Department of Political Science

The Department of Political Science was started in 1942 with the aim to train students in the fundamentals of political science. The Department is recognized internationally for its excellence in the areas of Indian Politics, International Relations and Geopolitics. Ranked highly in terms of research, teaching interface, the department is served by the faculty of International repute. The department is one of the most active, vibrant and innovative centres in the discipline of political science in the country today. It has continually and systematically revised and updated its syllabi reflecting the changing concerns of the discipline and the emerging needs of society. It has been designated by the UGC as a Department of Special Assistance up to March, 2014. The Department has also been awarded Assistance for Strengthening of Infrastructure for Humanities and Social Sciences (ASHISS) for five years from 2006.

Courses Offered :

=> M.Phil (Political Science)
=> Masters in Political Science

Thrust Areas :

International Relations :
=> South Asia: forms of postcolonial nationalism; nature of conflicts and prospects of cooperation; impact of WTO regime and globalisation; cross-border migration, ethnicity
=> Globalisation: deconstruction of the dominant discourse and exploring critical theorisation Peace and conflict resolution
=> Indian foreign policy discourse
=> International refugee law

Indian Politics :
=> Liberalisation and new economic policies
=> Democracy and political institutions in India
=> Federalism and centre-state relations
=> Common property resources and politics of development
=> Political thought of Ambedkar and Gandhi
=> Dalit politics in Punjab and Haryana
=> Politics of forest governance in Himachal Pradesh
=> State politics in Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir
=> Legal constitutional framework of autonomy in India
=> Politics of North East: Arunachal Pradesh

Geopolitics :
=> Indian Ocean region
=> Antarctic region
=> Mid-West and Central Asia

Departmental Library :

The departmental library houses 6000 books and is still growing. It is one of the best equipped library under the university library system in the discipline in India. This departmental library is in addition to the library for the university as a whole. The departmental library system is structured in three parts.

The library has a reference section dealing with the politics of the North Western Region specially Punjab. A part of this section is also devoted to a rare collection of manuscripts and classics.

The library has a textbook section which contains most of the readings regularly required for the course work. The selection here includes also includes material in Punjabi and Hindi for the benefit of students writing the examinations in the vernacular medium.

Department of Political Science
Arts Block IV
Panjab University
Sector 14
Chandigarh, U.T. - 160014
India

Telephone: +91 172 2541819, 2534755, 4760

E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]