Departmental Trip to the Indian Museum and Alipore Jail Museum

Name of the activity: The Department of History, The Bhawanipur Education Society College had organised a field trip to two museums, namely the Indian Museum and Alipore Jail Museum.

Type of activity: It was an educational field trip arranged by the department to gain knowledge on the importance and relevance of museums in society.

Date and Duration: It was arranged on December 9^th, 2023. The trip began at 10:00 am and ended at 4 pm.

Details of the resource persons: All the faculty members of the department were involved and accompanied the students on the trip. It included Prof. Debjani Ganguly, Prof. Piu Chatterjee, Prof. Anindya Sen, Paramita Chakraborty, Nidhi Shukla, Haimanti Mukhoti, and Divyasattwa Chakraborty.

Number of participants: Fifty students from semester one and semester three participated in the trip along with seven faculty members

Objective and outcome of the trip: The trip to the museums is part of the curriculum of the Skill Enhancement Paper for Sem 1 and Sem 3 students. As part of this, the students were encouraged to develop an understanding of the necessity of conserving and preserving the rich heritage of the society to which they belong. A visit to the Indian Museum enabled the students to do so. The trip to Alipore Jail Museum diversified understanding of the museum and how it caters to different ideas of the preservation of heritage. The Jail Museum served as an important site to comprehend how a museum can also be about a particular period and type of history. Moreover, this visit to the museum also highlighted the significance of the national struggle of India and the sacrifices that the martyrs had made. This further served as a source of inspiration for this generation.

Brief description of the event: The field trip started at 10:00 am from the college premises. Upon reaching the museum, the students toured different galleries of the Indian Museum which include the Gandhara-Mathura art Gallery, Coins Gallery, Egypt Gallery, Bharhut Gallery, Textile Gallery, and Paintings Gallery. Additionally, they also visited the Evolution Gallery and Mammal Gallery. Thereafter, they visited the Alipore Jail Museum where they toured different sections within the jail premises- namely the police museum, Subhash Cell, Nehru Cell, and the Gallows of Alipore Jail.

Way forward: The tour enriched them and they would like to take the opportunity to thank the college authorities for their cooperation and encouragement. The department looks forward to further such trips to encourage students about the present-day relevance of history in daily lives.