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.
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.
Dr. S.E. Rani Ghosh, as an able administrator, had also perhaps realized the importance of application of psychological principles and, therefore, establishment of a Department of Psychology logically followed. The first Principal of the School and the College Dr. S.E. Rani Ghosh, who translated the founder's vision into actuality, understood the importance of learning Psychology and this resulted in introducing Psychology as a subject, though the discipline itself was then new.
Higher studies in reputed Universities with special focus on
research and its applications in the various fields of
psychology namely - Clinical, Guidance & Counseling, Health,
Rehabilitation, Correctional, Industrial & Organizational,
Neuropsychology & Cognitive Science.
Employment opportunities are plenty with specialized training (e.g,
P. G. Diploma; M.Phil.) from renowned institutes like TISS (Tata
Institute For Social Sciences), NIMHANS, Bangalore and the like.
Smt. Deblina Dasgupta
Smt. Shyamali Pal
Department of Psychology
Gokhale Memorial Girls' College
1/1, Harish Mukherjee Road
Kolkata - 700020
Department Mail:
psychology@gokhalecollegekolkata.edu.in
College Mail:
gokhalecollegekolkata@gmail.com
.
