Dated:07.09.2020

Applications are invited for the position of ONE Research Assistant for the University of Chicago-Presidency University collaborative project: ‘The Hindoo/Presidency College: A Global History’

The Hindoo/ Presidency College: A Global History

The Hindoo College, established in 1817, was the first “Western” educational institution in Asia. It was renamed as Presidency College in 1855. The college was established a few years after the Fort William college in Calcutta (1800) and the Haileybury College (1806) in England. The aim of this project is to write global histories of intellectual production in Hindoo/Presidency college. By what processes did the globality of intellectual life in this institution emerge in a newly established city, promoted largely through private enterprise under Company rule, and continue its dominance in the Indian academic scene well into the postcolonial period? Who were the beneficiaries of its education? What was the history of pedagogy and disciplinarity in the College?

The chronological span of our inquiry is 1817-1972. 1817 was the year that the college was founded. In 1972, Professor P. C. Mahalanobis, the eminent statistician, founder of the Indian Statistical Institute, Professor Emeritus, Presidency College and moving force in independent India’s planning regime, died.

Project Investigators :

Rochona Majumdar (University of Chicago)

Sukanya Sarbadhikary (Presidency University)

Upal Chakrabarti (Presidency University)

Application Procedure

Applicants are requested to email their CVs and a brief response (300 words) to the following question:

‘What kinds of historical research, and historical sources, do you think, can be used to write global histories of intellectual production in Hindoo/Presidency College?’

Applications should be sent to hindoopresidencyhistory@gmail.com

Eligibility: M.A. in any discipline of the Humanities and Social Sciences

Deadline : September 17, 2020

Project duration : October 2020-June 2021

Salary : Rs. 35,000 per month (consolidated)

Selection Procedure: Short-listed applicants will be interviewed online, the date and time of which will be notified to them over email.