Head of Department
Established in 1929, the Department of Psychology was the first department in the universities of Uttar Pradesh and third in India to offer Under Graduate and Post Graduate courses in Psychology. Eminent psychologists and philosophers of national and international fame such as Prof N.N. Sengupta, Prof. E. Ahmed Shah, Prof. Kali Prasad, Prof. Raj Narain and Prof. H.S. Asthana have been associated with the department since 1929. The torch of learned leadership was taken by Prof. N.N. Sengupta, Prof. E. Ahmed Shah, Prof. Kali Prasad and Prof. Rajnarain till 1971. From 1972, multifaceted personalities like Prof. R. M. Loomba, Prof. Srichandra, Prof. Vimla Agrawal, Prof. Prabha Gupta, Prof. Neelima Misra, Prof. Mukta Rani Rastogi, Prof. Pushpa Mishra, Prof. Archana Shukla, Prof. P.C. Mishra, Prof. P. Bhatnagar and Prof. M. Pradhan till 2021 steered the department into a new era of applied psychology. Currently, the department is being headed by Dr. Archana Shukla.
In the formative years of the department, Prof. H. S. Asthana; with his international training helped in establishing the Laboratory Of Experimental Psychology. Gradually, the department expanded its focus from Experimental and Social Psychology to the areas of contemporary social relevance like Peace and Conflict Resolution, Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Development, Child Development, Health Psychology, Psychology of Relationship, Psychobiology, Psychopathology, Clinical Psychology, Personality Growth, Environmental Psychology, Community Psychology, Counseling Psychology, Positive Psychology in Practice and Psychology applied to problems of day to day living.
The UGC recognized the outstanding performance of the Department by awarding DRS Phase I in 1996, Phase II in 2001 and DRS phase III in 2007. The focus of the DRS- Phase III was on Positive Psychology. UGC sponsored the project on Promoting Spirituality to Enhance Subjective Well-Being among Young adults to Prof. Madhurima Pradhan from 2008-2011. The grant under the Center of Excellence Scheme was provided to Prof. P.C. Mishra for a project on Promoting Well-Being Among Elderly: An Indian Perspective from 2012-2015.
Department of Psychology, University of Lucknow, under the leadership of Dr. Archana Shukla, Head, Department of Psychology and Prof. Geetanjali Mishra, Dean Academics, University of Lucknow in collaboration with KGMU, Lucknow signed a contract with U.P State AIDS Control Society (UPSACS), Lucknow for the project titled as “Stigma and discrimination among people living with HIV AIDS (PLHIV) and key population in Uttar Pradesh”. The aim of this project is to study the stigma and discrimination among people living with HIV AIDS. "There has been a steady rise in testing. Hence, we are finding new cases every year,” said Dr Arun Kumar Singhal joint director of the U.P. State AIDS Control Society (UPSACS) in 2023. This disease is hampering the world health and also contains a lot of misconceptions and myths and continues to pose significant challenges in prevention, treatment, and care. Therefore, this study will help in understanding the barriers associated with the treatment and will help in the upliftment of their mental health. Further, the research will bring out the attitudes and perspectives of 800 participants towards the disease in the four districts of Uttar Pradesh namely Lucknow, Jhansi, Meerut, and Varanasi. The Principal Investigator in the project is Dr. Hansika Singhal, Assistant Professor, and Co- Principal Investigator is Dr. Archana Shukla, Head, Department of Psychology, University of Lucknow.
Memorandum of Understanding- MOU was done between University of Lucknow, U.P. and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, U.P. On 26th June, 2024. The co-ordinator of the memorandum was Dr. Archana Shukla, Head, Department of Psychology. In the MOU they will explore avenues in the field of research, employee counselling, trainings, internships working on initiatives and innovative practices besides bringing positive changes at work places in terms of efficiency for the mutual benefits of both organizations.
