The Department of History has some of the most distinguished faculty among the History teachers of the University of Delhi. Classroom interactions are an occasion to cultivate a range of related skills such as those of writing, critical thinking, as well as the ability to discerningly wade through innumerable details and complex arguments. Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF) based on National Education Policy (NEP) is employed to structure the teaching-learning experience in a more student-centric manner. An attempt is made to engage students with multiple perspectives on various historical themes and to enable them to analyse those perspectives critically. The exploration of past issues and of historical processes help students acquire necessary tools to discern the underlying socio-political significations of the present and the past, of the mundane as well as the extraordinary.
Throughout the academic session, experts from various fields of History as well as related disciplines are regularly invited to make presentations in College so as to let the students and the faculty engage with the best and the latest in social scientific research. The department has a BFH (Books, Films and Heritage) club which screens documentary and feature films of historical and contemporary significance that are usually followed by a discussion with the filmmaker and/ or experts in the field. A couple of guided tours to places of historical importance in Delhi is part of the annual calendar of the History Department.
History Honours graduates from LSR have made a mark in almost every possible field in their careers. They have excelled in diverse fields such as bureaucracy and management, theatre, painting and dance, mass communication, NGOs, higher studies and research, and a whole range of other activities in India and abroad. As with any other distinguished institution the world over, many of the alumnae may also be engaged in apparently humble pursuits without any dramatic distinctions. But, in whatever capacity and career they might be, they have made a reputation for being sensitive and thinking beings.
Academic Meet:
The annual academic meet of History Department, ‘Maazi-o-Mustaqbil’, is to be organised on the theme of ‘Histories of Hegemonies and Hierarchies’ on 15th and 16th April, comprising guest lectures, edutainment sessions and research paper competition. The sessions will aim at exploring diverse arenas where hegemonies are exercised and how it has been resisted. This year we will be hosting speakers like Dr. Snigdha singh, Prof. Deborah Sutton, Prof. Parmila V Rao, Dr. Nemthianngai Guite etc which will be speaking on various subtopics like gender, environment, archive, medicinal practices and hegemony and hierarchy prevalent in these fields.
Lectures and Talk-
During the academic year 2024-25, the department organised several speaker sessions inviting notable guest lecturers including Prof. Francesca Orsini who delivered a guest lecture on the theme of” The World of Indian Magazines”, Prof. Nayanjot Lahiri who delivered a guest lecture on the topic “The Indus Civilization: Looking Back at Its Discovery” , Prof. Corinne Lefèvre on the theme ‘Drawing the emperor’s lineage: Mughal figurative shajara and genealogical material culture’ enabling students to get an insight into the topics. There were sessions conducted on topics like the “Gendered Representation in Art” and “The Individuals from Margin: The Early Modern Jains” by Prof. Seema Bawa and Dr. Shalin Jain, respectively. The department also organised sessions in collaboration with Reach- The Equal Opportunity Cell with Dr. Megha Dhillon and the Dhyana Society with Dr. Jaya Mohan on ‘Mind Management and Academic Stress’.
With the aim of strengthening the network of alumni and gaining insights from our esteemed alumni who are working in diverse fields, the alumni cell of the department conducted an online series titled Career Crossroad: Mapping the Future With History Alumni consisting of 5 Episodes, where the themes of internships for history students, the possible areas where they can work was discussed.
Other Association Highlights:
The Books, Films and Heritage Club of the department of history also took several initiatives to make students concerned about heritage through interactive heritage walks, movie screenings, Ghazal listening sessions, poetry reading sessions and museum visits. Guided heritage walk was conducted in the campus of Lady Shri Ram College For Women and a visit to the partition museum, Mirza Ghalib Haveli was made. Moreover, a session on Bengali poetry and on ghazal was conducted to explore the lost heritage of these genres.
The aesthetics team of the department conducted an art therapeutic session to celebrate world mental health day, which enables students to express their emotions and relax through art. The team also organised a swap and draw session.The Photography & Videography team conducted Heritage Photowalk to Nizamuddin Area enabled students to explore and visually document the historical richness of the area, enhancing their understanding of urban heritage through photography.The Editorial Board conducted a Reading Circle on Toba Tek Singh by Saadat Hasan Manto encouraged critical engagement with themes of Partition, identity, and displacement, fostering analytical and empathetic thinking.
Official Trip–
In the Month of february, the department conducted its official trip to Rakhigarhi, largest site of Indus Valley Civilisation. The site visit program offered students a firsthand experience of archaeological practices, deepening their appreciation of the Harappan Civilization through on-site learning and offering them the opportunity to see the settlements and material culture of the people of the civilisation.
Department Publications:
The annual publications of the history department are Ijtihad, Nazariya and Kagami which is subsidiary to the annual newsletter of the department. The theme of Nazariya for this academic session is ‘Truth’, which tries to explore the hidden realities and cover a wide range of arenas. The editorial board conducted monthly blog submissions within the department on various themes. The Photography and Videography team also invited monthly submissions from the students for the Kagami and conducted a photography competition, the winner’s entries will be part of Kagami.
List of distinguished speakers:
| Name of the Speaker | Affiliation | Title of Event |
| SOAS, University Of London | The World of Indian Magazines |
| Department of History, University Of Delhi | Gendered Representation in Art |
| Department Of History, University Of Delhi | The Individuals From Margins :The Early Modern Jains |
| INALCO University,CNRS research fellow and member of CESAH(Centre for south Asian and HImalayan Studies) | Drawing the Emperor’s Lineage : Mughal figurative Shajara and Genealogical Material Culture |
| Ashoka University | The Indus Civilisation- Looking Back At Its Discovery |
| Name | Areas of interest |
| Dr. Smita Sahgal Professor smitasahgal16@yahoo.com | Ancient Indian History with focus on Gender Studies and Religion Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Ujjayini Ray Associate Professor (Teacher-in-charge) ujjayiniray@hotmail.com | Ancient Indian History, Gender and Religious Studies Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Shwetanshu Bhushan Professor shwetansh@yahoo.com | Ancient Indian History, Varna issues , Religious Studies, Gender Studies, Women Empowerment, Heritage and Culture, Folklore Studies, Diaspora Studies Publications and other works click here |
| Ms. Nayana Das Gupta Assistant Professor dgnayana@yahoo.com | Medieval Indian History, Gender, European History, Medieval Bengal Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Pankaj Jha Associate Professor jha.abc@gmail.com | Medieval and Early Modern Indian History, Sanskrit Literature, Vernacular Languages and Literatures of north India, History of Servants and Servitudes, History of Time and Temporalities, History of Hindi Cinema, Political Cultures in Medieval India, State and Documentation in Early Modern Times, History of Mithila, Philosophy and Craft of History, Medieval Masculinities, Sufi beliefs and Practices Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. V. Ismail Associate Professor drismail922@gmail.com | History of Modern East Asia (Modern China and Japan), History of Early Modern India, History of Colonial Revenue Administration and Peasant Rebellions: Malabar (PhD), History of India-China Border Disputes, Issues in the Twentieth Century World History Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Kanika Kishore Saxena Assistant Professor kanikakishore16@gmail.com | Ancient Indian history with a focus on religion, art and inscriptions Publications and other works click here |
| Ms. Priyanka Sharma Assistant Professor ps.lsrdelhi@gmail.com | Modern Indian History Modern European History Colonial and post-colonial Delhi Urban history Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Rahul Maurya Assistant Professor rahul.maurya@lsr.du.ac.in | Ancient Indian History, Modern Indian History, Indo-Islamic Architecture Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Sonali Mishra Assistant Professor sonali.mishr@gmail.com | Medieval Indian History, Maritime History of the Indian Ocean Trading Region (17 th Century), European expansion in the Indian Ocean Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Shatarupa Bhattacharya Assistant Professor shatarupabhattacharya@lsr.edu.in | Ancient Indian History, Social and Religious History, Gender History Publications and other works click here |
| Dr. Sushil Kumar Singh Assistant Professor Sushilbhuphd@gmail.com | Medieval Indian History Philosophy of Bhakti and Sufism Publications and other works click here |
| Ms. Asmita Jataria Assistant Professor asmitajataria@lsr.du.ac.in | Modern Indian History, Indian Legal and Constitutional History, Colonialist and Imperialist studies, Gender and Sexuality studies, Subaltern studies, Modern European History Publications and other works click here |
President – Bhumi Sharma
Secretary – Meenakshi Manoj
Treasurer – Snigdha Tepan