News - Back to school M.A. degree course in Numismatics

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University starts country's first MA in numismatics
Riya Kartha
Posted online: Thursday , June 19, 2008 at 11:13:08

Mumbai, June 18 The Mumbai University's Dinesh Mody Numismatic Museum is launching an M.A. degree course in Numismatics and Archaeology, set to be the first such Post Graduate course of its kind in India.
The course, open to students of all faculties, will span two years and will consist of subjects that pertain mostly to numismatics. "There are four subjects in the first year and four in the second, covering all aspects — ancient, modern, symbolic, technological etc," said Dr Kishor Gaikwad, Director of the Dinesh Mody Numismatics Institute.

"Our faculty will include Dr Dilip Rajor, who is an expert in numismatics and we also have guest lecturers and other experts from Pune and Mumbai," said Gaikwad, adding that there were also plans for a festival and other get-togethers during the course period.

Gaikwad also said that there would be good placement opportunities for students who complete the course. These would include working at museums and with numismatic experts who need help in cataloguing. "Even private collectors are sometimes in need of cataloguing experts," he said, adding that though many courses offer an understanding of numismatics as part of Archaeology, Ancient Indian Culture and Art courses, this degree is unique as the focus is on numismatics.

"Since this is the first batch, students will be selected by an expert panel which will scrutinise application forms and shortlist those who they believe are suitable for admission," said co-ordinator and administrative officer of the Mody Institute, Mrinalini Jamkhedkar.

Facilities for students will include an auditorium available for seminars, lectures and conferences, and a numismatics museum for practical training. The course is scheduled to begin in July and the fees will be Rs 3,000 per year. Application forms will be available at the at the Dinesh Mody Museum, Kalina campus.

Source: ExpressIndia

[Rangnath]

What do you think Shariq?  Bogus or a good stimulus for Indian Numismatics?
richie

[shariqkhan]

Why Bogus? It is a good attempt with quite affordable fee structure. Even a numismatic expert from Indore charged me Rs 1500/- for fifteen days training course( obviously without any predefined syllabus or course structure and this training just contains an overview only). I saw the syllabus details of proposed MA in Numismatics is quite impressive and covering every details of Indian Numismatics and History. So it is very good, informative course indeed.

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Scientific level numismatic courses are few and mostly concentrated on ancient Greek and Roman coins. From what you say, this course would be focussed exclusively on Indian coins. That's good news indeed. I hope the Museum will require the students to write a thesis and that the thesis will be made available online. In my opinion, Indian numismatic research suffers from insufficiently known publications. The internet could fix that.

What are the course subjects specified in the syllabus? You are quite right that the fees are very low. Frankly, even a fee of Rs 100 a day seems extremely low to me, even with the risk of knowing nothing about the curriculum contents.

I have a doubt that students would have good job opportunities, though. The number of places available for numismatists is extremely limited in this (very rich) country and the people who occupy those places often sit there for their whole working life. I realize India is a big country, but this still seems like an unlikely proposition. I can see people studying other subjects (archeology, history) taking the course to expand their horizon, though. This should indeed improve their CV, but would it also improve their job opportunities significantly?

This site already has pages full of Indian coins and pretty good to brilliant identifications. It's free course material. Would there be any way to tell the organizers about this site?

Peter

[Bimat]

Here's a course for numismatic fans

Prachi Nayak / DNAMonday, March 2, 2009 22:45 IST

The coin museum at Mumbai University's Kalina campus is one of the largest coin museums in India. It has over 26,000 varieties of currency artifacts in the form of coins, seals, tokens, ornaments and notes dating back 3000 years.

COURSE CONTENTS
The courses will range from a beginner's course on an introduction to coins from sixth century BC till date to advanced courses on ancient coins (Brahmi, Kharosi and Greek), Islamic coins (Persian and Arabic) and modern coins (from last 300 years).

There will also be a special course on coin photography. A two-year master's course in numismatics and archaeology.

All courses will be taught practically with the museum collection being the students' study arena. "Nobody can learn numismatics from books. Students will have to handle and learn how to examine coins and sketch them on paper to understand and remember the uniqueness of each variety. The courses will be open to all. Students, hobbyists, collectors and dealers have already expressed their desire to enrol," Rajgor added.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Beyond plain interest, the courses can open up many professional avenues. "Many Indian museums and universities which teach subjects like history, archaeology and culture require numismatics experts. Even small coin shops to international auction houses are in dire need of numismatic specialists to identify and value artifacts," Rajgor informed.

History is validated through coins. Textbooks have recorded only six successors of Alexander the Great, but coins give proof of existence of 22 Indo-Greek kings. Surprisingly their silver coins from first century BC in Afghanistan, hold inscriptions of Lord Krishna and Lord Balram," said ADMNM director Dilip Rajgor.

Currently the museum is in talks with museums in UK for sponsored exchange programmes.

Source : DNA

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It seems like the same activity as the one described in the first article. I hope the course is successful and I like the idea of dealers taking it. I am impressed by the size of Mumbai university.

Peter

[Bimat]

I am impressed by the size of Mumbai university.

It's really too huge.The Kalina campus is worth watching,especially when it's raining.Though it is located in the strategic area of Bandra-Kurla Complex,I like the way they have maintained the campus..
Between,there are few corrections in wikipedia article:
It has affiliations with several high ranking research institutes in the world, including Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly UDCT) : No more.But it is the best institute for chemical engineering in India
It also is one of the top three universities of the country... Believe me,it's not!
The UoM is ranked in the top 500 universities in the world by the THES - QS world universities ranking.-In the latest list,the name has been removed,I guess.

Rest of the things are fine..

Aditya

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You can make those changes yourself on Wikipedia. Though registering is not necessary, it does help communication.

Peter