The Department of Psychology of Gokhale Memorial Girls' College, Kolkata enjoys the distinction of being the first undergraduate college under the University of Calcutta to initiate study of Psychology. When the institution got affiliation for undergraduate level of teaching in 1957, Psychology was one of the subjects introduced along with many other traditional disciplines. Sarala Ray, the founder of Gokhale Memorial Girls' School wanted to provide education to girls that was conducive to their all-round development and train them to be right citizens and capable homemakers. The institution is also one of the earliest among the undergraduate colleges under the University of Calcutta to impart Honours level course in Psychology. The First Batch of Psychology Honours students graduated in the year 1973. The prime mover in establishing the Department was Dr. S.E Rani Ghosh, the Founder Principal of Gokhale Memorial Girls' School and College. She had the privilege to be under the tutelage of Girindra Sekhar Bose. Dr. Rani Ghosh's Doctoral Thesis was on Child Psychology.

The Hands on the Torch

Dr. Kalyani Bagchi, the first faculty to take charge of the Department served from its inception till she left around mid sixties to join a Psychiatric clinic in Toronto, Canada. Priyangshu Sekhar Bhattacharya also served the Department almost from its inception. He was the main pillar on which the department stood and developed since 1957 till he passed away in 1996. He was also associated with other academic institutions for promotion of the discipline. His initiative in this direction achieved fruition in introducing Psychology as a compulsory subject in undergraduate course of Nursing introduced by the University of Calcutta.

Dr. Manisha Bhattacharjee, an alumna of this department, joined as faculty on july 1, 1965. She completed her Masters in Psychology from the University of Calcutta and Masters in Education from Rochester University, New York. She was awarded her Doctoral Degree in Education by Kalyani University. Dr. Bhattacharjee served the department for 37 long years till she retired in /march 2002.

Dr. Savita Sachdev, joined in January 1973 and served till her retirement in 2005. She also took classes on Counselling organized by the Psychoanalytical Society at Girindra Sekhar Clinic during the period December 2001 and January 2002.

• Apperception 2023
• Apperception 2022