Welcome | Diamond Harbour Women´s University

Department Head

Dr. Sushmita Bhowmik

Brief Introduction of the Department

Brief profile of the department: The Department of Philosophy started its journey in the year 2016 with 24 students and 3 resource persons. In the year 2017 three permanent faculties have joined the department. Till date 3 batch of students have successfully completed their PG Degree Course in Philosophy. The department has started its M.Phil and Ph.D Courses too in the year 2019. For the enhancement of knowledge as well as to make the students aware of the recent trends in philosophy, in the last few years the department has organized seminars as well as special lectures by eminent speakers of different other Universities. The department encourages the students to think and nurture their ideas on their own and facilitates them to become future-ready through creating exposures via multiple platforms – encouraging them to participate in debate and discussions, participate and contribute to webinars, attend relevant courses to help them develop their philosophical acumen. The major research areas of the faculty are Ethics – Indian, Western and applied, Philosophy of mind, Social and Political Philosophy, Contemporary Indian Philosophy, as well as Vedanta Darsana. The aim of the department is to keep the lamp of learning alight through its utmost endeavour and maintain its high standard of teaching and research.

Year of Establishment: 2016

Major thrust area of research::

Applied Ethics, Bioethics, Health Care Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Animal Ethics, Philosophy of Mind and Cognition, Vedanta and other areas of Indian Philosophy, Social & Political Philosophy, Indian and Western Ethics, Contemporary Indian Thinkers.

Departmental milestones at a glance (last five years*):

No. of NET/SLET qualified students in last five years - Nil
No. of Ph.D. produced in last five years - Nil
No. of registered / enrolled Ph.D. scholars (present) - 3
No. of research publication in peer reviewed journals in last five years - 4
Average impact factor of the research publication - N.A.
No. of books published in last five years - N.A.
No. of seminar/conference organized by the department - 3 ICPR sponsored seminars, & 1 University sponsored seminar
No. of foreign visit by faculty members and scholars during last five years - N.A.
No of special lecture organized by the department - 3
Total research grant received during last five years - N.A.
No. awards/honours received by the faculty members during last five years -
Departmental recognition
No. of Seminar / conference / workshop attended by the faculty members during last five years - 9
No. of research collaboration within India - Nil
No. of research collaboration outside India - Nil
No. of MOU signed

Extension activity by the department:

The faculties take remedial classes to clear some of the basic concepts of philosophy and enhance the students’ knowledge skill.
A Social Outreach Programme was organized by the Department of Philosophy on 4th January, 2019 for underprivileged children of an Anganwadi school located in Sarisha. Educational paraphernalia and food items were distributed amongst the children of the rural child care center with energetic support from the 1st and 2nd year P.G. students.
The2nd and 4th Semester students 2021, along with the students of other departments, took initiatives to help the distressed people at Diamond Harbour after the Amphan Cyclone.

Major Strengths of the department:

o Organization of student-centric seminars and special lectures with distinguished scholars as resource persons on a regular basis. Special occasion seminars such as those commemorating World Philosophy Day and Indian Philosopher's Day are generously financed by such funding agencies as the Indian Council of Philosophical Research.
The department emphasizes upon skill development through research-intensive activities
The faculties take recourse to ICT facilities and audio-visual teaching-learning aid.
Dedicated and enthusiastic faculties focused upon the improvement of the overall students’performances.

Major Challenges of the department:

Since the majority of students of the department hail from socio-economically underprivileged regions, strata and families, their language and communication skills are way below par as compared to their urban counterparts. This poses a major obstacle to the students' attempt in making a mark in state or national level competitive examinations and job interviews. Thus there is an urgent need for institutional support to help these students surmount the language and interpersonal communication barrier and raise their prospects of employment.
Shortage of teaching staff given that the department runs a postgraduate program and two research-based courses, viz., M.Phil and Ph.D.

Future plan of the department:

Fostering innovative interdisciplinary research/projects that would engage students.
Opening centres of specialized studies.
Aspires to institute an in-house peer-reviewed journal
Desires to initiate mobility programmes encompassing short term and long term research based programmes.

Intake Capacity

M.A. level: 35 per semester

Department of Philosophy