Centenary hopes for Communication dept

Recalling that the Maharaja’s College got its Journalism department during the centenary celebrations of the institution, way back in 1951, head of the department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mysore, C K Puttaswamy said, the centenary of the university would become meaningful if the long-pending demand for the School of Mass Communication and Journalism, with a separate building, is fulfilled this year.

Speaking about the long-pending proposal for the school, he said, the postgraduate course was started in 1972 and now, it is facing acute shortage of space. Besides a MA course in Mass Communication and Journalism, the department is offering a diploma course in Film Studies — in Direction. At present, the department is accommodated in the Humanities block in Manasagangothri.

“At present we have 80 students for MA — 45 in Previous and 35 in Final — and as we do not have space, we are conducting the diploma classes on the premises of the Prasaranga, the publication wing of the UoM. We have been postponing our plans to launch a community radio station due to lack of space.

If our proposal is approved, we would be able to operate as a comprehensive department, Puttaswamy said. “As it is a purely professional course, which offers wide scope for employability, we hope to offer specialised courses in Electronic Media and Print Media, keeping with the demands of the media world. Even in diploma courses Cinematography and Acting can be introduced,” he added.

Pointing at the university funding for the MSc course in Electronic Media, offered by the UGC-sponsored Educational Multimedia Research Centre (EMRC), Puttaswamy said, the main objective of the EMRC is to produce educational videos and multimedia software and the course is a self-financed programme, which is temporarily funded by the UoM to encourage enrolment. “If the UoM withdraws the funds for the MSc programme, all aspiring students will vie for the seats in the department, so the department has to be prepared to meet the demands in future,” he said.

The department, which is in its 43rd year, since its launch, hopes to become a full-fledged school under the UoM by the time it celebrates its golden jubilee. It has to be recalled that the Maharaja’s College had celebrated its centenary in 1951 as the event, which was to be held in 1933, had been postponed due to some unknown reasons.
DH News Service