The Senate of Serampore College (University) is located in

Serampore Serampore (also called ''Serampur'', ''Srirampur'', ''Srirampore'', ''Shreerampur'', ''Shreerampore'', ''Shrirampur'' or ''Shrirampore'') is a city of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Srirampore ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

, India. Serampore was granted the status of university in 1829, making it India's first institution to have the status of a university.Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education The college was founded by the missionaries

Joshua Marshman Joshua Marshman (20 April 1768 – 6 December 1837) was a British Christian missionary in Bengal, India. His mission involved social reforms and intellectual debates with educated Hindus such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Origins Joshua Marshman was b ...

, William Carey and William Ward (the

Serampore trio The Serampore Trio was the name given to three pioneering English missionaries, namely William Carey (1761-1834), Joshua Marshman, (1768-1837), and William Ward (1769-1823). William Carey arrived in Bengal in 1793 and Marshman and Ward arrived ...

), to give an education in arts and sciences to students of every "

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultur ...

, colour or country" and to train a ministry for the growing Church in India.

The Senate

The Senate of Serampore College (University) runs the academic administration of all its affiliated theological colleges. The Council of Serampore College holds a Danish charter and has the power to confer degrees in any subject, however it currently exercises this right only for conferring theological degrees, as recommended by the Senate. Several theological colleges and seminaries all over India, as well as Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, are affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College.

Authority to issue degrees and accreditation

King Frederick VI of Denmark originally granted a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

giving the Senate of Serampore College the status of a degree granting university. Serampore was the first institution to be given the status of a university in which was through Danish

Charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

. It confers its own degrees in

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

under the power vested by the Charter and Act of Serampore College.

History

Since

was then a Danish colony, King Frederick VI, the King of Denmark, issued Serampore College its

of Incorporation on 23 February 1827, in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, Denmark (Charter, 1, Charter, 2, Charter, 3). The charter came in response to Joshua Marshman's visit to King Frederick in August 1826; the charter gave Serampore College the privilege of awarding degrees in Arts and Theology. William Carey,

, and John Clark Marshman (Joshua's son) were designated as members of the first Council. At its opening, the Trio released a prospectus which proposed "''A College for the instruction of Asiatic Christian and other Youth in Eastern Literature and European Science''." The college was open to all persons of any caste or creed, and the founders ensured that no denominational test would apply to faculty members. The charter has also been confirmed by the Bengal Govt Act. IV of 1918. The status accorded by the Danish Charter has since been re-affirmed for the study of

Sankar Ray, The Hindu (Business Line), 11 April 2008 ''Almost a century later, the charter was endorsed officially under the Bengal Govt Act IV of 1918.

/ref> and now forms the basis for degrees of all levels conferred by over forty theological colleges throughout India, and is administered by the Senate.It was incorporated by Royal Charter of 1827 and Bengal Government Act. IV of 1918.

Degrees awarded

Presently, the Senate of Serampore College (University) restricts itself to award of degrees pertaining to

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

. The following are the degrees awarded to students through its affiliated colleges throughout India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka:

Internal

Graduate programmes

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theolog ...

(B.D) *

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

(B.Th) * Bachelor of Missiology (B.Miss)

Postgraduate programmes

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a sta ...

(M.Th) * Masters in Counselling and Psychotherapy (MCP)

Doctoral programmes

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiv ...

(D.Th)

External

Diploma programmes

*Diploma in Christian Studies (Dip. C.S.) *Diploma in Clinical Pastoral Counselling (Dip.C.P.C.) *Diploma in Bible translation (Dip B.T)

Graduate programmes

*Bachelor of Christian Studies (B.C.S.)

Postgraduate programmes

*Master of Ministry (M.Min.) * Master of Christian Studies (MCS)

Doctoral programmes

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (abbreviated DMin or D.Min.) is a professional doctorate, often including a research component, that may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in some form of ministry. It is categorized as an advance ...

( D.Min.) *

( Th.D)

Constituent colleges

Serampore College , founders = William Ward, William Carey, & Joshua Marshman , religious_affiliation = Baptist , rector = , location = 8, William Carey RoadSerampore – 712201West Bengal, India , established = , principal = Vansanglura V ...

(Theology Department),

South Asia Theological Research Institute South Asia Theological Research Institute (SATHRI) was established by the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College (BTESSC) in the year 1989. It is located at Mack House Complex in Serampore. It offers doctoral programm ...

, Serampore

Affiliated colleges

Other affiliated centres

Affiliated centres as of 2014 for the purpose of Diploma in Clinical Pastoral Counselling. *Karnataka ** Christian Medical Association of India,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

*Kerala **Life Enrichment Counselling and Training Centre, Idukki district **Mar Thoma Hospital Guidance,

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its List of renamed Indian cities and states, former name Trivandrum (), is the Capital city, capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as ...

**T. M. A. Institute of Counselling,

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south ...

*Tamil Nadu *

Christian Medical College, Vellore Christian Medical College, Vellore, widely known as CMC, Vellore, is a private, Christian community-run medical school, hospital and research institute. This Institute includes a network of primary, secondary and tertiary care hospitals in a ...

Vellore Vellore (English: ), also spelt as Velur (), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu and is separa ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Senate Of Serampore College (University) Universities in Kolkata Christian seminaries and theological colleges in India Academic institutions associated with the Bengal Renaissance Christianity in Kolkata 19th century in Kolkata Schools in Colonial India Educational institutions established in 1818 Educational institutions established in 1827 1818 establishments in British India 1820s establishments in British India