BRAC University students of its Residential Semester’s 63rd batch have visited Bangladesh Liberation War Museum in Dhaka as a part of the experiential learning programs of the university’s residential semester. The 1,600 or so students of the 63rd batch were divided into six groups to be taken on a tour of the museum. The first group of students visited the museum on 20 July, 2023 and the last on 10 August, 2023.
One of the components of the Residential Semester’s curriculum is an “Emergence of Bangladesh” course, which includes going on an academic tour to the museum under the guidance of faculty members. The artifacts and exhibits in the museum’s galleries chronologically trace the origins of the Bengal region in the Indian subcontinent and take visitors through the various stages and evolution of Bengali history, culture, language, society and national consciousness. They culminate in Bangladesh’s Liberation War and the establishment of an independent homeland for Bangla-speaking peoples in 1971 under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Before starting off on their tour, students watch a documentary in an auditorium inside the museum on the struggles of the people of East Bengal between 1947 and 1971 and their eventual triumph on 16 December, 1971. It is through these first-hand experiences that students learn about, appreciate and take inspiration from the tremendous sacrifices made by their forebears that made the aspirations of the Bangalee people a reality in 1971.