College Info:

Stella Maris College is a Catholic institution of higher education for women in Chennai, India. It is an autonomous college affiliated to the University of Madras and is partly residential. The college, which is under the direction of the Society of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, is a minority institution that provides university education in a Christian atmosphere for deserving students, especially those belonging to the Catholic community.The college is under the management of the Institute of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. It was founded on 15 August 1947 with an enrollment of 32 students in the intermediate class. Stella Maris was granted permanent recognition in 1951. The college has the unique credit of having initiated bachelor’s degrees in Western Music and History of Fine Arts, as well as master’s degrees in Social Work and Indian Music, at the University of Madras.

Course Info:

The B.A. degree programme in Economics was started in 1948, with Dr. Mother Carla Rosa fmm as the Head. The Postgraduate programme was started in 1960 – making Stella Maris the first women’s college in the city to offer this programme. The Department also offers research programmes leading to the M. Phil and Ph.D. degreesThe objective of the Department is to equip students with conceptual and theoretical tools, as well as quantitative and qualitative techniques, which will help them to analyse current economic trends and phenomena. The curriculum of the Department is firmly rooted in Indian society and the Indian Economy, with one course specifically dealing with the economy of Tamil Nadu. Thus, the curriculum enables the students to understand the nuances of the subject while allowing them to explore their own epistemological standpoint. The wide range of courses offered by the Department, and the theoretical basis combined with subjective and objective methods, give the students a good understanding of a wide range of issues. The Department is one of the few amongst city colleges in the country to offer courses such as Gender Economics, Women, Work and the Economy, Environmental Economics and Ecofeminism. Such areas of study give the students an opportunity for research and for rewriting defunct theories.