Delhi School of Economics (DSE), popularly referred to as "D School", is an institution of higher learning within the University of Delhi.[1][2] The Delhi School of Economics is situated in University of Delhi's North Campus in Maurice Nagar.[3] Established in 1949,[4] the campus of the Delhi School of Economics houses the University of Delhi's departments of Economics, Sociology, Geography and Commerce, as well as the Ratan Tata Library. Out of the four academic departments, the Departments of Economics, Sociology and Geography come under the Faculty of Social Sciences, while the Department of Commerce comes under the Faculty of Commerce and Business Studies.[4]
Many of its former faculty members and alumni have gone ahead to become world famous economists, social scientists, writers, heads of states and journalists. It presently offers multiple post graduate and doctoral level programmes in a wide range of disciplines.
History and organisation
Shortly after the independence of India, a group led by Professor V.K.R.V. Rao and supported by India's first Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru, launched a project to create a centre for advanced studies in social sciences, which led to the formation of the Delhi School of Economics in 1949. As of May, 2023, the Delhi School of Economics houses the Departments of Economics, Geography, Sociology and Commerce.
Campus
The Delhi School of Economics campus is situated in University of Delhi's North Campus in Maurice Nagar.[5] It is surrounded by other institutions and constituent colleges of the University of Delhi, such as Ramjas College, The Faculty of Management Studies, St. Stephen's College, KMC and Hindu College. Three constituent departments of the Faculty of Social Sciences - Economics, Sociology and Geography- lie within the Delhi School of Economics campus.[6] It additionally also houses the Department of Commerce,[7] which is a part of the Faculty of Commerce and Business Studies, and the Ratan Tata Library.[8]
Constituents
Department of Economics
Among the faculty at the department of economics have been the likes of V.K.R.V. Rao, B.N. Ganguly and K.N. Raj (all three of whom went on to serve as vice-chancellors at the University of Delhi), Amartya Sen (Nobel Laureate), Manmohan Singh (the former Indian Prime Minister and also the key architect of the economic reforms since 1991), Sukhomoy Chakravarty (who was chief economic advisor), Jagdish Bhagwati, Kaushik Basu, Arjun Kumar Sengupta, Partha Sen, Raj Krishna, Syed Mohammad Ali, the economic historian Tapan Raychaudhuri and others.[9]
The department has been associated with three important journals over the years. It publishes the Indian Economic Review, several faculty members edit the Indian Economic and Social History Review, and for many years it housed the Journal of Quantitative Economics.[10]
The department currently offers a MA and a PhD in Economics.
Department of Sociology
The department of sociology was established by the University of Delhi in 1959 as a constituent of the Delhi School of Economics. To begin with, the department trained students for two courses: M.A. and Ph.D. In 1966 a two-year course for the M.Litt. degree was introduced. This has been replaced since 1976 by an M.Phil. degree course of a year's duration. In 1968, the department was recognised as a Centre of Advanced Study (CAS) in Sociology by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The department receives a renewable five-year grant from the UGC under the CAS scheme. The UGC also provides a renewable three-year grant under its ASHISS (Assistance for Strengthening of the Infrastructure of the Humanities and Social Sciences) program for departmental infrastructure as well as research on State and Society.[citation needed]
In 2010, Professor Nandini Sundar from the department, won the Infosys prize in the field of social anthropology.[11]
Department of Geography
The department traces its origin to October 1959, when under the initiative of Professor V.K.R.V. Rao, the then Vice-Chancellor of the university and an eminent Economist, a Department of Human Geography was established as a constituent of the Delhi School of Economics. Professor George Kuriyan, a well-known geographer of India at that time, was the first professor and founder of the department. In 1966, Professor V.L.S. Prakasha Rao took over from him and guided the department until 1973.[citation needed]
The department has expanded considerably since 1973. The name of the department was changed to the Department of Geography in 1976 to indicate the widening scope of teaching and research activity in physical and human aspects of Geography.[citation needed]
Department of Commerce
In December 1967, the Department of Commerce was established as a separate department by carving it out of the composite Department of Economics and Commerce, Delhi School of Economics. It became an independent faculty in 1992. Currently, along with the Department of Financial Studies, it constitutes the Faculty of Commerce and Business Studies. The Department of Commerce started a one-year full-time Post-graduate Diploma in International Marketing (PGDIM) in the year 1985–86. PGDIM remains as a management course in the Department of Commerce. PGDIM is currently coordinated with Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, University of Delhi.[citation needed]
The department also offers a full-time two-year Master's programme in International Business (MIB), laying special emphasis on aspects of international business operations including Global Marketing and International Financial Management. The Master of Human Resource and Organisational Development (MHROD) programme was started by the department in 1995 to impart managerial competencies in the domain of Human Resource Management and Organizational Development.
From 2014, the MIB and MHROD courses have been restructured as MBA (IB) and MBA (HRD) respectively.[citation needed]
Ratan Tata Library
The Ratan Tata Library, popularly referred to as RTL, is also situated in the Delhi School of Economics campus.[12] The total collection comprises 2.5 lakh volumes of books and bound periodicals. Nearly 1300 current titles are being received in the Library. The Library also receives Annual Reports of about 800 Joint Stock companies. It has a special collection on Pakistan to support research in the Area Studies Programme (Pakistan). The Library has been designated as a repository of United Nations publications.[citation needed]
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