Surendranath College

About

The Department of English was established in the year 1884.

The Department of English was established in the year 1884. Since its inception the department has sought to cultivate an intellectually stimulating environment for both students and faculty members. Beyond its pedagogical concerns, the English department has been a bastion of inclusiveness and the pursuit of progressive ideals which are a seminal part of the humanities. Students are not only acquainted with the syllabi but encouraged to adopt a more holistic view of the topics introduced during their undergraduate years. They are taught to hone their analytic skills and write academically sound research-level papers. Additionally, the department places great emphasis on the students’ ability to communicate their ideas in coherent, syntactically correct English.

The college is uniquely located at the cross-section of an urban and rural/semi-rural milieu which attracts students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, many of whom are first generation learners. The department of English has historically been alert to the needs of this heterogeneous student body, and the faculty has over the years nurtured students who have helped expand the boundaries of the discipline. The students learn to engage with issues of race, gender, class, caste and other registers which requires an interdisciplinary approach. The space of the classroom provides unique opportunities to both teachers and students for devising more interactive and innovative modes of teaching-learning. Following the Covid-19 global pandemic, the department has used the virtual platforms not only for conducting online classes but also for organizing webinars, extended lectures, and maintaining a seminar library where students might avail of digital copies of books.

The department of English believes that its mission is to inculcate a sense of social responsibility in its students along with an in-depth knowledge of their subject. The departmental faculty considers it their collective vision to ensure that well-rounded individuals with the ability to critically respond to their discipline are produced at the end of their term at the department.