History Department

Teachers Profile

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Dr Madhumita Das

Associate Professor

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Smt Susmita Mitra

Associate Professor

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Smt. Sanjukta Sardar Naskar

Assistant Professor

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Dr Rahul Bhaumik

Assistant Professor

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Smt Moumita Das Basak

State Aided College Teacher

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About

The Department of History at Women’s College, Calcutta is a vibrant centre of teaching and research that had been training students in comprehensive, critical and analytical understanding of the discipline for over eighty years. With the foundation of the College in 1937, history was introduced as a general subject.From 1984, the department began to offer honours course in history.It launched its master’s course in 2017. At present, as an undergraduate and postgraduate department,it focuses on the history of India and different parts of the world with a newly revised programme of instructions.

The principle goal of the Department of History is to develop the intellectual breadth and the analytical skills of the students. The departmental programme not only assists students in acquiring the knowledge and skills essential to be good scholars in future, but also helps them to flourish comfortably within a demanding and competitive professional world. Currently, the department has faculty strength of two Associate Professors, two Assistant Professors and one SACT — all posts are filled up. The faculty members of the department put in their best efforts to develop the full potential of the students. They employ innovative methods of teaching to generate enthusiasm among the students and give utmost academic guidance so that the students perform well in the undergraduate/postgraduate examinations of the University of Calcutta.Holding of interdisciplinary lectures, student seminars, workshops, projects and excursions are integral parts of the academic culture of the department.

The Department of History has a friendly and lively environment, with a stimulating internal events’ calendar and opportunities for students, faculties and external speakers to lead discussions concerning their study and work. Each year, the department attracts excellent students from various parts of Kolkata and adjacent areas.

Online Learning

 

The Department of History has recently introduced Google Classroom facilities (both for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Courses) in order to improve quality of education by addressing digital yearning of new generation. The students and faculty use computers, laptop, tablet or mobile phones with an internet connection for regular scheduled classes. The Google Classroom makes it easy for teacher to assign tasks, keep a record on them and of each student’s performance. At the same time, it enables students to organise their activities, clarify doubts, do their assignments and submit them to the teachers. Thus, it is aimed at making the teaching-learning process more interactive, attractive and productive.


Thus, the history faculty utilise the most appropriate and advanced teaching-learning strategies to enhance the interest about history among the students.

Students' Initiatives

There is a vibrant and active student society in the department namely HERITAGE. All honours students are members of this society. Under the guidance of faculty members, it regularly organises discussions, debates and exhibitions which give ample opportunities to the students to contribute positively to the department.For example, every year, it arranges a HISTORY DAY involving history quiz, student seminar and panel discussion so that the students become able to practice arguing, speaking out and debating.By conducting an annual HERITAGE WALK exploring the historical landmarks of Bagbazar—a neighbourhood of North Kolkata which has played a significant role in the growth and development of the metropolis—this society has helped to generate remarkable curiosity and interest towards the local, urban and socio-cultural history of colonial and post-colonial Bengal. The students are actively involved in producing the departmental wall magazine, ITIKATHA.

Basanta Utsab 2020

Basanta Utsab 2020

Teacher’s Day 2018

Distinguished Alumni

The department is proud to claim that many of our former students were successful in study and research at higher levels, took teaching profession in schools and colleges or joined other professions.

  • Avinandita Banerjee is a successful creative dancer. She is also associated with the work of Srijan.
  • Nabamita Banerjee is a successful entrepreneur who has her own Dance Academy, Gurukul.
  • Smita Sarkar and Sangeeta Sarkar are devoted workers of Srijan Centre for Community Welfare.
  • Tania Bhattacharya is working as Junior Operations Manager in Surakhsha Diagonastic Clinic.
  • Paramita Poddar has completed MA and BEd and at present is teaching in a reputed high school in Kolkata.
  • Moumita Basak has a First Class in MA in Ancient Indian History and Culture and at present working as a guest faculty at the Department of History, Women’s College, Calcutta.
  • Amrita Seth successfully completed her MPhil from the Department of History, University of Calcutta. She is currently Assistant Professor of History in Khandra College, Bardhhaman.

Best Practices

Teaching Learning

Teaching history is quite different to teaching other subjects. The history classroom is utterly different to science classrooms and is even quite different to classrooms in other disciplines of humanities and social sciences.Good history teachers are storytellers as well as instructors.They usually create an argumentative and productive learning environment using textbooks and outside resources including primary and secondary materials, and relevant interactive media.

 

Seminars and Inter-Departmental Exchange Lectures

To meet this high standard, the faculty members of the Department of History:

  • Systematically evaluate student progress, projects and assignments and take remedial classes for the weak students.
  • Keep abreast of current and significant historical events and conveniently relate them to topics from the past while taking classes.
  • Arrange regular visits to places of historical interest, cultural centres and museums to introduce students to the primary sources of history.
  • Organise seminars and inter-departmental exchange lectures as well as invite external experts to talk on a specific theme.
  • Compile notes on selected topics, copy and pass them to the students for better understanding of the subject.
  • Use charts, posters, timelines, annotated maps, newspaper cuttings, cartoon strips, paintings, photographs, idols of ancient sculptures, and coinages of different ages so that the students become aware of, study and use variety of historical evidences.
  • Often screen historical feature films, documentaries and slides in the classroom to augment the consciousness about the many voices of history.
  • Utilise smart class room facility for ICT integrated teaching.
  • Through chalk and talk method, take regular classes in an interactive way.
  • Prepare lesson plans, typed up and circulate them among the students at the outset of the term

Syllabus

SL NO SUBJECT VIEW / DOWNLOAD
1 SYLLABUS OF CBCS CURRICULUM
2 SYLLABUS OF CCF CURRICULUM

Capacity Building

The Department of History prides itself on its supportive environment, well-designed infrastructure and research-led teaching programme. The well scheduled courses and classes of the department help students to develop genuine curiosity and advanced skills including critical thinking and writing about history.Apart from classroom based teaching and learning, the student are continuously encouraged to go out of the classroom and do on-site maps, photography, local surveys, questionnaires or interviews. They are expected to prepare scrapbooks, wall charts, posters, timelines, and maps.

Student Participation in Seminar

The students are also motivated to participate in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities like seminars, workshops, projects, debates, cultural activities and sports within and outside the college, which largely equip them to make career choices in diverse fields such as teaching, research, bureaucracy, media, performing arts, corporate service and other fields.

Over the years, the department is arranging seminars, workshops and inter-departmental exchange lectures. These lead to an all-round development of the students. The department regularly invites internationally acclaimed historians for giving lectures with a view to disseminate advanced knowledge in chosen fields of history. Some distinguished speakers who recently visited the department are:

Prof Sekhar Bandyopadhyay at the Departmental Seminar

  • Dr DebashisBasu (Well-known Scholar, Kolkata).
  • Prof GautamBhadra (Formerly Professor of History, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta).
  • Prof BrajadulalChattopadhyaya (Formerly Professor of History, Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi).
  • Prof SekharBandyopadhyay (Professor of History, School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand).
  • Prof DipeshChakrabarty (Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, The University of Chicago, USA).

Departmental Excursion

The department regularly arranges excursions to places of historical interest, cultural centres and museums. It provides an opportunity for discerning minds to engage beyond the usual constructs of classroom teaching. The departmental wall magazine ITIKATHA provides a platform for students to write articles on diverse historical topics and about their experiences in the college.

Academic Activities

Certificate Courses

Awards

Faculty Achievements

The faculty members of the department are involved in a wide range of interdisciplinary activities and have earned local and national recognitions. They continuously attend lectures, seminars, workshops and faculty development programmes in order to update themselves. They are closely involved with the University of Calcutta for syllabi structuring and revision, as well as with the University examination process.All the faculty members conduct serious research and publish their findings in national and international journals.

MOUs

Distinguished Alumna

Result

Sl No Title Result View
1 Pass Percentage of Students in the Department for Last Five Years

Student Progression

The following table represents the success rate of the honours students in BA final examination in the last five academic years.

UG to PG- 65%, PG to MPhil-3%, Employed-20%, Entrepreneurship-12%

Departmental Notices

Sl No Title Notice View

Research & Publication

Departmental Profile

Facilities

  • The Department of History offers superb library facilities for study and research in history in its wider context.It has had over eighty years to compile its library containing a volume of books and non-book materials such as magazines, periodicals, reports, pamphlets,maps, photographs, questions papers etc.
  • Studying history at WCC also helps the students to have easy access to North Kolkata’s rich culture, including many famous monuments, museums and art galleries.
  • The students can take advantage of the department’s strong links with various museums, archives, galleries and academic institutions situated in and around Kolkata.
  • Some lecture roomsare ICT enabled with installed over-head projectors and white boards to facilitate power point presentations and use of e-resources.
  • Free access to some of the most reputed portals for journal articles and e-books is available in the College.The INFLIBNET provides access to two fully searchable digital archives, the South Asia Archive and JSTOR Archive,both encompassing millions of pages of valuable primary and secondary materials in English and vernacular languages.
  • Honours students of the department can use the well-equipped departmental library being managed by the faculty.

Activities

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