Nature and History of the Department

As a Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) in an Indian Institute of Technology that sets international parameters of academic excellence, this particular department strives to demonstrate its uniqueness and relevance to the vision of an IIT. The thrust of HSS is of course wedded to the visionary remark that Jawaharlal Nehru made while conceptualizing the IITs in the initial years of an independent India: “I know you can measure with your techniques and rules the hardness and strength of this metal or that, of stone and iron and whatnot. … How do you measure the strength of an individual? The human being as material is not only a difficult material but an exciting material because it is a live material, a growing material, a changing and dynamic thing. No two persons are alike and we have to build with that material… [and] function in the environment of India with the material of India… It is important that … engineers advance to become better men and women.” Nehru's remarks need not be taken literally but in their spirit. What matters is his idea of a human being as a living, growing, changing and dynamic material that defies the technoscientific methodology of quantitative measurement. The general disposition of HSS to encounter the challenge of the immeasurable qualities of the human condition constitutes the unique identity of the department. This department had humble beginnings with just a few members in the faculty (5-6) which did not increase beyond 8-9 till three years ago. In an almost sudden spurt of enthusiasm under the leadership of the current Director, it became the most rapidly expanding department with sixteen members of the faculty till date, in seven different disciplines: English Literature, Linguistics, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy and Management. This is a phenomenal expansion both in the number of faculty and in the variety of disciplines, both factors essential to the creation of a complete academic department with a composite character.

Vision and mission

IIT Ropar community has undertaken an important exercise of developing the Mission, Vision and Strategic Plan for the coming years. The exercise was carried out in active consultation with Indian Institute of Management Calcutta who have got technical expertise in this area. A participative bottom up approach was followed in formulating the Mission, Vision and Strategic Plan. Inputs from the entire IIT Ropar fraternity, MHRD, Board of Governors, Alumni and Industries were considered in the process. Finally we have arrived at the following Motto, Mission and Vision statements for our institute. Motto: धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् (Deploy our intellect on the right path) Mission: To foster a transformative learning environment and a culture of excellence enabling creation of knowledge and development of socially responsible, enterprising leaders contributing significantly to national progress and humanity. Vision: To be a trendsetter among the technology universities born in this millennium.

History

Will be updated soon

Message From Head of the Department
Welcome to the website of the department of Humanities and Social Science at IIT Ropar!

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences hosts the disciplines of Economics, English literature, Linguistics, and Philosophy. More recently, the department introduced Management as another discipline and various Management courses are now being offered in order to impart leadership skills to our undergraduate B. Tech students. The department is also in the process of introducing courses in other subjects, including Psychology and Sociology.

The department has grown substantially since its inception in the year 2009. The department has gradually come to occupy a unique position in IIT Ropar, an institution of higher learning that focuses on technological research and education. The department provides the students of engineering with skills to understand key Economic concepts, proper training to improve English communication skills, the power to express via Linguistics and English, the ability to appreciate Management and finally to deliberate Philosophically.

Our department continues to draw faculty members with diverse work experiences from the finest institutions in India and abroad. Across disciplines, they offer a wide variety of core and elective courses for undergraduate students in addition to PhD courses for our own graduate students. There has also been an increasing trend in the number of PhD students over the last few years. Our PhD programme is developing towards one of the best among the new IITs. The department has two dedicated labs for teaching and research, and we are planning to introduce more labs in the coming years. The department is also planning to introduce new programs in collaboration with other institutions in India as well as abroad. The department also organizes regular seminars in addition to workshops in various subjects for PhD and postgraduate students.

We aim to considerably expand our teaching as well as research activities in new directions in the coming years and I am sure that we will be immensely successful in addressing the issues that are of local, national, and global character via cutting edge research in the areas of humanities and social sciences. I am confident that in the coming decade the Department of HSS will emerge as one of the most sought after departments of IIT Ropar in terms of academic excellence.

Jai Hind


Dr. Kamal Kumar Choudhary

239-E, Transit Campus - I, IIT Ropar

 hodhss@iitrpr.ac.in
 +91 - 1881 - 242219
 View profile

GALLERY