Unmasking all secrets

MANGALORE: Though India is rich in history and culture, the historical sense among our people is poor. Consequently, the number of students who evince an interest to pursue this discipline is on the wane.
However, to reverse this trend and sensitize the student community regarding history and its importance, the department of history, Mangalore University, has come out with special plans.
Department HoD Barkur Udaya told The Times of India that under the new scheme workshops and sensitisation programmes will be conducted for students of all streams and efforts will be made to arouse their curiosity in history. The first programme will be held in February, he said.
Though history is a serious discipline, misconceptions abound. The programme will remove these misconceptions and instigate students to take up studying history at the post-graduate level. The topics to be covered would be comprehensive information about Indian history, the history and culture of Tulunadu and related topics. Besides, it would also inform students about the career opportunities for history graduates in different fields, he said.
Regretting the misconceptions that history offers limited career opportunities, he said apart from a teaching career, history students could do well in fields like journalism.
Among students of arts, history students were doing well even in times of recession. Around 90% of the students have been employed. Further, unlike other subjects, history is taught compulsorily in all colleges and number of vacancies would increase with the increase in the number of educational institutes offering degree and post-graduate courses.
He said many posts for history lecturers have been falling vacant in colleges in the district mainly due to scarcity of candidates.
dinesh.nayak@timesgroup.com