Brief history of the Department

The origin of the Department of Communication and Journalism can be traced to an endowment of Rs.10,000/- made by Shri. K. A. Kolhatkar and accepted by the University of Pune in 1956 for instituting the "Sandeshkar Kolhatkar Scholarship" for Marathi Journalism. A two-year, part-time diploma course in Journalism was inducted on 5th February 1964. The course was divided into junior and senior year of study, requiring the students to appear for five papers (carrying 100 marks each) at the end of each year. The classes were held in the evening. ’

The course was made a one-year full-time degree course from July 1973. The department became a full-fledged regular department of the University in 1976. Following the international and national trend, nomenclature of the Department was changed in 1983 from "Department of Joumalism" to "Department of Communication and Journalism". The name of the degree awarded was also changed from B.J. to B.C.J.

A short-term part-time certificate course was instituted in 1979 in co-operation with the Pune Shramik Patrakar Sangh. It was upgraded to a Diploma in Journalism (Marathi Medium) course in 1986. The department has introduced a part time post graduate Diploma in Journalism with English as medium of instruction from academic year 2003-04. Detailed information about these Diploma courses is available on this site.

One-year Master of Communication and Journalism (MCJ) was introduced from the academic year 1993-94.

The department introduced credit -point based semester system with effect from academic year 2001-02.

The department changed the nomenclature of its Master’s programme to Master of Arts (Mass Communication and Journalism) and revised its syllabus from academic year 2003-04. It was again changed to Master of Journalism and Mass Communication (MJMC) in 2010. Diploma in Journalism (English Medium) also was changed to Diploma in Mass Media.

The syllabus was updated in 2013, and then again in 2019 with major changes and also change in nomenclature. Since 2019 the course title is MA (JMC)- i..e MA (Journalism and Mass Communication).

In 2022 nomenclature of the पदव्युत्तर वृत्तपत्रविद्या पदविका was changed to पदव्युत्तर पत्रकारिता पदविका to expand the scope of the course to include various forms of journalism along with print journalism. Nomenclature of the PG Diploma in Mass Media was changed to PG Diploma in Digital Media to make the course in tune with latest trends in media.

In 2015 the department, in collaboration with Pune Union of working Journalists launched a one-semester, weekend PG certificate course in photojournalism.

 The department also offers several short-term workshops to the general public.

The department has a research programme for Ph.D. degree. So far thirty scholars have been awarded the degree of Ph. D. in Communication and Journalism. At present seven scholars are pursuing their doctoral research. A few more students will soon be admitted to the Ph.D. programme.

The following have been the Heads of the Department so far:

No.	Name	Year
1	Shri. M.D. Shahane	1961 - 1967
2	Shri N.M. Sidhaye	1967 - 1968
3	Prof. L.N Gokhale	1968 - 1983
4	Prof. P.N. Paranjpe	1983 - 1988
5	Prof. S.K. Kulkarni	1988 - 1989
6	Prof. P.N. Paranjpe	1989 - 1995
7	Prof. Arun Sadhu	1995 - 2001
8	Dr. K.J. Kumar	July 2001
9	Prof. Dr. Kiran Thakur	August 2001- March 2007
10	Shri Prasannakumar Aklujkar	April 1, 2007 to June 2008
11	Dr. Ujjwala Barve	July 2008 to August 2013
12	Prof. Dr. Madhavi Reddy	August 2013 to November 2016 (additional charge)
13	Dr. Sanjay Tambat	November 2016 to January 2018
14	Prof. Dr. Ujjwala Barve	since January 2018

Location of the Department:

Ranade Institute Building, Fergusson College Road, Pune 411 004,
Phone/ Fax: (020) 25654069
e-mail: head.dcj@gmail.com


Hours of Work :

• Lecture Timing
  
  पदव्युत्तर पत्रकारिता पदविका  8 a.m. to 10.30 a.m.
  
  MA (JMC)                                        11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  
  PG Diploma in Digital Media            6 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.
  
  (Lectures may be rescheduled as per the requirements of teachers and convenience of the department. Students may have to carry out practical assignments even on holidays.)
   

• Office Timing                           11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Identity Card :

The department issues an I-card to each student after admission is confirmed. Students must carry their I-card on the campus and on assignments.

Library:

The department has about 5000 books, journals and periodicals in its own library in the Ranade Institute building, besides the volumes available in the University’s Jaykar Library in the main campus.

Equipment:

A full-fledged news-room with computers, laser printer, inkjet printers, flat-bed scanner with other accessories is available for training and practical work. Mini audio-visual studio equipped with 2VHS cameras, one digital video camera, audio system, color TV sets and VCRs is used for practical exercises in Radio and TV journalism. Photography cameras, slide and overhead projectors, multi-media unit and photocopying machine are also available in the department.