from January 11 to 22, 2011 in southern Tamil Nadu. Dr. Sufiya Pathan (Dept. of English) received the ‘Avabai Wadia Fellowship’, of Rs. 10,000/- per month and an annual contingency grant of Rs. 5000/-, for her research work on ‘Reconstructing the Indian Political Lexicon’. Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal (Dept. of English) was appointed, during the period of her Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, the “Gannon Visiting Scholar” for the year 2012 at the Gannon Centre for Women’s Studies, Loyola University, Chicago, USA, to continue her research on “Women Mystic Poets”.

PUBLICATIONS: Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal (Dept. of English), Relatedness and Resistance: A Feminist Critical Analysis of Some Indian Women Writers, Saarburcken (Germany): Lambert Academic Publishing, 2012. Dr. Jennie Mendes (Department of Psychology):  ‘Cultural Adaptation of the SDS: A Konkani Translation for Caregiver Relatives of the Mentally Ill’, Bombay Psychologist, Vol. XXVI, 1 & 2; pp. 14-18.  ‘Intimacy in Cyberspace: Preliminary Investigations’, Bombay Psychologist, Vol. XXVI, 1 & 2; pp. 70-73.  ‘Stigma Devaluation Scale for Caregivers of the Mentally Ill in Goa – Konkani Translation (Roman Script) and Cultural Adaptation’, Indian Journal of Health and Well Being, Vol. 2, Issue 2. Mr. T.C. Roy (Department of Philosophy):  The Gateway of Peace: A Sojourn through Religious Traditions, Mumbai: Institute of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, 2012. Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha (Dept. of Life Science):  Jennifer Italia, Rita Mukhopadhyaya and Medha S. Rajadhyaksha, “Differential Display RT-PCR Reveals Genes Associated with Lithium-Induced Neuritogenesis in SK-N-MC Cells”, Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, Vol. 31, No. 7, pp. 10211026. 45

Dr. Yasmin Khan (Dept. of Life Science): Aparna Deshmukh, S. Radha, Y. Khan and Priya Tilak, ‘Ferrite Nanoparticles in Pharmacological Modulation of Angiogenesis’, in AIP Conf. Proc. 1349, 2011, pp. 43738. Ms Suparna Dugal (Dept. of Microbiology):  Suparna Dugal and Andrea Fernandes, ‘Carbapanem Hydrolysing Metallo-BLactmases: A Review’, International Journal of Current Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 3, Issue 3, 2011, pp. 9-16.  Suparna Dugal and Olivia Rao, ‘Enhancement of Acid Tolerance of Entrapped Probiotic Bacteria by Polyoxyethylene (80) Sorbitan Monooleate’, Journal of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 3, Issue 4, 2011, pp. 122-128.  Suparna Dugal and Andrea Fernandes, ‘Formulation and Evaluation of a Novel Mucoadhesive Drug Delivery System to Treat Intestinal Candidiasis in Immunocompromised Patients’, Research in Pharmacy, Vol. 1, Issue 4, 2011, pp. 1016.

10. PATENTS GENERATED, IF ANY: Nil

11. NEW COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMMES:  Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha (Dept. of Life Science) has a major research project in collaboration with Dr. Momna Hejmadi of Bath University.  Dr. Yasmin Khan (Dept. of Life Science) has a major research project in collaboration with Dr. Subha Tole of TIFR, Mumbai.

12. TOTAL RESEARCH GRANTS RECEIVED FROM VARIOUS AGENCIES: From Department of Biotechnology, Government of India: a) For project of Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha: Rs. 5,57,000/b) For the project of Dr. Yasmin Khan: Rs. 18,87,000/From Department of Science and Technology, Government of India: a) For the project of Dr. Hemlatha Ramachandran and Dr. Aninha Lobo: Rs. 4,64,600/From Rotary Club of Bombay Mid-town for minor research project: Rs. 10,000/From Smt. Dhandevi Mahindra Fellowship Award: Rs. 60,000/From the Lobo-Dubey Research Fellowship Award Fund: Rs. 20,000/46

From the Mrs. Barbra Naidu Research Scholarship Fund: Rs. 10,000/From the UGC Minor Research Grants: Rs. 35,000/From University of Mumbai (Minor Research Grant): Rs. 8,300/-

13. NUMBER OF RESEARCH SCHOLARS: PhD Guidance: Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese (Dept. of History) is a recognised research guide in History through St. Xavier’s College. The following continued work for the PhD degree under her guidance during the course of the year:  Mrs. Rashna Poncha on ‘Development of Frere Town, Bombay (1862-1947)’  Ms Lata Pujari on ‘Women at Vijayanagara (1336-1565)’ Mrs. Poncha has registered for the PhD while Ms Pujari is still to register. Both have a research grant to the Luigi and Laura Dallapiccola Foundation of 4500 UK pounds each. Dr. Nirmala Tripathi (Dept. of Hindi) is a recognised research guide in Hindi through the Department of Hindi of the University of Mumbai. Three students have registered for PhD work under her guidance:  Reshma Dube; topic: ‘Mithileshwar Kee Kahaniyon Mein Pratibimbil Grameen Jeevan Ka Swaroop’  Saraswati R. Laxmi Anand Iyyer; her topic: ‘Bharatiya Rail Mein Rajbhasha Hindi Aur Paribhashik Shabdawali: Ek Anusheelan’  Ravindranath Tiwari; his topic: ‘Vidyaniwas Mishra Ke Srijan-jagat Mein Loksanskriti Ka Swaroop’ Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha and Dr. Yasmin Khan (Dept. of Life Science) are both recognized guides for research in Applied Biology through Sophia College. Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha has one student under her guidance who has registered for the PhD degree, namely Ms Jennifer Italia. The topic of her PhD research: “Gene Expression Profiles of Lithium Induced Neuronal Differentiation and Protection against Radiation”. Dr. Yasmin Khan has two students who have registered for PhD under her guidance, namely Mr. Mustafa Motiwalla and Ms Archana Iyer. The topic of Mr. Motiwalla’s research is ‘Differential gene expression in Mycobacterium leprae infected Schwann cells to investigate Nerve Damage in Leprosy’. The title of Ms Iyer’s research topic is ‘Patterning of boundary structures in the developing brain: an evo-devo approach’. Ms. Veena J. Kinare as JRF, Life Science Department, has a grant under the scheme of Junior Research Fellowship of the University Grants Commission (fellowship of Rs. 16000/- per month, and contingency grant of Rs. 12000/- per annum) and is doing preliminary work prior to registration for PhD under the guidance of Dr. Medha 47

Rajadhyaksha. Her research proposal was approved by the University of Mumbai and she was given permission in May 2012 to register for the PhD degree. Ms Anuttama Kulkarni is doing the preliminary work prior to registration for PhD in Applied Biology under the guidance of Dr. Yasmin Khan. She has also been granted a JRF by the UGC.

14. CITATION INDEX OF FACULTY MEMBERS AND IMPACT FACTOR: Citation None this year to be the best of our knowledge

Impact Factor: By Staff Members as Experts in their Respective Fields: Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese (Dept. of History) is an authority on Vijayanagara: Consultation with reference to Vijayanagara Research Work  Was academic advisor to the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute for the proposed seminar, to be held on January 7-8, 2012, on ‘Krishnadevaraya and His Times: Cultural Perspectives’;  Ms R. Ramalakshmi from CEPT, Ahmedabad, pursuing M.Arch (in Theory and Design), working for her thesis under Prof. Snehal Shah, corresponded via email in January 2012 regarding her thesis topic on the ‘Evolution of Kalyana Mandapa in general and the one in Vitthala temple at Hampi in particular’.  Was invited by the Vijayanagar Punschetana Pratistana (Trust), under ministry of Tourism, Government of Karnataka, to visit their office on February 11, 2012, in order to discuss the Heritage Theme Park Project they are undertaking. However, at the last minute the meeting was cancelled. Other areas of consultancy:  Is a member of the ‘Medals and Honorary Fellows Committee of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai’ and attended the meeting held on March 19, 2012.  Is on the Advisory Committee of the Heras Institute for Historical Research, St. Xavier’s College.  Is on the list of peer reviewers for Indica, the Journal of the Heras Institute for Historical Research and did the review in early April 2012 of: “Phillippa’s Sisters: ‘Portuguese’ Camp Followers, Slave-Wives and Concubines in Southern India in the 18th Century”, by Ruchira Banerjee.  Was invited as subject expert for the selection of Principal for Nirmala Niketan – College of Social Work, on June 25, 2011.  Was requested in July 2011 by Dr. Perpetua Machado, Principal of Nirmala Niketan – College of Home Science, to be an external referee for her application for the 48

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‘Fulbright-Nehru International Education Administrators’ Seminar’; the needful was done. Was invited as subject expert for the selection of Principal for Jai Hind College on May 15, 2012. Is a member of the Advisory Board of the Sophia Shri B.K.Somani Polytechnic and attended the meetings held on September 12, 2011 and February 9, 2012. Is a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Minority Colleges.

Sr. Ananda Amritmahal (Dept. of English and Hon. Coordinator of SCWSD):  Was a resource person at a Syllabus Orientation Workshop, organised by the Department of English, Lions Juhu Nandlal Jalan Mahila Mahavidyalaya, on December 16, 2011.  Was a subject expert for placement interviews held at St. Andrew’s College in August 2011.  Was an external expert for the Women’s Development Cell of Wilson College for the academic year 2011-2012. Ms Jaya Kanoria (Dept. of English) was a speaker and panelist for a book discussion on Fatima Bhutto’s book Songs of Blood and Sword, held at the Nehru Centre, on January 20, 2012. Dr. Sufiya Pathan (Dept. of English) was a respondent to a paper entitled ‘The ‘whole’ Truth: Unintended Consequences of the Colonial Legal System’, at the Sixth International Dharma and Ethics Conference – “Tradition, Religion and Law”, held at Hubli, January 28-29, 2012. Dr. Aninha Lobo (Dept. of Psychology) was:  A resource person at a one-day workshop held at Ruparel College on June 28, 2011, on ‘Syllabi for Psychology Courses at the FYBA (Semester I and II) under the Credit Based Semester and Grading System’.  Reviewed a manuscript on Counselling for Tata McGraw-Hills  Conducted a workshop on ‘On Being Assertive’ at the Lord’s Universal College of Education on November 4, 2011.  A resource person at a workshop on the ‘Syllabi for Psychology at the SYBA (Semesters II and III), held at Ruparel College, on April 9, 2012. Dr. Nirmala Tripathi (Dept. of Hindi):  Was a resource person at the workshop on the new grading system at the FYBA level in Hindi, held at K.C. College on July 2, 2011.  Is a panel member for PET, for candidates wishing to register for PhD in Hindi from the University of Mumbai.  Was a course writer for the Hindi TYBA Paper VI (Functional Hindi) for the Distance Learning Department of the University of Mumbai.

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Ms Sunita Jadhav (Dept. of Economics) was invited to attend a seminar on ‘Inclusive Growth’ held by the PG Department of Economics, SNDT University, in order to judge the presentations by PG students of the department, on August 30, 2011. Dr. Prabha Shetty (Dept. of Chemistry) was invited to attend a Resource Generation Camp for the Chemistry Olympiad at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBSCE) as a resource person, September 14 to 18, 2011. Dr. Roshan D’Souza (Dept. of Zoology) was invited to judge the intercollegiate Zoology competition at Royal College during ‘Gyan Manthan’ on September 14, 2011. Dr. Hemalatha Ramachandran (Dept. of Life Science) was asked by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment to evaluate a research proposal titled ‘Earthworm Diversity and its Influence on Carbon Requestration in Silent Valley National Park’ by Dr. E.V. Ramaswamy. She did the needful. Dr. Madhavi Kaji is a member of the Committee of the Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology, P.V. Polytechnic, S.N.D.T. Women’s University and she attended a meeting held on April 3, 2012. Dr. Roshan D’Souza (Dept. of Zoology) collaborated with Dr. Tarala Nandedkar, Former Depty Director of the National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai, as a co-guide for the summer fellowship programme conducted by the National Science Academies. They guided Ms. S. Charupriya, from Sastra University, Tanjavur, on an eight-week summer project on Zebra fish reproductive physiology. Ms Suparna Dugal (Dept. of Microbiology) was invited in October 2011 to do a peer review of an article for the British Biotechnology Journal. Ms Sandra Mendes (Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics) was invited on September 14, 2011, to judge a project exhibition entitled ‘Mathshow’ as part of ‘Gyan Manthan’, the Intercollegiate Academic Festival held at Royal College of Arts, Science and Commerce. At the University and Collegiate Levels: A number of lecturers give lectures at the MA, MSc and MPhil classes conducted both by the University of Mumbai and SNDT Women’s University. Departmental Consultancy The Microbiology Department arranged for a visit to its laboratory and some practicals for nursing students of SNDT College of Nursing. Consultancy rendered to other colleges for NAAC accreditation, re-accreditation  Some colleges contacted either our IQAC co-ordinator, Mrs. S. Master, or our library for help in this area. For example, Mrs. S. Master went to Rizvi College to help them prepare for re-accreditation. 50



Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese (Principal) was invited to: - Wilson College on August 9, 2011, to address the entire senior college teaching staff about NAAC Re-accreditation and to have an interaction with their Principal, NAAC Co-ordinator and team. - Bhavan’s College, Andheri, on September 28, 2011, to address the teaching staff about NAAC Re-accreditation and to have an interaction with their NAAC Coordinator and team.

15. HONOURS/AWARDS TO FACULTY AND THE COLLEGE:  Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal (Dept. of English) was in the US at Loyola University, Chicago, from mid-January 2012 to mid-May 2012, on a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship. From January 17 to May 1, 2012 (i.e. the spring semester), Sr. Ananda conducted a course on ‘Women in Indian Literature’ as part of the Global Feminisms component offered by the Women’s Studies and Gender Studies Department at Loyola University, Chicago. During her stay in the US, she also attended seminars and gave lectures etc. She also visited a number of colleges to explore possibilities of collaboration, e.g.: - On February 17, 2012, she had a meeting with faculty members of the Women’s Studies Department at the State University of New York, Albany, during which ideas and experiences were shared, and possibilities for future collaboration were explored. - On May 7, 2012, she met with various members of the faculty (Departments of English, Women’s Studies and Religion) as well as with the Asst. Provost and Dean for International Programmes at Barnard College, for an exchange of ideas and experiences and for a discussion of possibilities for future collaboration. - On May 8, 2012, she met with members of the faculty and the Director of the Office of Global Initiatives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for a discussion of possibilities for future collaboration. 

Dr. Yasmin Khan (Dept. of Life Science), who had applied for a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellowship 2012-2013, was selected for the same and will be proceeding to the US in September 2012.

16. INTERNAL RESOURCES GENERATED:  From consultancy: Rs. 2200/ By the annual inter-collegiate youth-festival, called Kaleidoscope, which also raises some funds for the College: approximately Rs. 2,00,000/- (net amount after all costs)  By letting out of premises for functions, film-shootings etc. also funds were generated of approximately Rs. 25,00,000/51



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For Student Aid for helping financially needy students: Rs. 1,00,000/- was received in June 2011 from Vasundhara and Karun Sanghi, an ex-student and her husband towards student aid. In addition, from various other donors a total of Rs. 54,000/- was received for student aid. Donations towards the College Improvement Fund: Total Rs. 2,48,600/From the Central Solidarity Fund for the outreach programmes of the Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development: Rs. 2,53,537From other donors for the outreach programmes of the Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development: Rs. 55,000/Contributions towards the BMM Development Fund: Rs. 5000/Donation to the College Equipment Fund: Rs. 10,000/From the Luigi and Laura Dallapiccola Foundation for the Mumbai Conference on ‘Women’s Spaces, Women’s Voices’: Rs. 3,60,252/From Dr. Zaibun Jasdanwalla for the renovation of the assembly hall / multipurpose hall: Rs. 25,00,000/From Mrs. Griselda Dias for the renovation of the Staff Tea Room: Rs. 2,00,000/From Mrs. Anuradha Mahindra for the conservation and painting of the heritage Arts Building: Rs. 15,00,000/-

17. DETAILS OF DEPARTMENTS GETTING SAP, COSIST, DST/FIST ETC. ASSISTANCE AND RECOGNITION: There are four major research grants: two sanctioned by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and two from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The DST-FIST grant for equipment has also been sanctioned by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Of this, Rs. 40,50,000/- was received this year.

18. COMMUNITY SERVICES: This has been done through a variety of outreach activities. The main examples of these are: 1. Of Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development: This has already been outlined in response to question no. 2. 2. The Municipal School Outreach Project of NSS Two camps were held during the year: i) The Municipal School Project camp was held in October from the 19th to the 25th. Around a hundred children from standards 8, 9 and 10 were on campus where they were taught and given help with their academic difficulties. Laboratory practicals were conducted for children of Stds. IX and X. This camp was 52

residential one for the NSS volunteers. About a hundred NSS volunteers lived on campus during these days. ii)

In the month of April 2012, the N.S.S. unit of Sophia College decided to have a workshop for children of Municipal Schools and Akanksha who appeared for the SSC examination in March 2012. The objectives of the workshop were: 1. To give the students an idea about the options in the different educational streams after 10thStd and to impart career guidance 2. To teach the students about certain life skills which would be of use at this stage of their lives (First aid techniques, Defense against molestation, Anger management & Prevention of child abuse)

No of Student Participants: 1. Akansha Foundation : 2. Worli Municipal School : Total Participants:

17 11 28

No of NSS Student Volunteers: 13 No of Staff Members: 03 (Ms. Anu Srinivasan, Ms. Tanaz Asha & Ms. Sandhya Kadiru) Duration: April 9 – 24, 2012 The programme was divided into 2 phases. The first phase was the educational programme for municipal school children Phase I – April 9 – 12, 2012 Programme schedule: DATE TIME PROGRAMME April 9, 2012

April 10, 2012

9.00 – 11.00 am

Workshop on First Aid (Resource Person : Ms. Anjali Joglekar)

12.30 am –1.30pm

WARDA – Women against Rape (Resouce Person : Mr. Chitalwala& associates)

9.00 – 11.00 am

11.30 am –1.30pm

Session on Education Options & Career choices after S.S.C Counselling for Online admissions for FYJC

Warli Art (Resource person : Ms. Roshni Shah)

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April 11, 2012

April 12, 2012

9.00 – 11.00 am

Warli Art (Resource person : Ms. Roshni Shah)

11.30 am –1.30pm

Workshop on Anger management ( Resource Person : Ms.AshrafiChitalwala)

9.00 – 11.00 am

Session on Education Alternative Career Options after S.S.C & H.S.C ( SCWSD, Sophia College & Seva Sadan)

11.30 am –1.30pm

Workshop on Child Abuse & its Prevention (Organized by ARPAN)

Phase II – April 16– 24, 2012 The students were given the option to join a basic computer training course for 7 days. The course was sponsored by the teaching staff of Sophia College. There were two batches consisting of 12 students in the first batch and 4 in the second batch (the second batch will be conducted in the month of May 2012). They were taught the following programmes:  MS Paint  MS Word  MS Excel  Internet usage  On-line admission procedures 3. Other NSS Activities CANKIDS PROGRAMMES CANKIDS or Kids-scan is an NGO dealing with kids who have cancer. The work of this NGO was introduced through a power-point presentation by the organization on the October 19, 2011. Dr. Peppy Miranda of the Sociology Department and the Chemistry department under Dr. Gail Carneiro actively participated in the CANKIDS activities organized during the year. For example, a successful Birthday Party was conducted on the October 21, 2011 at the Jerbai Wadia Hospital by the Sociology Department. Food and Gifts were entirely contributed by students of FYBA. On November 29, 2011, the second CANKIDS party was organized by the Chemistry department at the Jerbai Wadia Cancer Hospital. Food and Gifts were entirely contributed by students of BSc.

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On December 20, 2011, the third party for the cancer children was organized at the Jerbai Wadia Cancer Hospital; this it was again by the Sociology department. Food and Gifts were entirely contributed by students of FYBA. On February 11, 2011 a party was arranged on Sophia College campus for 100 children & 120 escorts & staff from CANKIDS. This project was supported by all the classes of the college in commemoration of World Children Cancer Month. Sixty volunteers helped in the organization and success of the party. ACTIVITIES AT DSIS (David Sassoon Industrial School) Remand Home for Boys A cultural programme was conducted for the children of the remand home in celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi, on the September 2, 2011, at the remand home in Matunga. The programme was in collaboration with BSP. Forty student volunteers participated. There were 130 children along with staff at the remand home. Song and dance events were put up by both sides. November 14, 2011: Children’s day at DSIS was celebrated by the Children’s Aid Society wherein 2,500 children participated in a day of fun and games. The NSS unit of Sophia College actively helped with the organization and execution of this celebration. The events organized were 1) Funfair, where Sophia College put up a game’s stall. 2) Magic shows 3) Film shows and 4) Children’s mela. The programme was inaugurated by Ms Varsha Gaikwad, Hon. Minister for State Child Welfare. And the closing ceremony saw the Chief Minister of the State in attendance. A funfair was organized at the DSIS Remand home on the January 30, 2012 for the children. This was organized for 160 inmates by 62 students who contributed food, gifts and games and time for the children. DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES Energy Saving Project: In the month of June a format was made by the staff and students of Sophia College, which gave detailed information about saving a) Electricity b) Gas c) Water d) Fuel A training session was held at the college by the Zoology department for first batch of students participating in the programme. Almost 100 students adopted 3 or more families for educating them regarding this project. The programme was successful and we hope to continue with this project. First Aid: A two-day workshop was conducted by Mrs. Joglekar on first aid in the month of August. 1 day practice session was held and then the students were given duties and help the injured during our youth festival. 38 students participated. 55

Yoga: A two-day workshop was conducted for relieving stress through yoga. Save Water: A campaign was conducted in the College. Paper Bag: 4000 paper bags were made and distributed to small vendors. The project was undertaken to “SAY NO TO PLASTIC” Book Making: Seven hundred and fifty note- books were made and distributed to municipal school students and tribal children in Mumbai and Jharkhand. ACTIVITIES WITH ARPAN In the month of September, Arpan organized 3 sessions on Child Sexual Abuse in collaboration with the Psychology Department for FYBA Psychology students. The first session was an introduction to Child Sexual Abuse and a sensitization to the abuse, Along with an explanation of the concept and role of Arpan. Interested students then applied for the next two levels. The second session was a sensitization to societal pressures that are instrumental in leading to the silence of the victim. The third session dealt with the stressful and traumatic nature of Child Sexual Abuse which results in fragmented memories and dreams which raise doubts about the authenticity of the event. ACTIVITIES AT NAB (National Association for the Blind) A workshop for the blind was conducted at NAB on the December 30, 2011. One hundred and twenty visually impaired individuals were given HIV/AIDS training by Mr. Santosh Pathare in an interactive session that helped spread awareness and solve their doubts to a large extent on the issue. This was the first time that such a camp was organized for the visually impaired individuals. At NAB the NSS unit organized a cultural programme on January 16 and 21, 2012. Six competitions were conducted. They were Elocution, Singing, Mono Acting, Quiz, Mr. & Ms. Personality. Others  A Blood Donation Drive was held in the College on January 20, 2012.

19. NUMBER OF TEACHERS AND OFFICERS NEWLY RECRUITED: Teachers: 4 Non-teaching staff: 2 56

20. TEACHING-NON-TEACHING STAFF RATIO: Approximately 1: 1

21. IMPROVEMENTS IN LIBRARY SERVICES:  With the introduction of the credit based system this year, beginning with the FY classes, usage of library resources for reference work has increased tremendously. On an average 350 books/question papers/files were taken for reference from the Circulation Counter and on an average only 60 books were issued per day. 

The extension of library timings by 1 hour daily from Monday to Friday before and during examinations is still being followed. It was noticed that the use of library by students beyond 5 p.m. was very minimal.



Table of Contents of Arts & Science journals subscribed are regularly collected and bound at the end of the year. Staff and students have made good use of them as it saved their time in searching for information.



College, University and Board examination question papers of Junior and Senior College classes are available in the library computer database. The response for this service by the staff and students was tremendous.



The syllabi of various subjects of different classes are well documented and maintained in the library. Staff and students come regularly to make a copy for their personal use. The syllabi are very useful for ex-students who go abroad for further studies.



The library purchased the latest 23rd edition of Dewey Decimal Classification. This schedule incorporates many of the new subjects that have evolved in recent years. This would enable the library classification procedure of books to be more precise and accurate.



The library purchased the Library Management Software SLIM 21. The SLIM 8th version that the library was using had become outdated and no further updates were available. The new version has several advanced features which will enhance the library services and data documentation work.



The library has rewritten three Accession registers, as the original ones are in bad condition, with their papers very brittle and tearing apart. These serve as useful library data and need to be preserved.



Students made excellent use of Referral services provided. Many students visited libraries for their reference work at University of Mumbai at Kalina & Fort 57

Campus, SNDT University, St. Xavier’s College, Elphinstone College, David Sassoon Library, Haffkine Institute, Holy Spirit Hospital Library, TISS, NIRRH, Jaslok Hospital Library, NCPA Library, HEALTH, SEHAT, Sophia Polytechnic, Asiatic Library, Nirmala Niketan, YMCA, NIFT, WLC School of Fashion, USIS Library and other libraries. 

7 students enrolled under the Library Ex-students membership and they made extensive use of library resources. Xerox and Internet services are available to them.



TYBA History 7 students who opted for applied component paper in Library Science completed 25 hours in-service training in the library. Each student was given training in various types of library work. These students assisted the library users in information retrieval through searches made using the library software.



The total collection of Audio-Visual materials in the library has increased to 585 in numbers. The collection consists of excellent classic movies of renowned Indian and Hollywood directors. Staff made excellent use of these audio visual aids in their teaching process. Small classes were held in the audio-visual section of the library by teachers. BMM students regularly view the film DVD collections in the library for film review reports. These films were also borrowed by different departments for screening during Kaleidoscope, Ananya and other cultural activities of the College.



Several new popular titles were added to the Fiction Library. The books were regularly issued by both staff and students. Popular titles were purchased from book sales and exhibitions Staff members also help in suggesting good titles to purchase for the Fiction library. Junior College students were encouraged and motivated to read works of eminent writers.



Overhead Projectors available in the library were very much in demand by staff, EXAP/EXSP and post-graduate students for their lectures / seminar presentations.



The Xerox and Internet Counter have been well utilized by library users since reference books, journals and newspapers are not issued out of the library. The Library purchased a new Canon Digital Copier Model No: 2525 in the Month of March 2012 from UGC XI Plan Grant. The internet services are also available for library users for reference work. The broadband connectivity helps users’ fast access to web information.



The Library Committee members for the year 2011-2012 were Principal, Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese, Dr. (Mr.) Ignat Mendes, Dr. (Ms.) Hema Subramaniam, Ms. Swarupa Kamat, Dr. (Ms.) Sumanika Sethi and the Librarian, Ms. Prabha Suresh. Two meetings were held during the course of the year, first meeting on 5th 58

October 2011 and the second meeting on 9th April 2012. The minutes of the meeting are maintained in the library. 

The institutional membership to The American Library has been renewed. The USIS library has shifted their premises to the Bandra-Kurla Complex. Several Books & journals were donated to our college library before they shifted their premises. Books, journals and AV materials can be borrowed on institutional membership. Staff and students of various departments have used this facility. Accesses to online journals have been provided to the college.



Ms Anita Thomas of TYBMM (2010-11) & Ms Nitasha Jhala of TYBA (201011) were awarded the Madeleine Sophie Prize for the most well read student of the year.



Library held several book exhibitions in the course of the year. Exhibitions by various departments of the college were also displayed in the library Reading Room section through the year.



Annual library Stock-Verification was carried out. Bar-coding of books facilitated the process.



Pest control work in the library was carried out every quarterly in the course of the year.



The Librarian and Assistant Librarian visited USIS Library, and other libraries regarding interlibrary networking.



The Librarian assisted Sophia Women Centre Library in their Documentation work.



The library collection has been greatly enriched through donation of books from the personal collection of several staff members, students, other individual donors and institutions.



The Library received donation of several expensive academic journals from USIS library namely Science, Issues in Science & Technology, PC World, Wired, Discover, Scientific American, Science News, Popular Science, Signs, American Economic Policy, etc. This is an ongoing annual arrangement with American Library.



The library held sale of donated books at very attractive prices in the month of January 2012. The response was very good.

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Computerized Catalogue cards are regularly printed for all library books. The Author, Subject and Title cards serve as a back-up for the computerized catalogue.



The Library had several visitors in the course of the year, namely: - Visitors from Korea namely the Catholic University of Korea - SCESA members - The library had a few other foreign visitors also. - Students from several Mumbai University colleges and institutes visited the library for reference work. All the visitors were very happy will the college ambience, library resources, services and the hospitality provided to them.

22. NUMBER OF NEW BOOKS/JOURNALS SUBSCRIBED AND THEIR VALUE: The library budget for books and journals was greatly enriched by grants received from library fees of students, and UGC XI Plan Grants under various headings namely, Under Graduate Assistance, Post Graduate Assistance, Human Rights Education, Additional Assistance, Remedial Coaching, Bioinformatics Career Oriented Course, Minor Research etc. This helped to purchase excellent reference books of varied subjects. The details are as follows: ITEM Books Journals & Newspapers

NUMBER 1040 77 journals & 8 newspapers

AMOUNT Rs. 890226.00 Rs. 88134.00

23. NUMBER OF COURSES FOR WHICH STUDENT ASSESSMENT OF TEACHERS IS INTRODUCED AND THE ACTION TAKEN ON STUDENT FEEDBACK: At Sophia there is the tradition of administering the Teacher Assessment Questionnaire (TAQ) to students. In the case of all new teachers, this is done every year. Permanent faculty members are encouraged to have the TAQ administered in their classes every few years, in order to gain feedback from students. The results of the TAQ, which are computerized, are shown to the concerned teacher so he/she can take the necessary remedial action. The Principal also studies the TAQ results, and discusses them with the teacher concerned. 60

After our accreditation by NAAC in 2003, years we had initiated the practice of giving questionnaires dealing with various aspects of the college, including teachers, to the graduating students. The feedback received is studied by the IQAC, in order to improve the quality of education at Sophia and in order to see both our strengths and the areas needing attention. In addition to feedback from students, we have other methods of teacher assessment and accountability:  The weekly plan book, which is checked by the Head of Department every week and the respective Vice-Principal at the end of every month.  The six-monthly report that every teacher writes at the end of each term.  The Confidential Reports prepared by the Principal twice a year for every new teacher, in consultation with the respective Vice-Principal and Head of Department. The Confidential Report is discussed with the teacher concerned.  The supervised lecture, which takes place twice a year in the case of every new teacher. The lectures are supervised by the Principal, Vice-Principal and Head of Department (any two).  The Performance Appraisal form and the Self Assessment form that are filled in by the teacher at the end of the academic year.

24. UNIT COST OF EDUCATION: The unit cost is calculated for the period of the financial year April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012 (inclusive of UGC grants that have benefited students): approximately Rs. 42,866/-. However, the above does not take into account the sum of approximately Rs. 70, 00,000/that the Management has to put in for Repairs and Maintenance, Salaries of additional staff appointed by Management beyond the staffing pattern sanctioned by Government, and the Salaries of staff, teaching and non-teaching, in posts awaiting Government permission to be filled, and improvement of infrastructure. If this amount is also taken into account, i.e. if this amount is added along with the expenditure met from Government Salary Grants and Fees, the approximate unit cost per student per year would be approximately Rs. 47,441/-.

25. COMPUTERIZATION OF ADMINISTRATION AND THE PROCESS OF ADMISSIONS AND EXAMINATION RESULTS, ISSUE OF CERTIFICATES: Both the General Office and the Accounts Office are computerized. Accounts work, admissions, examination results etc. are computerized. The certificates are computerized, except those like the leaving certificates which have to be hand-written. The work of 61

computerizing results and preparing certificates is outsourced to a professional agency, as is the case for the computer analysis of the Teacher Assessment Questionnaires. The library is now fully computerized.

26. INCREASE IN INFRASTRUCTURAL FACILITES: The first day of the academic year 2011-2012, saw the inauguration of the newly renovated AV Room, which was renovated as a memorial of the silver jubilee of Kaleidoscope in 2010, with money raised through Kaleidoscope. Among other major renovations of the year were those of the Staff Room and that of the Shed (multipurpose hall). A generous donation towards the cost of the latter’s renovation was received from Dr. Zaibun Jasdanwalla, former Head of the Department of Economics and it was, therefore, renamed ‘The Dr. Zaibun Y. Jasdanwalla Multipurpose Hall’. The renovation of the Staff Room was sponsored by the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation. Besides these, the Staff Tea Room was also renovated in October-November through a donation received from Mrs. Griselda Dias, former Head of the Department of History. Mrs. Anuradha Mahindra (ex-student) gave a personal grant of Rs. 15 lakhs towards the painting and conservation of the heritage Arts Building and this work was carried out between October 2011 and May 2012.

Gathering in the newly renovated Dr. Zaibun Y. Jasdanwalla Multipurpose Hall – Oct. 1, 2011

The most significant infrastructural improvement during the year was the construction of one more floor on the Sophia Andersson Annexe. This work commenced in early November 2011 and will be completed in the latter half of 2012. In addition, various classrooms were painted.

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27. TECHNOLOGY UPRGRADATION: Four more LCD projectors, with laptops, were installed (namely one each in classrooms 4, 11, 21 and 32). The BMM Department purchased new cameras.

28. COMPUTER AND INTERNET ACCESS AND TRAINING TO TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: Many departments have their own computers. In addition, in the staff room there are two computers with internet facilities exclusively for the use of staff members. Wi-fi facility is available in the college hostel.

29. FINANCIAL AID TO STUDENTS: We were very grateful to receive once again a donation of Rs. 1 lakh from Vasundhara and Karan Sanghi towards SAF. Others also donated, the total of other donations received being Rs. 54,000/-. The total amount disbursed during the year as student aid to cover college fees was Rs. 2,07,440/-. In addition, the Keshav and Daphne Verma Scholarship (to cover hostel and college fees of one student for the full three years of the degree course) was given for the first time this year to Renata Millet (FYBMM), who received Rs. 77,000/- for 2011-12. The donor, Dr. Meera Verma (an ex-student), also discussed the possibilities with the college authorities of making this an annual scholarship.

30. ACTIVITIES AND SUPPORT FROM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: The College is fortunate in having a full-set up alumni association with its own office on campus. The association is known as THE SOPHIA COLLEGE EX-STUDENTS ASSOCIATION (SCESA) The Managing Committee of SCESA met every month to plan activities both with relation to the College as well as its outreach activities. The following were some of the activities arranged in the College by SCESA:  The Alumnae Day was held on October 1, 2011. At this function, three distinguished ex-students were felicitated, namely Mrs. Zakia Khatib, Mrs. Zelma Nazareth and Ms Kiran Rao  The SCESA Bazaar ‘Shop for a Cause’ was held on October 1, 2011 On November 25, 2011, SCESA organised a get-together over ‘coffee and cakes’ for teaching staff at which three former staff members were felicitated, namely Mrs. Griselda Dias (former Head of the Department of History), Mrs. Hira Steven (former lecturer, Department of English) and Mrs. Tazeen Canteenwala (former Head of the Department of English). In February a get-together was organised by SCESA for non-teaching staff.

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31. ACTIVITIES AND SUPPORT FROM THE PARENT-TEACHER ASSOCIATION: There is no parent-teacher association as such. However, parents are invited to the Orientation Programme held at the beginning of the year for each class. There was also an ‘Open Day’, held on December 3, 2011, when parents were invited to College to meet with faculty.

32. HEALTH SERVICES: There are four major hospitals within the distance of less than one or two kilometres from the College (Jaslok Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital, Cumballa Hill Hospital and Bhatia Hospital). In case of any emergency, students are taken immediately to the casualty department of any one of these hospitals, especially the former two, by the College van. Besides this, first aid facilities are provided by the College Wardens (Arts and Science); two doctors in the neighbourhood of the College are also available for medical assistance in case of any emergency.

33. PERFORMANCE IN SPORTS ACTIVITIES: The College has a well set up gymnasium as well as a basket-ball and volley-ball courts on campus. In the multipurpose hall there is an indoor badminton court. Facilities for table-tennis, carom, chess etc. exists. Besides the annual athletic meet (Annual Sports Day), the students are coached in basketball, volleyball, football and various other games and they participate in various inter-collegiate tournaments.

34. INCENTIVES TO OUTSTANDING SPORTSPERSONS: The University scheme of additional marks for active participation in sports is an incentive. Some attendance remission is also provided if lectures are missed due to participation in sports meets. Besides trophies, including the championship trophy, at the Annual Athletic Meet, certificates are given to outstanding sportspersons at the Annual Prize Day Function. There is also a prize for an outstanding sportsperson, given at the Annual Prize Day Function.

35. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDS: University Ranks and Prizes: In the TYBA examinations held in April-May 2011 the following students secured ranks:  Snehal Chandak secured the over-all seventh rank with 83.17%  Nitasha Jhala secured the third rank in Philosophy with 74.67% 64

Other Academic / Cultural Achievements:  Diana Cardoz (SYBA) won the first prize in the on the spot essay writing competition organised the International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS) on July 6, 2011. The topic of the essay: ‘Role of Youth in National Development. She received a certificate of award and cash prize of Rs. 2000/- and the College received a memento on July 11, 2011, at the World Population Day Symposium.  Parul Rawat, Ruchika Radhakrishnan and Saloni Singh, SYBA students of Economics, participated in the zonal level debate competition held on July 30, 2011, on the topic ‘Is the Women’s Reservation Bill One Step Backward for a Growing Nation?’ Parul Rawat won the best speaker award.  Zoya Hanif Tungekar (TYBA - Hindi) took part in a painting competition on ‘Paint Your Heritage on Canvas’, held by the Department of Ancient Indian Culture of St. Xavier’s College and the Museum Society of Bombay on July 28, 2011, and won the consolation prize.  TYBA Psychology students Prarthana Sharma and Munira Sayeed participated in an article writing competition which was part of the Mental Health Week held at Masina Hospital. They won the third prize for their article ‘Post Partum Blues’.  Two FYBA students of Political Science, Pooja Tolia and Sonakshi Jain, won the second prize in the group event ‘Asia 2011-Asian Summit’ in the inter-collegiate event ‘We the People’, organised by Ruia College on September 14, 2011.  Paloma Noronha (SYBSc) submitted an essay entitled ‘Radioisotopes and Radiation Technology for Improving the Quality of Life’ for the ‘23rd All India Essay Competition on Nuclear Science and Technology’, held by the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. She was one of 31 students selected from all over India level present her essay and to stay on the BARC Campus for a visit to various atomic energy centre, October 20-28, 2011.  Gitanjali Hiranandani and Harini Alladi (SYBA) won the third prize in an intercollegiate power point presentation competition organised by the Dept. of History, G.N.Khalsa College on November 24, 2011. The theme was 'Depicting History through Tourism'. The students' presentation was on Mumbai. There were 16 teams participating in the event.  Four students, namely Neethi Kumar and Akshata Jadhav of SYBSc and Juhi Pande and Abhilasha Khetan of SYBMM, of the College were selected for the Study Visit to the Parliament of India, organised by Mr. Milind Deora (M.P., Lok Sabha, South Mumbai Constituency) on December 8, 2011, where they visited both the houses of the Indian Parliament and had an interaction with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Ms Meira Kumar.  Diya John and Divya Das (TYBA Psychology) participated in ‘Psynergy’, an intercollegiate Psychology festival organised by Ruparel College on January 11, 2012, where they won the prize in the ‘Guess What?...’ Dumb Charades and Pictionary event.  Chiti Arvind (FYBSc) was selected for POBE (Project Oriented Biological Education) by JNCASR (Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (Bangalore) from 21st of May to 13th of July, 2012. 65



A team of seven FYJC Vocational (Office Management) students (Ahilya Rajani, Ankita Yadav, Aliza Shaikh, Ridhi Vartak, Caroline Martis, Daniella Danson and Palak Shah) participated in the ‘Vocational Education Technical Exhibition 20112012’ on December 8-9, 2011, where they had to display a project on ‘Means of Communication’. They won the second prize.

36. ACTIVITIES OF THE GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING UNIT: At Sophia College we have a fully set up counselling centre, called the Sophia J.N.Heredia Counselling Centre. This year there were two part-time counsellors working in the Sophia J.N.Heredia Counselling Centre: Ms Ashrafi Chittalwala and Ms Jamila Ali. The former was available in the Centre on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and the latter on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Unfortunately, because her husband got posted out of Mumbai, Ms Jamila Ali left at the end of the first term. In addition, Ms Tripti Singh was available in the Centre for counselling for foreign study on Wednesdays. Dr. Jennie Mendes from the Department of Psychology was over-all in charge of the Centre and its activities. Sessions with Classes/Groups A total of 13 sessions were conducted with various classes. Individual Counselling Sessions A total of 105 individuals have approached the Counseling Centre for personal and career counseling and there have been a total of 124 counseling sessions. Students have been approaching the Counseling Centre, bringing in friends and parents and sometimes referred by teaching staff, to cope with their problems. The natures of problems faced by some students are serious. But, most continue to face usual adolescent problems, career and subject choices, which are resolved in 1 or 2 sessions. Consultative Activities:  There was an interaction with Nilofer Lokhandwala, student counselor and social worker of Nirmala Niketan College, regarding activities and work done by Counseling Centre of Sophia College.  Sharmila Menezes, counsellor of Smt Parvatibai Chowgule College of Arts & Science, Goa, visited the Centre for an exchange of ideas on activities and work carried out by the counselling department of Sophia College and their college. Christian Faith Formation Activities Besides the First Friday masses and other masses on special occasions such as College Day, Dr. Perpetua Miranda, a minister of the Word (MOW), conducted a BIBLE CLASS as follows: 66

Date of the Bible class June 23, 2011

Topic

Room

The Word: a lecture and planning of charts to be Room 8 made by the students to advertise the Bible class June 30, 2011 Lecture on the books in the Bible Room 8 July 7, 2011 Lecture on Women in the Old Testament Room 8 July 21, 2011 Lecture on Esther Room 30 July 28, 2011 Movie on Esther and discussion Room 30 August 4, 2011 A lecture on Ruth and Naomi and a movie on Room 30 Ruth and discussion September 8, 2011 Lecture on Mary and her qualities Room 30 September 14, 2011 Lecture on Delilah and Judith Room 30 September 22, 2011 Lecture on Manoah’s wife, a movie ‘Samson and Room 30 Delilah’, Discussion November 17, 2011 Screening of a CD, ‘Knowing God Better’, and Room 30 discussion December 1, 2011 Lecture and Discussion on JMJ- Madrid (World Room 30 Youth Day)booklet of catechism December 8, 2011 Recollection in the college chapel: an hour of Room 29 prayer, rosary and psalms December 15, 2011 Session on Luke’s Gospel and the importance of Room 29 going to confession December 22, 2011 Session on Luke’s Gospel and the importance of Room 29 doing kind deeds for Christmas; a movie on the Nativity (No sessions were held from 1st October to mid-November because of examinations and Diwali vacations) The students who attended these classes are from FYBA, SYBA and TYBA classes in Sophia College. Approximately 15 students attend a session. The following activities were also done during the year 2011 by Dr. Perpetua Miranda:  five girls from the hostel were taken for the programme of Bishop Angelo’s at the Mount Mary’s hall, Bandra on March 20, 2011 “Be My Witnesses” (4 p.m. to 8 p.m.)  fifteen students of the College were for the Diocesan Leadership programme ‘Live Life Fully’ on July 10, 2011 at Holy Name School hall, where they also met Cardinal Oswald Gracias for an open question answer session.  eighteen Catholic students and those from different faiths were taken to St Xavier’s College to participate and attend an inter-religious seminar on November 20, 2011 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on ‘Love in the World’s Wisdom Traditions’. The girls participated in the debate, and performed a prayer-dance for the above function. At this seminar, Dr. P. Miranda presented a paper on ‘Love in the 67

Christian tradition’. The seminar was conducted by Fr. Lancy Prabhu, the Director of the Department for Inter Religious studies, St. Xavier’s College. CAREER GUIDANCE:  On August 5, 2011, a career counselling session for TYBSc students by Ms Tanvi Singh was held.  On January 28, 2012 the English Department invited ex-students Amy Bharucha, lawyer, and Sharmeen Hussain, travel journalist, for an interaction with TY and SY students of all departments in order to guide students about subject and career choices.

37. PLACEMENT SERVICES PROVIDED TO STUDENTS: MSc students: Among the Life Science students of MSc Part II of the previous year, Gareth D’Souza got admission in NCBS for a PhD and Naibila got a placement in Cactus through a campus interview.  

On September 14, 2011, ‘Young Buzz’ gave a career talk which was open to all students. On November 24, 2011, representatives from Lotus Eye Care Hospital were invited to address the SYJC Science students on ‘Career Options after HSC’

Student Placements through the College (Undergraduate):  Madhuri Dhariwal got selected for a teaching job placement with Akanksha  Sharanya Ramesh, Prita Kalyansundaram, Dhvani Doshi and Nallika Braganza were selected for the prestigious ‘Teach for India’ programme Placements of the “Post Graduate Diploma In Quality Assurance In Foods/Pharmaceuticals Industry”, QA Batch XVIII (2010 – 2011): Sr. no.

Name

Organization

Place

1

Alifiyah Navsariwala

Cipla Ltd

Vikhroli

2

Bhavishya Shetty

Cipla Ltd

Vikhroli

3

Devshree Sawant

S. Kant Healthcare

Worli

4

Fatema Khan

Expecting a baby

5

Geeta Shetty

Taste-L

Goregaon

6

Iram Khan

Taste-L

Goregaon

7

Karuna Choudhari

Pending 68

8

Levia Mendonca

Cipla Ltd

Vikhroli

9

Mahalaxmi Ramasubramaniyam

Cipla Ltd

Vikhroli

10

Mariyam Vadiwala

Cipla Ltd

Vikhroli

11

Naseema Challangayam

Stern Wywiol Gruppe

Andheri West

12

Nikita Bhandari

Getting married

13

Pooja Shah

S. Kant Healthcare

Worli

14

Priya D'souza

Cipla Ltd

Vikhroli

15

Priyanka Puradkar

Stern Wywiol Gruppe

Umergaon

16

Rachel Kani

Cipla Ltd

Vikhroli

17

Sneha Shetty

Pending

18

Sofia Chettiar

Cipla Ltd

Vinita Singh

Offered in Stern Wywiol Gruppe

Vibin Abraham

Stern Wywiol Gruppe

19 20

Vikhroli

Umergaon

38. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR NON-TEACHING STAFF: No special programme for non-teaching staff was organised during the year.

39. HEALTHY PRACTICES OF THE INSTITUTIONS The following are some of the healthy practices: Departmental concretization of College Goals: As was done in the previous year, at the commencement of the academic year, every department was asked to study the College Goals and choose one or more to focus one. The departmental plans were submitted to the Principal. At the end of the first term and again at the end of the second term, departments gave a written feedback on what had been done by them to concretise the college goals. Theme for the Year: As has been the practice since 2000, this year too we took up a theme for the year, namely ‘Education for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Nature’.

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Staff Seminars / Workshops for teaching staff as already mentioned in the response to question no. 8 a). Sophia Nobel Orations The Annual Sophia-Sophia Nobel Orations were held on January 7, 2012. There were two talks. The first was on ‘Renaissance of Innate Immunity’ by Dr. S. Chiplunkar, Head, Department of Immunology, ACTREC’ regarding the work of the Nobel Laureates of the year in Physiology and Medicine namely Bruce A. Butler and Jules A. Hoffmann who were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity and Ralph M. Steinman for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity. The second entitled ‘Icons of Peace in the Conflict Ridden World’ by Dr. M.T. Joseph, Director, Institute of Indian Culture, Mumbai, was on the Nobel Laureates for Peace namely Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman who were awarded the Nobel Prize for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work. Quest Wider than the Sky – Sophia PG Conference on National Science Day, February 28 Just like the Sophia-Nobel Orations which are aimed at creating a wider awareness and interest in the latest developments in the field of science, in order to foster a climate of research and interest in science research, the Science faculty of our College started last year the PG Conference at which our post-graduate students as well as faculty members put up posters on their research projects. This is done on the occasion of the National Science Day (February 28). This year we held the second such conference. The wide range of Outreach Activities of the College, the Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development and SCESA Peace Fortnight: as in the past years, Peace Fortnight was celebrated to coincide with Hiroshima Day (August 6) and Indian Independence Day. The following activities were conducted, besides the daily prayer on the theme of peace over the public address system: Aug. 2: The English Literary Society held and essay writing competition on the theme; IRC held a talk by USIEF Aug. 4: The Art n Design Club held a Friendship Keychain designing competition, the Sports Club organized a logo design competition and the Association of Christian Students organized a sale of Friendship bands Aug. 5: The Art n Design Club organised a poster making competition Aug. 6: SIGMA and Mass Media Club screened a movie on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Aug. 8: The English Literary Society (ELS), the Association of Christian Students and NSS jointly held a Blood Donation Drive; ELS also organised a debate on ‘Is Peace a Possibility’ 70

Aug. 12:

Aug. 15:

The English Literary Society and the Art n Design Club held a slogan writing competition, BSP had a display and sale of regional cuisine entitled ‘Dawaat’, the Nature Club held a creative writing session, SCEDA screened the documentary film ‘Eternal Gandhi’ The Sports Club organised a Peace March to the August Kranti Maidan after the morning’s flag hoisting function in the College

40. LINKAGES DEVELOPED WITH NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL, ACADEMIC/RESEARCH BODIES  Prof. Jan Letherer and a group of students from Spring Arbor University, Michigan, USA, visited the College and interacted with the faculty and students of the Department of Education on January 4, 2012.  Prof. Hilary Link from Barnard College, a unit of Columbia University, USA, visited Sophia on March 14, 2012, in order to discuss possible linkages between the two institutions. Dr. Medha Rajadhyaksha (Dept. of Life Science) has a research project in collaboration with Prof. Momna Hejmadi of the University of Bath. Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal (Dept. of English) was on a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship for one semester and Dr. Yasmin Khan (Dept. of Life Science) has been selected for a Fulbright Research Fellowship.

41. ANY OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION: Among the Good Practices at Sophia College, which have not been highlighted under any of the earlier points are: A. Wide range of co-curricular activities in order to develop the students leadership capacities and their personalities: KALEIDOSCOPE Kaleidoscope, our very popular inter-collegiate youth festival was held between August 24 and 28, 2011. It was a fun-filled event which involved a lot of team work. An Executive Committee of five and an organising committee of over 100 and a team of volunteers numbering over 500 worked to make this a great team event. CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS: All the Clubs participated actively for Glimpses 2011 and during the Peace Fortnight. In addition: The Sports Club:  Organised a week-long ‘Sophia Sports Week’ of inter-class tournaments from November 22, 2011 onwards 71

SCEDA:  On August 5, 2011, SCEDA performed ‘Silence! The Court is in Session’, a play by Vijay Tendulkar, at the Y.B. Chavan Pratishthan Hall, at the invitation of the organisation called ‘Inner Courtyard’, run by Padmini and Aditya Somani. This was the last year’s annual play.  On January 14, 2012 the Annual SCEDA Performance took place. This year SCEDA put up ‘Tapestry: A Collection of Eleven Women’s Voices Across Genres and Cultures’ The Nature Club organized:  A trek to Matheran was organised on July 10, 2011  An anti-littering campaign was carried out during the Peace Fortnight  On September 23, 2011 there was a talk by Amit Pathak (animal welfare officer), Rinky Karmaka and Amit Gajria (trustee of the NGO ‘save our stray’) on animal welfare  A trip to Kerala during the Diwali vacations, from November 2 to 12, 2011  A trip to Murud-Janjira on December 17-18, 2011  A Cycle Rally was held on January 22, 2012 to generate awareness on vehicular pollution; the theme for the rally was ‘Ride the Green Wave’.  A trip to the north-east was undertaken during the summer vacation of 2012 from May 14 to June 2, 2012 In addition to the above, the Nature Club also worked along with IRC in setting up a Student Maintained Garden. They also worked for creating aware on animal welfare, for which they visited SPCA on December 21, 2011. The Sigma Club organized:  A crossword puzzle competition on September 30, 2011.  On December 13, 2011, a workshop on ‘Determination of Susceptibility to Dental Caries’. The Association of Christian Students (ACS) organised:  A camp to Mt. Abu from October 19 to 25, 2011.  An inter-collegiate carol singing competition on December 20, 2011. organised the First Friday Masses and the mass on College Day.

It also

The Bharatiya Sanskritik Parishad:  Organised a rakhi sale between August 8 and 12, 2011, during the Peace Fortnight  held its annual ‘Sanskruti’ on September 24, 2011, with eliminations on September 21-22. At Sanskruti there were competitions of mehendi, hair-styling, rangoli, antakashari, solo and group dancing, solo singing and Ms Sanskruti. The World Music Club organized:  Ripples, the annual music and dance competition, on September 3, 2011. 72



A Jazz Funk Dance workshop from November 17, 2011 to January 3, 2012; the workshop was conducted by SplitSole Dance Academy and it comprised seventeen sessions.

The International Relations Club (IRC)  IRC and AIESEC-Mumbai jointly held a workshop on ‘Content, Identity and the Art of New Business’ on July 20, 2011. The workshop was conducted by Drizzlin Media.  IRC along with Harvard Model United Nations – India held a workshop on MUN on July 8, 2011.  A Seminar on ‘Higher Education in the US’ was organized by IRC jointly with the US-India Education Foundation on August 2, 2011.  MUNSOPHICAL training programme were conducted on August 4 and 9, 2011.  IRC helped with the inaugural session of the Harvard Model United National India 2011 held on Sophia College Campus on August 19, 2011.  IRC organised sessions for senior and junior college students on ‘Education in UK’ by the British Council on September 12, 2011.  MUNSOPHICAL 2011 was held on December 9-11, 2011. The Mass Media Club  Held a theatre workshop on ‘Tamasha’, which comprised twelve sessions, six of which were held in September and the rest in December 2011.  On December 20, 2011 it organised a photo journalism exhibition on the theme ‘Issues of Mumbai’. The English Literary Society  Held a JAM workshop on July 18, 2011  Screened the film ‘Alice in Wonderland’ on September 13, 2011  organized a video-screening and discussion by TED, an organization dedicated to encouraging innovation and creativity on November 22, 2011  Organised a book exhibition on January 19-21, 2012 in the Canteen Extension.  ELS in association with litizens.com invited entries for an anothology of short stories to be titled ‘Labyrinth’; a number of entries were received; the one judged the best was submitted for publication. The Art ‘n’ Design Club  Held an ‘Installation Art Competition’ on July 29, 2011. The theme for the Competition was ‘The Orient’ Events organised by two or more clubs jointly included:  A logo designing competition for the College T-Shirts on August 4, 2011 by the Art n Design Club and the Sports Club jointly.

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   

During the Peace Fortnight, ELS and ACS jointly organised a toy and book donation drive. The books and toys collected were given to a school for the marginalised in Jharkhand. On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, BSP in association with NSS put up a cultural show for the inmates of the boys’ remand home, namely the David Sassoon Industrial School, on September 2, 2011. BSP and NSS jointly put up ‘Pratidhwani’, an inter-collegiate group singing competition on the theme of ‘peace and patriotism’. ‘Jalsa’, an intra-collegiate folk-festival, which was organised by Prism, BSP and Art ‘n’ Design Club from November 21 to 25, 2011. During Jalsa the following workshops on folk art were held: ‘Kalamkari’ by Ms Neeta Gandhi; ‘Madhubani’ by Ms Neeta Gandhi; ‘Warli Art’ by Ms Priti Doshi. In addition, a Photography Workshop was conducted by Mr. Sagar Joshi and a Theatre Workshop by Mr. Mujeeb Khan. A Diya Designing competition and a Folk Song competition were also held. On the final day, there was a photography and folk art exhibition and stalls by some NGOs and a Mehendi stall by our College students.

B. Activities under the Theme of the Year 2011-2012 As in the past few years, this year, too, a theme for the year for the whole college had been selected. The Annual Theme chosen for the academic year 2011-2012 was ‘Education for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Nature’. The activities under this theme were undertaken in three major ways: Events/ Activities during the year An Inter and Intra Collegiate Event: Ananya Other Projects and Activities The theme became the focus of a variety of curricular and co-curricular activities, such as field trips, poster presentations, research projects etc. The following Departmental and Inter-departmental Activities under the theme for the year:  July 8: Talk on ‘Population & Sustainable Development’ organized by the Economics Department; speaker: Dr. Aparajita Chattopadhyay from the International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS)  July 16: The film ‘Inconvenient Truth’ by Al Gore on Global Warming etc. was screened by the Philosophy Department  July 21: Workshop by the NGO ‘Arpan’ on ‘Child Sexual Abuse’ organized by NSS and the Psychology Department  July 22: Junior College celebrated ‘Green Day’: “Go Green, Be Green, Wear Green”  July 23-24: The Microbiology Department organised a nature trip to Khandala. Three staff members and forty-three students participated  July 26: Debate organized by Prism (Student Cultural Committee), NSS and the Economics Department, as part of the University of Mumbai’s Debate Competition entitled ‘Kartavya’, on ‘Does a Havaldar Today Have to be Corrupt in order to Survive’. 74

          

July 29:

Mrs. Seema Redkar, who is in charge of Solid Waste Management in the Bombay Municipal Corporation, was invited to give a talk on ‘Go Green: On the Way to Becoming Green Managers’. Aug. 3: Philosophy Department organized a workshop on ‘Domestic Violence’ for its students of all three classes. The resource persons were Dr. Vibhuti Patel, Ms Sangeeta Rege and Ms Chitra Joshi. Aug. 5: Hindi Department organised the screening of the film ‘Kairee’ dealing Issues relating to women. Aug. 23: The Chemistry Department organised a workshop by Ms Neha Singhal for its TYBSc students on ‘Sexual Harassment at the Workplace’ Aug. 26: The Chemistry Department organised a workshop for its TYBSc students on ‘Domestic Violence and Marital Discord’. The resource persons were the following advocates: Ms Chetna Birjie and Ms Shazia Mukadam. Sept. 19: The Hindi Department organised a workshop by Ujjwala Mhatre on ‘Women’s Status and Problems in Society’. Nov. 15: Ms Shraddha Prabhu (Microbiology Department) organised a poster display and screening of the film ‘Poison on Platter’ on genetically modified foods. Jan.19: The History Department organised a workshop for its TYBA Single Major class on ‘Women’s Rights’. Jan. 27: A talk on ‘The Human Face of Human Rights’ by Dr. Siddhi Vyas of the Azim Premji Foundation was held for the FYBA Foundation class. Feb. 10: A Debate on ‘Is Distributive Justice Theft or Fairness’ was organised by the Departments of Philosophy and Political Science Feb. 10: A session on ‘Climate Change & You ... Your Waste’ was organised by the Department of Economics, in collaboration with the Centre for Education & Documentation

Other Projects / Activities  On July 8, 2011, a Model United Nations workshop was organised by IRC and Harvard Model United Nations – India. This was followed by a number of intracollegiate workshops. 

On the occasion of World Population Day, i.e. July 11, 2011, the Department of Students’ Welfare and NSS of SNDT Women's University in collaboration with Forum Against Sex Selection (FASS) launched a major awareness campaign on the issue of Sex Selection by way of a special programme in an effort to reach out to a wider student and youth population. The programme was held at the University's Patkar Hall Auditorium, Near Marine Lines, from 11.30 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. and was attended by a sizeable number of students from SNDT and other South Mumbai colleges, apart from representatives of civil society and the media. Dr. (Sr.) Ananda Amritmahal and some students attended a part of this programme. The students of Sophia College presented a dance ballet, choreographed by Sr. Ananda Amritmahal, entitled ‘Dil hai Chotasa, Chotisi Aasha’, on the theme, as part of the College's 75

involvement in Human Rights Education – the right of the girl child to be born – at the inaugural function of this programme.



The Psychology Department in collaboration with NSS organised three sessions for its FYBA students with Arpan, an NGO working against Child Sex Abuse.



The Nature Club, the International Relations Club and the Department of Biochemistry developed a garden of vegetables, shrubs and flowering plants at the side of the Arts Building (between the property wall and the wing which houses the offices etc.). Bio-composting was also undertaken at the same location by the Zoology Department. The work in this garden began on July 27, 2011 and the garden was inaugurated on March 6, 2012. In addition, the Life Science Department set up a small kitchen garden in pots on the terrace adjoining the department room as well as a small fish tank in the herbal garden, both of which were maintained by the students. An important feature of the new garden area created, besides the fact that it was a ‘student-maintained garden’ is that we did ‘seed harvesting’ for the same. In other words, practically all the plants for this garden were from cuttings of from seeds gathered from other gardens on our campus.

Commencement of work in the student-maintained garden – August, 2011

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A view of a part of the garden – March 6, 2012



A very important event organised under the theme for the year was the Model United Nations Seminar, MUNSOPHICAL 2011: Ideas for a Better World, organised by the International Relations Club on the theme of ‘Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Nature, with special focus on Human Rights’ from December 9 to 11, 2011. Students from about 150 schools and Colleges from across the country participated in MUNSOPHICAL 2011.

Binayak Sen addresses the valedictory session, Dec. 11 Jozias van Aartsen, Mayor of the Hague at Sophia , Dec. 9

There was a session in association with SPIL, Mumbai. MUNSOPHICAL – 2011 included Mr. Jozias van Aartsen, the Hague (keynote address), Mr. Bittu Sahgal, Mrs. Meera Sanyal, Prof. Kishu Daswani, and Ambassador Rajendra Abhyankar. The Dr. Binayak Sen, gave the valedictory address. 

Speakers at Mayor of the Dr. Ilina Sen, noted activist,

In keeping with the theme of the year and the UN theme for 2011, namely ‘International Year of the Forests’, the Life Science Department identified and photographed the trees on Sophia Campus and prepared a planner for the year 2012 using some of these photographs, accompanied by relevant information. The FYBSc Life Science students did an assignment on ‘Forests of India’; FYBSc and SYBSc students of the department jointly prepared a presentation entitled the ‘Green Scene’. 77



The Biochemistry Department made new labels for all the trees and other plants on the campus.



Celebrating the centennial of Marie Curie’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry and in keeping with the theme of the year, the Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development prepared a calendar for the year 2012 on women path-breakers in the field of Science.

Ananya (December 2011)  December 13, 2011: The Chemistry Department organised a quiz entitled ‘Mind Power’  December 14, 2011: The Microbiology Department screened the film ‘Bol’  December 15, 2011: The Zoology Department organised a workshop on ‘Creative Recycling of Waste Paper Using Origami’. The resource person was Ms Roshni Shah  December 16, 2011: a) The Political Science Department organised a ‘Pol Jam Session’; it, along with the Department of Education, also organised a session on ‘Safety on Campus’ b) The Psychology Department screened ‘Temple Grandin’, a film related to Autism. This deeply moving film was followed by a talk by Dr. Vibha Krishnamurthy a renowned paediatrician.  December 17, 2011: a) The Zoology Department organised and interactive session by Mr. Ruben Mascarenhas from the NGO called Yuva Satta on ‘Eves against Teasing’. b) The Biochemistry Department and QA jointly organised ‘Save It Up’ c) The NSS unit organised ‘Khoj’ (a treasure hunt). d) The Life Science and Education Departments jointly organised a workshop at which firstly the students presented ‘The Green Scene’ and next Dr. Sanjay Deshmukh gave a talk on ‘Mangroves, Coastal Regions and Climate Change: Impacts, Challenges and Mitigation Measures’ e) The Life Science and Education Departments jointly organised a table-mat painting competition on the topic ‘Nature is Vibrant’ f) The Philosophy Department organised a street-play.  December 19, 2011: The Psychology and Sociology Departments jointly held a session on the topic of ‘Human Trafficking: Moving Beyond’ by Mr. Roque Coutinho from the NGO ‘Justice and Care’

C. Work done by the IQAC: The IQAC Cell of the College, headed by Mrs. S. Master as Co-ordinator, did the following:  At the commencement of the year, a new prospectus was brought out with the help of Ms Lavanya Varadarajan of the BMM department. 78



The Sophia College website was updated in August 2011. Information about forth coming events, seminars etc was posted on the home page during the year. This year a brief report with photographs was also posted on the website after the event was over.  The new MIS software, designed in-house, has been prepared and installed in the office. Work on the first page that includes details of the student (Name, Roll No. etc has now been started). Mr. Gauri Prasad Singh (IT teacher of the Junior College) and Mrs. Sandra Mendes (Lecturer in charge of the Mathematics and Statistics department) are finalizing the next section where student progression will be registered. A student, Ms Diana Cardoz, has been trained to use this software effectively. After data entry a trial run will be made to test the efficacy of the programme.  The questionnaires at the Entry and the Exit point of all classes have been reformatted and made subject specific. As is the usual practice the FY Entry point questionnaire was administered in mid July. The TY Exit questionnaires were given to the teachers in the beginning of December to be administered by them in their respective classes. Teachers returned the duly filled questionnaires in the beginning of January 2012. The Exit questionnaires to the other classes were administered in February 2012. However, the response was not very good. It was evident that these questionnaires would have to be administered a little earlier in the academic year in future. The data entry and analysis of all Entry and Exit questionnaires 2011-2012 have been completed. Two meetings of the IQAC were held during the academic year, one on July 5, 2011 and the second on April 18, 2012.

Part C. Explain the plans of the institution for the next year (20122013) 1. To take forward the MIS 2. To continue our focus on ‘Strategic Planning’ and ‘Brand Building’, especially in attracting students from a wide range of backgrounds to Sophia 3. To continue with our infrastructure enhancement 4. To start BSc IT if permission is secured on time 5. To build up international linkages and collaboration 6. To enhance our placement activities ALL OTHER GOOD AND HEALTHY PRACTICES AND PROGRAMMES THAT WE HAVE AT SOPHIA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN WILL BE CONTINUED IN 20122013 IN ORDER TO IMPART QUALITY, VALUE-BASED EDUCATION TO OUR STUDENTS.

Date: May 31, 2012

Mrs. S. Master Coordinator – IQAC

Dr. (Sr.) Anila Verghese Principal – Sophia College Chairperson – IQAC 79

ANNUAL QUALITY ASSURANCE REPORT For the Academic Year 2011-2012 Of

SOPHIA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN (NAAC Re-Accredited in March 2009 – CGPA of 3.61)

Bhulabhai Desai Road Mumbai 400 026 Tel. No. 022-23512642/ 23523304 Fax: 022-23513183 Email: [email protected] Website: www.sophiacollegemumbai.com (NAAC Re-accredited 2009: ‘A’ Grade, CGPA: 3.61) 80