Government General Degree College, Chapra

About Department:

Government General Degree College in Chapra is a niche of opportunities and possibilities in a sleepy hamlet of Nadia, the land which is associated with the memory of the great bhakti saint of sixteenth century, Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. The medieval bhakti tradition along with Sufism gave birth to the latter-day boul tradition in undivided Bengal. Interestingly, the hamlet, Shikra was part of that circuit which had once been enthralled by the songs of the famous boul mystic, Lalan Fakir, who was contemporary of Jyotirindranath Tagore. The songs of Lalan and kirtan, a classical form of music developed by the followers of Chaitanya, had had a huge influence on the songs of Rabindranath Tagore, younger brother of Jyotirindranath. This cultural setting inspires us in the Department of History of this college to make a difference. We, in our department respect the composite culture of India. Hence, we try to disseminate unbiased historical knowledge about our nation and society and the mankind. Moreover, while the education system of our country tries to kindle the democratic spirit among the pupils, we in History department are avowed to that and thus our department works for national interest.

From a humble beginning in 2015 with only one teacher, Ajoy Ghosh the department has strengthened itself brick by brick over the past years. It’s now functioning with three substantive teachers, Arunava Sinha and Jaydeb Mandal alongside Ghosh. The department has aptly adapted itself to the change in Under Graduate Curriculum from 1+1+1 pattern to Choice Based Credit System under the aegis of the University of Kalyani. Our college offers three-years Honours course in history. History is also one of the most popular subjects among the students of Programme courses in the college. Since the catchment area of the college is predominantly rural, our department relentlessly tries to facilitate teaching-learning experiences based on modern and contemporary methods. Besides, we have built a rich seminar library for our students.

During this ongoing pandemic situation we are successfully conducting virtual classes for our students. In this regard our department has developed expertise in the field of interactive teaching and learning using advance technology. Our college has built two smart classrooms with the financial assistance from the Higher Education Department of West Bengal Government. History department tries to use this facility extensively to provide the learners profound learning experience. Nevertheless, being the teachers of History the faculty members strongly believe that the tradition of chalk and talk method in teaching-learning process creates as well as fosters an emotional bonding between the teachers and the pupils. Students are encouraged to discuss freely on the subject. Thus our department ensures a democratic spirit in the teaching-learning process.

History has always been one of the oldest and sought-after subjects in the academia. History teaches about achievements and failures of human civilization from a vivid perspective, which enables common men as well as the ruling class to decide their respective course of action in national life. That is why during renaissance in Europe or during the nineteenth century awakening in India people sought inspiration from history. History as a discipline has been evolving since the days of Herodotus and Thucydides and all through the ages it has been attracting great minds of the world like, Livy, Kalhana, Ibn Khaldun, James Mill, Voltaire, Edward Gibbon, Hegel, Marx, Comte, Burckhardt, J.B. Bury, Jadunath Sarkar, R.C. Majumdar, D.D. Kosambi, Eric Hobsbawm, RanajitGuha, RomilaThapar, Ramachandra Guha, Niall Ferguson and many more. Thus, they have developed for the mankind valuable traditions of historiography, or in other words, crafts of history. Here in our department we both, the teachers and the students, often engage ourselves inside or outside the classroom in the delicate discussion of historiography. Our coveted goal is to inspire our students to delve into, what historian E.H. Carr asked, “What is history?”

Facilities offered:

• Routine class-room teaching and online teaching for the students of Honours and Programme courses go on throughout every semester.
• Remedial classes and counselling classes are taken for the slow learners to improve their performance.
• We have developed a student-friendly internal assessment system which assesses a student round the year.
• Revision classes are taken based on students’ feedback.
• From time to time our department arranges special lectures and seminars by visiting professors in order to introduce the students with new researches in history.
• The department often conducts field trips for students to concretize their knowledge and stimulate their curiosity.
• The seminar library of the department is well equipped with plenty of text books and reference books.