The Department of International Relations was established in 1956 and is the only one of its kind in eastern India. Located on the main campus, the Department was the brainchild of Dr. Pritwish Chakraborty, an eminent Professor. Founded as a result of the consorted efforts of Professor Chakraborty and the then Vice-Chancellor of Jadavpur University, Professor Triguna Sen, the Department boasts of being one it’s kind in eastern India. Eminent personalities like Professor Jayantanuja Bandopadhyay was a member of the faculty who remained an Emeritus Professor of the Department. The Department imparts knowledge on varied aspects of national and international politics with special emphasis on contemporary issues relating to political, strategic and economic matters.
At present there are 20 faculty members, experts in diverse fields. Faculty members are engaged in teaching at the Undergraduate, Postgraduate and M.Phil. levels, as well as in research in different aspects of International Relations. The Department promotes research in diverse fields such as internal and external security concerns of India, area studies, bilateral relations, foreign policy, strategic studies, political economy, development studies, issues of ethnicity, society, human rights, social movements, refugee issues, environmental issues and gender studies in International Relations.
The Department offers Political Science (Hons.) course at the B.A. level and M.A. degree in Political Science with International Relations. The M.Phil. and Ph.D degrees are offered in International Relations. The students are admitted to the Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses based on merit mostly through competitive entrance tests. Classrooms, library, teachers’ rooms, seminar hall and office are facilitated with internet connectivity. Classrooms are equipped with ICT facilities. A computer laboratory with internet connectivity is available for students and research scholars of the Department. The Department has also been conducting a one-year P.G. Diploma (Evening) Course on Human Rights and Duties Education since the year 2009-2010, where students undertake field visits and submit dissertations.
The Department has a specialized library that treasures a collection of more than 30,000 books and is a regular subscriber of nearly 35 journals (including online and offline subscriptions) of national and international repute. The Documentation Centre provides Current Awareness Services by indexing the current periodical literature and specialized biographical information. The Centre maintains a rich database for research activities relating to diverse aspects of international relations. The Department has some unique features. Apart from a highly specialized library, a newspaper clipping section of the Tarak Nath Das Research Centre, the only one of its kind in Eastern India with more than 25,000 files dealing with specialised topics of national and international importance, is attached to the Department from the very beginning. The Tarak Nath Das Research Centre collates newspaper articles and news pieces on various international events and current affairs. The newspaper clipping section dates back to 1957, and provides an invaluable source of information on international affairs and domestic issues to researchers.
The Department has dedicated research centres- The Centre for Refugee Studies and the Hariprasanna Biswas Centre for India-China Cultural Studies provide for research in specialized fields. The Department and Faculties engage in a number of research projects funded by eminent agencies like RUSA and UGC. The Department has received UGC funding under three phases of the Department Special Assistance (DSA) Programme, which helped in enhancing the infrastructure of the Department and holding international conferences, student seminars, conducting a field trips for the purpose of research. The Department has also received assistance under the UGC’s ASIHSS programme. Adding another feather in the crown, the Department was upgraded to the status of Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) by the UGC in 2009. Research in the field of International Relations was further upgraded in the CAS II programme. Apart from this, the School of International Relations and Strategic Studies is manned mostly by the Faculty Members of the Department.
The Department in association with SAGE publishes the bi-annual Jadavpur Journal of International Relations, an acclaimed peer-reviewed journal that publishes original research articles, book reviews in the field of International Relations. An online version of the Journal to is available. The Journal is in its 25th year in 2021.
