Presidency University M.A Review By Archana Shaw

Presidency University is one of the oldest Universities in India and top university in West Bengal. The University has connections with other foreign universities like University of Lowa. The University conducts "Student Culture Exchange Program" every year. Every year the University holds an International Conference in which the Universities from all over the world take part. It was affiliated to the University of Calcutta, in 2009 the College became an Autonomous body and was declared as a University by the state. The admission procedure demands 50-55 percent marks in Post graduation admission along with a good score in the entrance exam. The University conducts PUBDET for admission to undergraduate courses and PUMDET for admission to post graduation courses and prefers NET/ SET qualified candidates and conducts an interview for admission to PhD courses. The college management is friendly and caters to the needs of the student, the management works for the betterment of infrastructure, placement opportunities, adding relevant syllabus and timely publication of results.

Presidency is a dream come true for me, I feel myself fortunate to pass through the gates of this University and sit in those classrooms and pass by those corridors where great minds like Tagore, Amartya Sen, Raja Ram Mohan Roy had once been. I had opted for MA in English literature course by cracking the PUMDET exam for Masters. I was mesmerized by the syllabus here and the approach and methods of teaching. It is here where I discovered the vastness of my field and it was intriguing to know so much about literature not only in English but literature all over the world. I was intrigued by the vastness and the variety of modules of relevant studies and area of research like Holocaust literature, Dalit literature, Cyborg Feminism, Video games and literature, Partition literature, film studies along with the original text. Moreover the most challenging thing was writing a Dissertation, which was a new challenge and thing for me and also it helped me in my development of thought process, my perspective and my ability to express as a writer. The best thing about studying here is that it helped me retain my creativity and helped me create things out of it. Presidency demands students to come up with ideas for papers through their own readings and by using their own perspective and our friendly professors help us in formulating, shaping and enhancing our ideas and skills. The University shows zero tolerance for plagiarism and pushes students to come out of the shell for their self development and became better versions of them. Also the University provides placement opportunities for Humanities to different types of work, ranging from corporate, to school teaching, content writing in corporate, to work in editorial team, associate jobs at rural schools and also provides seminars for Civil Services preparation and also for PhD program.

We have 14 professors in total in the English Department, out of which 12 professors are assigned to teach in the Masters course. The University have a huge range of faculty in Science like Physics, Chemistry, life Sciences, Mathematics, Economics, Geography, Geology, Statistics, Bio technology and huge range in Humanities like English, Hindi, Political Science, Sociology, History, Performing Arts apart from this the university also provides German language for study. All the Associate professors and Professors in the University have 15-20 years of teaching experience, some Assistant Professors have 7-8 years of teaching experience. Most of the Professors are PhD's from top notch Universities worldwide and has connections with other universities not only national but on international level. Professors here are very kind, friendly and appreciate interactive session in class. They give us proper materials for reading and teach passionately and demands students to interact and come up with ideas and do proper readings of various other texts which aid in further research.

Presidency University has placement cell for Arts and Science. For Science companies like KPMG, Deloitte, HSBC, Pumpsense Private Limited and for Humanities Azim Premji Foundation, Androsonic etc. Comes to hire students. 10 LPA is the highest package provided in Economics. For Humanities 4-6 LPA. Generally from science background maximum students get placed and from Humanities many opt for PhD abroad by cracking GRE, TOFEL, IELTS and some students go for jobs hired by the company on campus while other students go for corporate jobs, teaching jobs or government jobs like Civil services, SSC etc.

There are two hostels, the boys hostel is known as the Hindu hostel and is situated close to the college campus while the girls hostel is in Rajarhat area far away from the campus and towards the new Presidency building. The hostel is well guarded and is budget friendly with proper food and is allotted to those students who stay away from college. The boys hostel has a playground, computer facilities similarly the girl hostel has other facilities of computers, playground and also the bus facility to escort them from University to hostel safely every day.

The University has five buildings, some are named after famous Alumni, The main building is the Humanities building which is the oldest one it also has a museum and several office and has a huge Arts library, Auditorium and several classrooms and the great grand staircase. The second building is the NS building which has classes for social sciences, the Derozio building is the science building and has classrooms and laboratories, the Baker's building also comprises of classes for Science and lastly a Central Library building. There are 3 Canteen in the campus with affordable price of food and a huge playground and small gardens. There are common rooms and gyms for boys and girls Apart from the main Campus of Presidency University at College street Kolkata, Presidency University also has a new building at Rajarhat for Biotechnology and other courses. The entire building is under CCTV surveillance. The University has two libraries, one Arts library and another Central Library with all the latest technology and facilities with huge number of books, articles and journals.

The campus life is amazing here, the back quad of the main building is often called the place of artists as you are going to find students singing Rabindra Sangeet, creative and beautiful wall paintings, people writing and reading books or talking about ideas, the senior and Junior relationship is very good, the seniors are very helpful and give a freshers welcome to all the juniors. Apart from academics, the University is home to various creative activities like singing, dancing, debates, politics. You can always find people sitting in every nook and corner in the university premises talking about ideas, discussing about books, theories, their publication of academic papers and great artists. The University through various activities helps students in their mental growth and development and also in their personality as a whole. The student teacher interaction is also good, we as students can approach our professor anytime on doubt of topics or even to discuss our ideas. Students also take part in National social scheme like You And I, which is a NGO that cater to the aid of underprivileged children and provides them education and support. The University hold fests named ISPAT which lasts for two to three days and great artists and singer are invited for their performance. The students also celebrate Holi, Rabindra Jayanti, Teachers Day. Each department in the University has a departmental magazine also the University has a publication society called PUPS ( Presidency University Publication society) where students love to publish their piece of art, writing, poetry, song etc.