CENTRAL DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

TRIBHUVAN UNIVERSITY, KIRTIPUR

Understanding the present in light of the past and foreseeing the future

Introduction

The central department of History (CDH) was established with the inception of Tribhuvan University in 1959, and its inaugural class was started with six graduate students and four faculties in 1960. To meet both local and international requirements, the CDH aimed to advance mass literacy and understanding on history. The department awarded its first doctorate degree (Ph.D.) in 1973. Currently, the department has been running a course-based M.Phil. / Ph.D. program in collaboration with the Dean's Office, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The department has produced numerous faculties along with eminent professors who have contributed significantly to the historiography of Nepal. The faculties produced so far by the department have made a huge contribution to the field of history writing. Since its commencement, the department has experienced a pool of professional and highly learned faculty members. The department is equipped with its own history library where many rare and invaluable reference books on history along with pertinent periodicals, dissertations, Journals, and research reports have been deposited. It has also a historical manuscripts archive that deeply serves faculty members, students, and other historians as a good source of information on the modern history of Nepal.

The Department of History, since the very beginning, aspires to achieve name and fame in the field of history by playing a vital role in public education in modern history in Nepal. The department is under the Faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences (FOHSS) of Tribhuvan University and is one of the leading departments in University in offering undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate academic programs.

Vision

History is the memory of the nation as a pride and glory of the empire, history builds nation-states. History is the microscope of the past, the horoscope of the present, and the telescope of the future. It is the branch of knowledge that deals mainly with past events and especially concerns with human deeds. It is the subject that studies human issues scientifically. With a focus on providing a standard history education; its goal is to produce historians who are proficient in history, equipped with a critical approach in constructing historical knowledge. It cultivates a distinct intellectual identity around the diverse field of modern history. The knowledge imparted to students in this department will have a transformative impact on society due to their high level of skill, knowledge, and inquisitiveness in history.

Mission

The mission of the Central Department of History at Tribhuvan University is based on the belief that to know the present better and foresee the future of own country depends on own level of understanding of the past history. The CDH has envisioned a through extensive teaching, learning, and practicing activities in and outside the classroom. The students will be transformed into responsible citizens with critical knowledge about the past and its consequences for the present. Students will be able to cope with the challenges arising due to the growing impacts of globalization by understanding the past, present, and future through critical knowledge and skills.

Objectives

The CDH has the following aims and objectives;

• To prepare capable human resources required for the overall development of Nepal.
• To impart quality higher education to students on national and global history.
• To make the students familiar with the past and its legacies through teaching, research, and extension activities in the history of Nepal in the context of regional as well as global history.  
• To cultivate the skills in the students of history that they will need to become critical and independent scholars.
• To carry out research in multiple sectors of history, culture, and tourism.
• To contribute in promoting the history, culture, and tradition of Nepal.
• To engage faculty members and students in extensive, empirical, and timely research and creation of knowledge in the diverse fields of modern history.

Fields of Study

Our graduate students work and study closely with faculty members in distinct fields of modern history: Nepal, India, SAARC, the Far East (China, Japan, and Korea), Modern Europe, and Modern USA. The students will also be trained in different subfields based on cross-cutting methodologies and approaches, ranging from gender to digital history, oral to archival science, along with Peace and conflict, human rights, social inclusion, social movements, and many more.

Human Resources in CDH

Currently, the department has twelve faculty members. Since its inception, the faculties under the Department have proved their scholarship and become the leaders in their fields of knowledge, publishing numerous books winning prestigious awards and honors, and shaping the public conversation with op-eds, media interviews, and academic discourse. Their fields of expertise are diverse and range from political, socio-economic, ethnic, and diplomatic history to international, trans-Himalayan, India, China, Europe, and USA.

Beyond the Classroom

In close collaboration with the experienced faculty members and department head, our graduate and post-graduate students (M.Phil. and Ph.D.) engage in a series of field-based activities that contribute substantially to the department's academic image. Postgraduate students actively engage in unique research, curricular, and professionalization activities offered on the CDH.

Publications

Numerous publications have been registered in the name of the Department of History. The Department has been publishing its own journal entitled The Voice of History, a peer-reviewed journal on history.

The Department of History focuses primarily on the history of modern Nepal with the background of ancient and medieval history. However, the faculty members are working on different disciplines of history and producing numerous research books, articles, and research reports.