Students of the Film and Media Studies Department at Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University have continued their movement demanding a change in the department’s name and its transfer to another faculty.
On Saturday, they staged a sit-in at the ground floor of the administrative building while the university’s Syndicate meeting was underway.
The students announced that they would continue their movement until their demands are met and, if necessary, would go on a hunger strike.
The students’ demands are to rename the department “Communication, Media and Film” and transfer it from the Faculty of Arts to the Faculty of Social Science.
Earlier, students staged sit-ins and locked the department gates on Wednesday and Thursday over the same demands. During the protests, they also boycotted classes and examinations.
The protesting students said they had been raising the two demands for more than a year.
A five-member committee formed by a decision of the university’s Syndicate to review the matter has recommended changing the department’s name and transferring it to the Faculty of Social Science.
They staged the sit-in at the administrative building on Saturday, expecting the issue to be discussed and a decision taken at the Syndicate meeting.
The students said that despite raising the demands for a long time, they had not yet been finally implemented. They urged the Syndicate to make a decision in line with the committee’s recommendations.
The protesters also said they would continue their programmes until their demands are met and, if necessary, would go on a hunger strike.
The students said that although the department’s curriculum includes subjects related to communication, media and film, the word “Communication” is not included in its current name. This, they said, creates difficulties for them in presenting their academic identity in higher education and the job market.
They believe that changing the name would create greater consistency between the department’s curriculum and its academic identity.
Besides, as film, media and communication are related to various social science-based disciplines, the students have demanded that the department be placed under the Faculty of Social Science. According to them, this would make the department’s identity clearer in higher education and professional fields.
According to departmental sources, students submitted a memorandum with the two demands in September last year. Later, the department’s 129th Academic Committee meeting recommended changing its name and faculty.
In November 2025, a five-member committee was formed following a decision of the Syndicate. Later, based on the committee’s report, a preliminary recommendation was made on January 9 this year to change the department’s name and transfer it to the Faculty of Social Science.
Earlier, university Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain said the final decision on changing the department’s name and faculty would be taken by the Syndicate. He said the matter could not be implemented through his decision alone and required approval from the Syndicate.
As the Syndicate meeting continued on Saturday, the protesting students remained in a sit-in at the administrative building, awaiting a final decision on the department’s name change and transfer to the Faculty of Social Science.
