Magic varsity to award Masters in Illusions

Kolkata: While the news of P C Sorcar's Magic University has been doing the rounds for a while, Sorcar has confirmed that he plans to have it open by next year. "While I do have big plans for the university, all of which I want to fulfil while I am alive, we will throw open the university doors from next year but at this point we are starting in a small way," he told The Indian Express.
Speaking about the university course that will award a Masters in Illusions to students, Sorcar said he would only accept people who have a graduation degree. "It does not matter whether the degree is MA or MSc, but what I need are mature students willing to learn the subject," he said. Among the many subjects that will be taught at the university are dramatics, science and psychology, the last because it is important to "study the human mind to perform magic".
"Magic is not merely mumbling mumbo-jumbo but is actually science. The end product is presenting science through performance. But that does not mean that students only with a science background will be accepted. Although I had science, I don't think something like calculus has ever helped me in my life," he said. He is also convinced that something like magic will soon be accepted by the mainstream. Citing the example of animation, he said in spite of not being recognised as a part of fine arts initially, today it has been acknowledged as an art form.The main office of the university is expected to be at Indrajaal but he said due to space constraint they were building a bigger campus at Baruipur. "That campus will have an auditorium, a studio, a machinery shed, a factory for making instruments we will need for performance. The auditorium has already come up and we are constructing the rest of it," he said. However, Sorcar said he had still not finalised the number of students to be enrolled for the two-year course.
"Right now, we are finalising the faculty who will include among others professors in politics, psychology, dramatics and mechanics. We will have to discuss with them things that they will have to teach while also finalising the syllabus."
Rabindra Bharati University too has shown an interest in a course in magic and has already approached Sorkar.