Notice Board
History
The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences is one of the institute's first departments, founded in 1926. The department aims to achieve excellence in teaching and research. It serves as a bridge between technological advancements and human values, ensuring the contribution of a value-based society. The department houses various disciplines, including English Language & Literature, Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy. In the coming days, several other allied and related disciplines will also be included.
Academics
Currently, the department offers Masters and Doctoral programs. The two-year MA in Digital Humanities and Social Sciences offers unique opportunities to modulate conventional disciplinary boundaries among the humanities, the social sciences, the arts, and technology. The department also offers PhD in all four disciplines. Apart from the in-house programmes, the department regularly offers various core and elective courses to engineering, science, and management students of the other departments of the institute.
Research
The department plays a significant role in expanding the intellectual horizon of the students and the faculty through quality research. Department members are actively involved in pushing the boundaries of their disciplines through engaging, rigorous, and socially relevant research endeavours. Detailed information on the faculty's areas of expertise and interest can be found on their web pages.
The department provides a platform to engage, enlighten, and strengthen our commitment to fostering an environment that encourages critical thinking, scholarly inquiry, and interdisciplinary dialogue. We aim to deepen our understanding of human society, culture, and the arts through focused research and innovative pedagogy.
Our faculty and researchers continue to traverse beyond the conventional boundaries of research, engaging with challenges through the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary lenses of history, philosophy, literature, education, sociology, psychology, and more. This year, we have launched several new research initiatives and projects highlighting the relevance of the humanities and social sciences in today's rapidly changing world. These initiatives reflect our commitment to academic excellence and demonstrate our desire to connect our work with real-world impact. We are particularly proud of the strides we've made in fostering a more inclusive and diverse academic environment, a crucial aspect of maintaining the vitality of our disciplines.
Email: hss@iitism.ac.in
Head of the Department
Journal Article - Shahiwala, S., & Rahul, D. R. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2025.103864
Journal Article - Maji, S., Maity, P., Chakraborty, A., Raj, P., & Saha, N. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2025.2575120
Journal Article - Bhimjyani, S., Desai, M., & Shanmugapriya, T. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1080/13614568.2025.2557808
Placement Highlights of MA Digital Humanities and Social Sciences, Class of 2025.
View DetailsA talk on Criticality in Qualitative Inquiries: Vistas for Exploring and Promoting Human Well-Being by Prof. Kumar Ravi Priya, Dept. of HSS, IIT Kanpur
View DetailsA talk on Straddling Biographies: Commodity to Personality by Prof. Rahul Ramagundam, Department of History and Culture, Jamia MIllia Islamia (Central University), New Delhi
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