Studying humanities and social sciences is not only for those with academic inclination but also for those who have interest in public policy, learning about society, understanding social, political and economic issues etc. The concepts of social sciences and humanities not only train the mind for academic pursuits but also help in better understanding the world around us.
This is why we, in hindu, Try adding conceptual analysis to these pages on text and context as part of our offering on interpretive journalism. But today there are dedicated websites that feature the writings of academics for general audiences, essentially opinion and analysis provided by people employed in institutions such as universities, combined with news analysis and research reports.
ConversationFor example, a good resource of this kind of work – which started in Australia in 2011 has now spread to other international editions in Africa, Canada, France, the UK and the US – is a non-profit network of media outlets, Conversation Mostly for the purpose of publishing news and research reports prepared by academicians and researchers under Creative Commons license, allowing reuse without modification. The website played an important role in bringing research reports during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In India, long-standing magazines such as Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) has long carved out a niche between academic publishing and writing in the public interest. The unique magazine/journal includes published peer reviewed research articles from across the social sciences and humanities spectrum as well as commentaries on popular news topics. what started as economic weekly in 1949 and re-designated as EPW in 1966 which continues to be a major port of call for society scientists in India.
But apart from other reputed journals published in India, EPW published by Samiksha Trust sets itself apart by the fact that it has allowed dialogue on matters of public interest among various representatives of civil society – activists, academicians, government officials, students. , and is a peer-reviewed publication of intellectual as well as academic standing.
In recent years, similar initiatives have been taken to bring academic expertise to journalism and popular media since the Internet boom. websites like idea for india – An economics and policy portal – Use the writings of social scientists to target a wider audience beyond policy makers and researchers.
then there is The India ForumPublished by Vichar Trust, it features articles on contemporary issues by academic authors but written in an engaging manner for a general audience. The website showcases a variety of topics of public interest – from economy to climate change to health to technology, society, gender, history, law, etc. It includes several formats of articles including explanatory and critical comments and has also provided a platform for postgraduate students of social sciences to weigh in on issues of public importance.
This is not a comprehensive list of websites that document serious and scholarly-driven journalism on the Internet in an accessible way. But for those interested in becoming educated on issues of public interest other than the mainstream media (and press), the above websites are a good starting point.