I have been teaching Art History, Communications, Presentation, Continued Education and other culture related subject at various institutions including the following:
Khyati School of Design
At KSD as senior faculty and mentor. I teach modules which include culture, history of art & design, design thinking and everything to do with life. Thanks to my wife experience with industry I am able to expose the students to a wider knowledge base than a typical design teacher. My class is fun, it’s about discussing student insights on the subject, creating timelines and projects. Discussing history and culture, breaking things down so that clichés are addressed and a more open mind for all that is unknown is accepted.
Unitedworld Institute Of Design, School of Interior Design
In 2017 I was invited to give a guest lecture to the foundation class at UID. The 200+ students had never had a class that spoke to them in a language they understood and encouraged them to experience art and design.
This talk, got me an offer to join the organisation and head the interior design department. I started with interactions with the ID team, understanding their current status, curriculum and teaching methods. Also thesis students submissions provided a clear picture of the existing scenario.
So we decided to upgrade the staff with a certified workshop on a new software. We reorganised the curriculum for SEM 3, making it more hands on and sequential.
When I joined UID, I had just initiated the design competition for Kusters Engineering at NID and could activate students by allowing them to play with the shredded currency. More under the heading Value for Money.
At the same time an opportunity came up to organise a group to visit Maison et Object. So in September we travelled with a group of 13 students and some faculty to Paris for a little over a week. More under the heading Maison et Objet.
In 2017 the new foundation batch was 400+ students, I was instrumental in the induction program, the entrance test process and in their introduction to history. I became quite popular as no one had sung their way and had a fun history class till then. Due to personal differences with the management, I quit just before completing 6 months with the organisation.
CEPT University
Prof. Anne Feenstra, the then Dean of the faculty for Architecture at CEPT had just attended an Archprix event and realised that, though CEPT students put in a lot of work, they were losing out on their presentation and communication skills during jury time. So he invited me to try and see if this could be addressed and improved. So for 3 semesters through 2015-6, I helped the studios that requested for this support for their students. Preparing students of UG and PG studios to get through their jury. I did this with group and personalised interactions with the students improving their communication and presentation skills, building their confidence at public speaking, advising on their story lines and general business etiquette.
During this stint, Archprix was to be held at CEPT Ahmedabad, making it the first time the event was brought to South Asia. I became a part of the fringe program team along with Prof. Gavin Keeney, one of those events was the fashion show by CDS Art Foundation, the other named ‘C’est la CEPT’ at the Badminton Building where CEPT was established first and the third being a Pink Floyd cover concert by the band River.
I had toyed with some of the methods I used in the presentation and communication studios earlier in 2013 when I supported my friend Azhar Tyabji in such a stand alone course that he undertook for the management faculty at CEPT.
I am not sure, but sometime in 2003-5, I taught 2 ellective courses at the School of Interior Design, CEPT. The first session was as replacement for Esther David’s Art Appreciation class, and later I was offered to take a whole session myself, to teach students how to describe and write papers in a proper method. It was discovered that they are not taught how to research and reproduce quotes, etc. with the correct fomatting. How to prepare biliographys, etc. Many of them had not been to a musuem in their lives. Did not understand the importance of the correct terminologies for their vocation.
Jay Thakker invited me as guest lecturer on the histiory of furniture, also at SID CEPT around the same time.
DA-IICT
My job here was to create customized courses for corporate trainings, market & promote them. The contract was for one day a week and we successfully completed 4 programs with several in the pipeline. As part of the strategy an interactive website was to be created for CEP, process streamlining and building confidence with the faculty was my priority. After a year, the contract was not extended.
During my stint here, I also activated the SpicMacay group and organised a Jazzabad show with Saskia Laroo. I hear that nothing like that show had happened before nor after.
Strategies and Smiles Design Research and Development Pvt. Ltd. at NDBI, NID
S&S was a Design Consultancy, not an advertising agency. It provided sustainable, gender sensitive, design strategies and solutions for any kind of businesses. Abhishek Dwivedi, it’s initiator also referred to it as a social enterprise and endeavoured to introduce design for enhancing the quality of life, taking it where it had not been traditionally, esp. in India.
A start up at NDBI, I supported their work while at CERC and later joined them. During that period we were able to score the Create to Inspire fellowship program from Microsoft – GIZ. I was active in the first program and less so during the second round due to health issues.
My task at S&S was to help network the star up and bring in possible projects, ideate, etc.
MICA
In 2016/7 on request of Prof. Falguni Vasavda Oza I addressed 4 online sessions at MICA. It was a new experience where I did not see or hear the attendees, they could only chat with me, however they could see and hear me from wherever it was that they signed in to the class. These sessions were about advertising and marketing.
