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Department of English Phone : +91-79-26302382 Director : Prof. Vasantkumar M. Bhatt Head : Dr. Ranjana Harish
Introduction Brief History The
Department of English of For
four initial years the Department ran on the strength of just one lecturer and
one professor. PG teaching in those days
was done only during the week-ends - two days a week. As the School expanded and other Departments
came into being the teaching pattern changed.
With the help of Visiting Faculty from the affiliated colleges, six days
a week teaching was introduced in all the Departments. Full-fledged M.A., Ph.D. Programs in English
were introduced. Under
Professor Chandrashekaran’s insightful leadership the department expanded, Dr.
B. Singh joining the department in 1967, Dr. D.N. Mehta in 1970 and Dr. Amina
Amin in 1977. The department with such
distinguished faculty with varied interest developed into a major Centre for
English Studies in
Prof. Chandrashekaran retired in June 1977 handing over the charge of the
Department to Dr. Digish Mehta (a Reader at that time). In Sept. 1977
Professor R.A. Malagi was appointed as the Professor-Head.
Keeping the twin objectives of the Department in view, viz. the Language
Teaching and Literature Appreciation and Research, in 1981 under Prof. Malagi's
leadership the Department introduced M.Phil. Program. In 1985 the present
Language Laboratory, situated on the second floor of the USL building, was
installed under the supervision of P.K. Thaker, Reader Language Lab. A decade that
followed this was a decade of serious research guidance and full-swing ELT
activities.
In-Service-Teachers' -Training Programs for the affiliated lecturers, ELT
Workshops and ELLT Courses became a regular feature during that period. More than fifteen
such Programs must have been given during that decade.
Though basically a PG Department, the diverse specialization of the
faculty, as shown below, provided the affiliated PG/UG teachers with much needed
guidance and support.
Each of the faculty had, besides teaching, numerous papers presented at
National/International Conferences and Seminars and significant book-length
studies. List of Former Faculty (1963 to 2000) in Chronological
order:
The period since 1992 saw superannuation of the senior faculty. But this has been
compensated for by the entry of newer and younger faculty with still newer and
varied areas of interest and under; their thrust areas are in keeping with the
changes witnessed in the English Studies in the overall set-up of the
academia. Present Scenario List of the Present Faculty in Descending order of
Seniority
Objectives and Goals
The department aims to provide a nucleus of intellectual activity in
English studies in
The twin objectives of the Department are : 1. Language Teaching 2. Literary
Appreciation and Research which are relevant to contemporary disciplinary
demands. It
also aims at giving Outstretch Programs for working outside the institutional
structure of the University by giving/designing Courses for professional centres
like Nirma Institute of Technology and Ahmedabad Management Association. The Department has
recently also taken over the responsibility of designing and giving Refresher
Course in English Studies for the lecturers of affiliated colleges. The 1st Refresher
course of the University was given in Nov. 2000 (Nov. 2 to Nov. 19, 2000) under
the Coordinatorship of Dr. Ranjana Harish. The department also aims at promoting
interaction between the University, Faculty, students and the people of the city
at large by holding events like staging of plays or cultural events - which are
educative as well as entertaining. Curriculum Aspects
This department is a P.G. dept giving M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D.
Programs. The
M.A. Program is of two years i.e. four academic terms duration. At the end of every
year there is a University examination. Each year students study four papers. Thus the total
number of the papers studied by an M.A. student is eight. Out of the total
eight papers four are Core Courses which are compulsory for all (paper I &
II in Part I and paper V and VI in part II). These four courses are the ones which impart
knowledge about English Studies which any M.A. in English ought to have. The focus here is on
Literary History from the earliest to the contemporary, British Literary Texts
and Critical Theory.
The remaining four Courses are electives where a student could choose
according to his/her interest. Some such elective Courses are: Indian Writing in
English, American Lit., Commonwealth Lit., Women's Writing, Medieval Literature,
Classics in Translation. Indian Writing in English Translation, English
Language and Grammer, ELT, ELLT. Though it’s difficult for the department to
offer all the options due to insufficient strength of the faculty, we have been
offering most of the Courses with the help of our Visiting Faculty from the
affiliated colleges in the city. All the Visiting Faculties are recognized P.G.
Teachers.
The M.Phil program is designed in such a manner as to train students in
methodology and in theoretical and conceptual grasp of the issues. A student has
to take three Courses in all for an M.Phil. Out of the three one (Research Methodology) is
a Core Course, the remaining two are electives. Out of the two electives one becomes the area
in which the student writes his/her dissertation for the degree. The department
offers wide range of choices/combinations and often designing courses to cater
to the needs/interest of individual students. For example two years back in
1998, when Women's Writing Course had, for the first time, two male students,
the course was re-designed and it focused on Writing Differences and Masculinist
Studies.
The Ph.D. Program is designed differently for each research scholar. The department
promotes inter-disciplinary study. Teaching/Learning & Evaluation
The teaching/learning experience of the department rests mainly on three
components 1. Class-room teaching 2. weekly seminars/classroom presentations by
students 3. language laboratory sessions given to smaller groups of 12 to 15
students. Out
of the above three components two have large number of students, around 75 to
100 which doesn't leave any other means of communication except lecturing. We have felt a need
to be able to restrict the number of the students. And we definitely
believe that if the number could be controlled the teaching/learning quality
will definitely improve.
Class presentations, seminars, discussions and Weekly Seminars, on every
Tuesday, are the strongholds of the department's learning evaluation. It has not only
trained and enriched students and gave the faculty feed-back but has also
inculcated a sense of solidarity among students.
For the evaluation of learning we have several in-class devices as above
in addition to the internal tests. We are glad that despite the fact that no
weightage is given to such evaluations in the final University examinations we
have been able to create a right climate for such exercises in the
department.
Unfortunately there is no teaching evaluation mechanism available. At present Faculty
Evaluation is done in our university only by the participants of the Refresher
Courses. We
have found such a feed-back very useful. Hence we wish to evolve a system of Faculty
Evaluation at M.A. and M.Phil. level also. Research, Consultancy & Extension
Research is the most important function of the department. Admissions to Ph.D.
are restricted to smaller number about 3 to 4. The M.Phil. Program, in a way is a preparatory
program for Ph.D. which admits 10 to 12 students chosen on the basis of entrance
test, interview and M.A. result. The Department has by now produced around 20
Ph.Ds. and 30 M.Phils.
The Faculty have been actively involved in Extension Programs through
different Departments of University itself, like Department of Journalism, EMRC,
H.K. Professional Training Centre and also through Open Universities like IGNOU
and Ambedkar Open University. In addition they are also on the advisory
boards of institutions like Ahmedabad Management Association and Nirma Institute
of Technology and All India Radios (for their programs in English). Our Strengths
We believe the Department's strength lies in its Faculty's achievements,
and the Department is proud of its contribution to the quantum of English
Studies through its Faculty. Within last ten years the Faculty have
published more than 25 articles and four books Indian
Women's Autobiographies (1993), Female Foot
Prints (1996), The Silverlining (2000) and The Tongue of Fire (2000). Three more books are
in progress and two are in press.
In addition to the above publications, the English the Department has
been doing considerable work in English-Gujarati, Gujarati-English translation
also. Classics
in English like Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own
and Mulkraj Anand's Untouchable and Narsinh Mehta’s
Dalit literature are translated and published by our faculty. The faculty has at
least seven translated books to their credit within last ten years.
The department is also proud of their former faculty Prof. Digish Mehta
whose novel Aapno Ghadik Saang (in Gujarati) is
awarded a gold meal this year (2000). He is a recipient of several other awards
also. Dr.
Ranjana Harish's translation of Untouchable also was
awarded 1st Prize by Sahitya Academi (1996). The Faculty have also been awarded reputed
Fellowships like Indo-Canadian Shastri Faculty Enrichment Fellowship and Indian
Institute of Advanced Study's Fellowship.
This department is the first in Infrastructure & Facilities
As mentioned earlier the English Department is situated within the larger
umbrella of
Every faculty has computer/ printer facilities. The heads also have
Internet and intercom facilities. We also have Departmental Library as well as
the personal collection of the famous Canadian dramatist James Reaney. Highlights
In addition to teaching and testing at M.A., M.Phil. and Ph.D., the
department is seriously devoted to publication and pursuit of knowledge through
holding National and International Conferences, Seminars and workshops. To
improve the quality of English studies in the affiliated colleges the Department
has organised five
UGC Refresher Courses between 2000 – 2006. Under the UGC’s teacher’s exchange
scheme, renowned professors like Prof. Jacob Tharu (CIEFL),Prof. P.K. Rajan
(VC.,
Events Held by the Department (2000- 2006) 1.
MHRD National Conference entitled ‘Shakti: From
Infringement to Empowerment’ January 22 – 24, 2000. Number of Regd.
Participants -235 Number of papers – 60. Number of Resource Persons -25. Guest of Honour:- Ms. Jnanpith Awardee Dr. Indira Goswami. Presided by H.E. The Governor of 2. MHRD National Conference entitled ‘Re – Defining
Feminism/s’ Oct. 16-18 2005. Number of Regd. Participants
-160. Number of papers -30. Number of Resource Persons 15. Guests of Honour: Dr. Vibhuti Patel & V.C. Prof.
A.U.Patel In addition to the above, the Dept. hosted five
Inter/National Events under the banner of Reaney Canadian Centre in 2002, 2003,
2004, 2005 and 2006. Publication Over five years
period, the faculty has published more than five books and about 12 research
papers in National / International Journals in individual capacity. In addition to the
above two volumes based on Shakti National conference held by the Dept. in 2000 are published
as under: 1.
Shakti: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Indian Women’s
Empowerment. (With a Foreword by Indira Goswami and
Afterward by Shashi Deshpande) Jaipur: Rawat Pub, 2003. This was a refereed Volume ed. By
Ranjana Harish
(GU) and Bharathi Harishankar ( 2.
Shakti (In Gujarati) Ahmedabad: Gurjar Pub., 2004. This too was a refereed
Volume ed. By Ranjana Harish , Darshna Trivedi and Nutan Damor. Forthcoming Volumes:- Three Volumes based on our International Events
during 2002 - 2005are
under preparation for Publication . Courses Offered Course 1
Course Name
M.A. Course Type
Grant in Aid Intake
100 Eligibility
B.A. ( Subject Offered / Specialisation
ELT, Shakespeare, Post Colonial Writing, Translation Studies,
Women’s Writings, Indian Lit. in English, Research Methodology, Comparative
Studies, American Literature Duration
Two
Years Course commencement June Admission Process
By Merit and Interview Fees Course Offered at
USL, Uni. Campus
Course 2
Course
Name
M.Phil. Course Type
Grant in Aid Intake
15 Eligibility
M.A. ( Subject Offered / Specialisation
Research Methodology, Post Colonial Writing, Translation Studies, Women’s
Writings, Indian Lit. in English, Comparative Studies, American Literature Duration
Two Years Course Commencement
June Admission Process
By Merit and entrance Test Fees Course Offered at
USL, Uni. Campus
Course 3
Course
Name
Ph.D. Course Type
Grant in Aid Intake
As per Faculty’s wish Eligibility
M.Phil. ( Subject Offered / Specialisation
Research Methodology, Post Colonial Writing, Translation Studies, Women’s
Writings, Indian Lit. in English, Comparative Studies, American Literature and
Many others Duration
Initially Three Years. Course Commencement
June Admission Process
By Merit and the supervisor’s evaluation Fees Course Offered at
USL, Uni. Campus
Faculty
Name
:
Dr. (Mrs.) Ranjana Harish Qualification
:
M.A.( Designation
:
Professor &
HoD Areas of Specialization :
English, Women’s Writing, Gender Studies, Indian
Literature Contact No.
:
26302382 (O) 26746848 (R )
Name
:
Dr. (Mrs.) Darshana Trivedi Qualification
:
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Designation
:
Reader Areas of Specialization :
English, Modern British Poetry, Comparative Literature Contact No.
:
26302382 (O) 26466168 (R )
Name
:
Mrs. Nutan Damor Qualification
:
M.A. Designation
:
Lecturer Areas of Specialization :
English, American Literature, Translation, ELT. Contact No.
:
26302382 (O) 9824510323 (M) |