The Department of History operates in both the Park Street Campus and the Raghabpur Campus of St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata. Initially, the Department offered History courses to the students of the B.A General Department and currently to the students of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, a mission which it has proudly continued throughout its existence. From 2015, the Department has offered a Three Year Honours program in History at the Raghabpur Campus, where the CBCS syllabus was adopted in 2018. From 2023, this has been transformed into a Four Year Program under the NEP 2020. The Department has also started a Post Graduate Program from 2023 in the Park Street Campus. 

The Department emphasizes on the need of the holistic development of the students and to this end has fostered an atmosphere where academic excellence is partnered with co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. The objective of the Department is to provide a student-friendly environment where the pupils can grow well through participatory and experiential learning systems. A principal objective of the Department is to foster the critical thinking and problem-solving faculties of the students. 

To ensure the best quality of learning, the syllabus for both CBCS and NEP 2020 have been implemented with great care and the expert guidance of the distinguished members of the Board of Studies. Learning is not limited to only classroom lectures, but there is also active and ongoing use of audio-visual materials, study tours and trips, specialized internship programs, invited lectures from subject experts, debates and quizzes, seminars, workshops and conferences. The evaluation system assesses not just the student’s comprehension of the subject material but also their critical thinking skills and innovation as they are encouraged to conduct research on their own and submit projects for the internal assessment.