ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT
The Department of Geography was established on 1995. The recruitment of the first CSC-appointed faculty occurred, when Dr. Panchali Majumdar joined the department on 01.07.1996. She was joined by Smt. Bulbul Chakraborty as the laboratory attendant. Initially, only general courses were offered, but having a great demand from the locality Honours course was started in 1997 The first Honours batch completed their course in 2000 and was awarded their degrees by the University of Calcutta with one 1st class. A good percentage of students were awarded 1 st class degree till 2005. Teaching in the department was greatly bolstered in 2005, when Dr. Sukla Hazra joined the college as the Principal and with the recruitment of another CSC-appointee, Dr. Pinaki Sarkar. Today, the department has a faculty strength of Five, who takes regular classes and one Skilled Laboratory Assistants. The particular strengths of the department are in Cartography, Regional Planning and Urban Geography.
With the creation of West Bengal State University (WBSU) in 2009, the affiliation of the college (and hence, the department) was transferred to the new university. Currently, the department offers B.Sc. Honours and General courses in Geography, affiliated to WBSU, at the undergraduate level. Postgraduate courses (M.Sc./M.A.) in Geography was started, initially through the Directorate of Distance Education, Vidyasagar University (DDE, VU), Medinipur in 2014, and in regular mode, approved and affiliated by WBSU, from 2016 onwards. In the regular PG course, the allocation of seats is on the basis of a 60:40 ratio, as per the university mandate. Students from non-WBSU universities are admitted after an admission test. In addition to these full-time academic programs, the department also offers a certificate course in Remote Sensing and GIS. The relation between students and teachers/staffs is friendly, cordial and encouraging.
The department awards the prizes to the student who secures the highest marks in the B.Sc. Honours program. Many of these students have gone on to higher education, while many others have gone for jobs, both in the government and private sectors.
Research is an integral part of the department and it has attracted several Junior Research Fellows (JRFs) to work in this department. So far, two researchers from this department has been awarded the PhD degree by WBSU and a further three JRFs are working on their degrees, under the guidance of Ex-Principal Madam. Our faculties and fellows have presented their research in national and international conferences and have published them in several prestigious journals, including some published by leading international publishing houses like Wiley, Sage and Springer. The department also encourages its students at all levels to participate in these conferences and this often results in student-led publications in some journals and books.
The department regularly hosts speakers and visitors of eminence from various other institutions, both in Bengal and other parts of India. Recent speakers have included Prof. Anis Chattopadhyay( Retired Prof. Presidency College, Retired DPI, Government Of West Bengal), Prof. Guruprasad Chattopadhyay (Retired Professor Viswabharati University), Prof. Sunondo Bandopadhyay (Professor and Head University of Calcutta), Prof. Laxmi Narayan Satpati( Professor, University of Calcutta, Director, HRDC, Academic Staff College),Prof. Sanat Guchait(Professor University of Burdwan), Prof. Sunil Kumar Dey ( Prof. North Eastern Hill University), Dr. Subhamita Chaudhuri( Associate Professor and Head, West Bengal State University), Dr. Sukla Basu ( Associate Professor, West Bengal State University), Prof. Asish Sarkar( Retired Professor, Presidency College) ,Prof. Soumendu Chatterjee( Professor and Head, Presidency University), Dr. Joydev Koley (Retired Professor, Chandannagar Government College), Dr. Aritra Chakraborty ( Assistant Professor, Presidency University) , Dr. Priyank Praveen Patel( Assistant Professor, Presidency University),Dr. Merry Biswas( Assistant Professor, Presidency University), Dr. Chandan Suravi Das(( Assistant Professor, Barasat Government College) , Dr. Sayantan Das( Assistant Professor, Dumdum Motijheel College). It also organizes regular workshops on various topics of relevance in geography and geospatial sciences. Just in the last three years, two workshops have been organized (2017 and 2019) on geospatial mapping by advanced instrumentations like Total Station, Drone, Mobile and Web-apps and GPS/DGPS. In addition, it regularly collaborates with the Indian National Cartographic Association (INCA) to celebrate National Cartography Day every year, through the organization of Inter-School Map Quiz. The departmental students enthusiastically participate in the NSS cell of the college and are involved in a number of social work. Additionally, several of our students are involved with NGOs and do regular philanthropic work. Many of them also take part in several extra-curricular activities, including debates, MUNs, dancing and painting.
We at the Geography department believe in holistic development of our students and actively strive to foster an inclusive environment for that to happen. Come, join us!
