BHU establishes Museology department to give fresh fillip to education and research

The creation of a new department on Museology assumes significance in wake of the increasing demand for professionals, academicians and experts in this area which is considered to be an interdisciplinary professional program.

BHU establishes Museology department to give fresh fillip to education and research

Banaras Hindu University has joined the club of select educational institutions in India to have an independent and full-fledged Department of Museology. So far, Museology was being run as a section under the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology in the Faculty of Arts.

The university has notified the creation of the Department of Museology following the approval of President Ram Nath Kovind and subsequent amendment to the BHU Statutes. With this the number of departments under the Faculty of Arts, also known as the mother faculty, has gone up to 22, the press release stated.

The creation of a new department on Museology assumes significance in wake of the increasing demand for professionals, academicians and experts in this area which is considered to be an interdisciplinary professional program. India has over 1000 museums with several new museums coming up too. This underlines the need for more able professionals in the area of Museology. The new department in BHU is poised to play an important role in this regard. Presently National Museum Institute (Deemed to be University), New Delhi, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh), Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara (Gujarat), Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak (Madhya Pradesh) and Calcutta University, Kolkata (West Bengal), are among the select institutions where Museology is functioning as a full-fledged department and offering educational programs.

Banaras Hindu University currently offers postgraduate, doctoral and postdoctoral programs in the discipline of Museology. The university had initially started a Post Graduate Diploma Course in Museology in the year 1968 under Bharat Kala Bhawan. It was then upgraded to M.A. in the Museology program in 1979. The Museology section was made part of the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology in 2006. There are a total 15 seats in the Postgraduate program including two paid seats.

Prof. Usha Rani Tiwari, Professor in Museology, Banaras Hindu University, who has been teaching for the past 20 years, said the discipline offers a number of professional opportunities such as Museum Director, Conservator, and Assistant Professor among many others. She said that the setting up of the new department of Museology will further add to the growth and glory of Banaras Hindu University. 

Prof. Vijay Bahadur Singh, Dean, Faculty of Arts, has expressed happiness on creation of Department of Museology. Prof. Suman Jain, Head, Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, said that the new department will make BHU shine further nationally and internationally.

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