Established in 1948, the Department of Geography, Gauhati University is one of the oldest geography departments of the country. From a modest beginning the department has flourished to reach its present status because of the untiring efforts of the faculty members and the great potentiality possessed by this part of the country for geography education and research. India’s north east, the initial hinterland of the department, continued to be a terra incognita even after the country’s independence. This naturally posed before the department an intellectual challenge to unravel the marvels of the region’s nature and culture. Directed thus by the prevalent situation, curiosity and compulsion, the then faculties of the department decided to set a goal, rather a mission, towards understanding the geographical fabric of the region. Today, as we live in an increasingly interdependent world caught up in a global chain of events, the department redefines its mission to put it under the umbrella phrase- -Understanding Geography of the North-East in a New Global Order-- besides upholding the general academic standard of the discipline.

Courses and Programmes at Gauhati University

Courses and Programmes at Geography Department

  1. FYUGP (Four Year Under-Graduate Programme)
  2. One year Post-Graduate (M.A./M.Sc.) Programme
  3. Two-year M.A./ M.Sc. Programme (CBCS-based Semester System)
  4. Ph.D.Programme
  5. One Year Post Graduate Diploma in Remote Sensing and GIS (to be introduced from August, 2024)

1.       

The Department is actively involved in teaching, research and extension activities. It is engaged in providing regular courses in M.A./M.Sc., M.Phil. and Ph.D. The University Grants Commission has supported the Department of Geography under Special Assistance Programme (SAP) at DRS- III level for five years (2013-2018) with two thrust areas:

  1. Environmental Resources and Sustainable Development in N.E. India
  2. Population and Development in N.E. India

The teaching and research programmes of the Department have been reoriented as per the thrust areas identified under SAP. With a spirit of knowledge and information sharing, the Department has initiated inter-university collaborative work in the field of Climate Change and associated issues with Kagawa University, Japan.

Facilities

Class room

The Department has 7 classrooms of which two are smart class rooms equipped with smart boards, projectors etc. There are two big sized class rooms for general courses of PG students with seating capacity of more than 40 students. The other class rooms are engaged in accommodating the classes of four optional papers offered by the department for the 3rd and 4th semester students. 

Laboratory

The Department has two laboratories with modern sophisticated instruments:

  1. Geoinformatics Laboratory: It has been established with funds provided by the DST under FIST, UGC under SAP and Govt. of Assam. This Lab is equipped with Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS facilities including instruments, softwares and spatial data.
  2. Fluvial Geomorphology Laboratory: Being equipped with some modern instruments for soil and fluvio-geomorphological analysis this laboratory has been set up with support from UGC and Govt. of Assam.

Library

The Department library, though small, has a rich collection of valuable books, journals, reports, theses, etc. A good number of books have been added annually to the library stock and at present it has a stock of around 2200 books.

 

 

Advanced Study and Resource Cell

One Advanced Study and Resource Cell possessing some valuable books, journals and computers with internet connectivity and audio-visual display facility has been established in August 2022 in honour of Prof. M.M. Das with financial support of Dr. Jitendra K. Baruah and Dr. Gita R. Baruah of USA.  This Cell is especially developed for the research scholars and teachers of the department.

Geography Museum

A Geography Museum along with digital audio-visual facility was established in April 2022 in memory of Prof. M. Taher, retired professor of the department with funding from his family. This museum showcases a collection books of late Prof M Taher and some folk cultural articles.