• The Department of English strives to equip students equally coming from non-English medium backgrounds along with those students who come from English backgrounds. Since most of the students come from Bengali, medium education system, the faculty members help each student who are not so apt in the language. Lectures are conveyed in simple English for everyone to grasp the class lectures. At times, teachers even translate the lectures in case of difficulty among students for their easy understanding. 
• Students are encouraged to write reviews of latest films and books which are presented at Students’ seminars. New films and books are introduced to students in the class. Film shows are organized at regular intervals. These shows are followed by the presentation of reviews of those films written by the students during the departmental students’ seminars. This practice helps the students in understanding the relationship between literature and its adaptations into films.
• Students are encouraged to attend seminars and conferences. These conferences help them in acquiring deeper knowledge of the subject.
• Special lectures are organized from time to time for the academic development of the students. Eminent personalities are invited to deliver student-friendly yet erudite lectures on topics related to the syllabus to help the students grasp the subject better. 
• Students are encouraged to get involved activities beyond academics which train them to become efficient in societal use.
• Group work and soft skills are inculcated among students to meet challenges at the global level.

• The main objective of the teachers of the department is to facilitate learning among students. Keeping this view in mind, the faculty members strive to make the teaching-learning experience totally student oriented.
• The faculty members use both traditional and e-learning modes to teach and facilitate easy learning techniques for students.
• The students are provided with detailed lectures on the topics. These class lectures are followed by updated reading lists related to those topics, extended discussions, supplying of handouts and reference materials which are helpful to students.
• Audio-visual classes are arranged from time to time to facilitate easy absorption of topics. These are accompanied by related handouts. 
• From time to time the departmental teachers also take initiative in personal academic counselling of the students to help them come out of their problematic situations. Their personal problems are also counselled which helps them to open up in front of the teachers and in turn better their communication skills.
• The students are encouraged in class to ask questions and indulge in healthy discussions after the completion of a topic for better understanding of the subject.
• The seminar library of the department has a wide range of books. Many books and journals are there which have been donated from their personal collections. The students of the department are encouraged to use the seminar library. They benefit by using these books for their reference work.

SEMINARS

Annual Award Distribution Ceremony and Parasor Chatterjee Memorial Lecture:

The Department of English annually organises the “Parasor Chatterjee Memorial Lecture and Annual Award Ceremony” to enrich and encourage students of the department. The initiation of this event was done by Dr Debasish Chattopadhyay, Dr Jolly Das and Dr Pinaki De in the year 2005 after the untimely demise of Prof. Parasor Chatterjee on the 12^th October 2004. Prof. Chatterjee was a Selection Grade Lecturer in the Department and the Head. Dr Kalapi Sen joined the venture to continue the legacy with her senior colleagues in 2007. Dr Jolly Das remained the Convenor from 2005 to 2017. Dr Pinaki De became the next Convenor in 2018 followed by the responsibility being taken up by Dr Abu Saleh in 2019. Dr Kalapi Sen is the present convenor.

The event was initially titled “Parasor Chatterjee Memorial Lecture and Award Ceremony” – a summation of an endowment lecture and the memorial award for the candidate who secures the highest marks in English Honours from the University of Calcutta. The entire event was instituted by Mrs Mithua Chatterjee, wife of Late Prof. Chatterjee. The number of awards increased and it was later renamed the “Annual Award Distribution Ceremony and Parasor Chatterjee Memorial Lecture” with the other honourable benefactors who came forward and became a part of the English Department's family. The endowment lecture is delivered, from 2005 till the present days, which the department hopes to continue, by eminent scholars to primarily address the students of the Department of English of this college. Students of English as well as from other subjects of our college and from neighbouring colleges are encouraged and invited to attend the lectures. Apart from the annual endowment lecture, the Department, from time to time, also organizes extension lectures delivered by stalwarts for the benefit of students. 

The Annual Award Ceremony of the Department of English, which had initially begun with only one award, now has five awards given away by various benefactors to encourage students of the Department of English: 

• Parasor Chatterjee Memorial Award for securing the highest marks from our College in the CBCS Semester with an Honours in English from the University of Calcutta, instituted by Mrs Mithua Chatterjee, comprising The Complete Works of Shakespeare, a certificate of merit and a gold-plated silver medal.
• Monmohan Dutta Memorial Award for securing the second highest marks from our College in the CBCS Semester with an Honours in English from the University of Calcutta, instituted by his son, Mr Anup Dutta, comprising books and a certificate of merit.
• Baboo Joykrishna Mukherjee Memorial Award for securing the highest marks from our College in Paper Six in English from the University of Calcutta, instituted by Late Shri Mohan Das and now continued by his daughter, Dr Jolly Das, comprising books and a certificate of merit.
• Dr Sisir Kumar Sen Memorial Award is given to the candidate securing the highest marks in Paper Eight, instituted by his son, Mr Swapan Kumar Sen, comprising books and a certificate of merit.
• Shri Dhirendranath Paul Memorial Award is awarded to the student who secures the highest marks in Paper Two, instituted by his daughter, Mrs Bishnupriya De, comprising books and a certificate of merit.

Resource Persons who have delivered the Parasor Chatterjee Memorial Lecture:

• 2005: Prof. Subhas Sarkar, Ex-Head of the Department, Department of English, Rabindra Bharati University spoke on Metaphysical Poetry.
• 2006: Dr Pradip Ranjan Sengupta, Department of English, Behala College.
• 2007: Dr Dattatreya Datta, Head of the Department, Department of Drama, Rabindra Bharati University spoke on the “Dimensions of Love in Twelfth Night.” The lecture was followed by a drama performance by the students of the Department of English on Prof. Dutta’s translated Bengali version of Twelfth Night, “Ichhey Tithir Golpo” and was directed by Dr Debasish Chattopadhyay and Dr Bitan Bindu Bandyopadhyay, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Raja Peary Mohan College.
• 2008: Dr Dipak Sankar Chakrabarty, Reader of English, Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur spoke on “Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.” 
• 2009: Professor Proloy Kumar Deb, Head, Dept. of English, University of Kalyani spoke on “Tragedy.”
• 2010: Dr Barun Chattopadhyay, noted educationist, delivered a lecture on “The Original Writings of Rabindranath Tagore.” 
• 2011: Dr Muktinath Chatterjee, Chairman of the Council of Higher Secondary Education chose to talk about Rabindranath Tagore’s iconic play, Raktakarabi (The Red Oleander). The talk was followed by a wonderful performance of Raktakarabi by Pathasena, the noted theatre group. 
• 2012: Dr. Subhendu Sarkar of Ranaghat College. His lecture was on the thespian, Badal Sircar. His brand of street theatre was discussed in his insightful lecture titled “Badal Sircar: Bikalpa Theatre Erkhonje”. Dr Apurba Kumar Dey, Associate professor, Department of Bengali, Raja Peary Mohan College also spoke on the playwright – “Bangla Sahityer Oitijhyo o Uttaradhikar: Badal Sircar.” Swami Tyagarupananda Maharaj, Principal, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur engaged in an enriching conversation with eminent writer, Banga Bibhushan Sanjib Chattopadhyay and Professor Loknath Chakraborty. This was followed by a performance of Badal Sircar’s Michil (“The Procession”) by Satabdi, a noted street theatre group.
• 2013: Dr Debasish Bandyopadhyay, Associate Professor, Department of English, Vidyasagar University, spoke on “Psychoanalysis and Shakespeare.” The lecture was followed by a drama performance by the students of the Department; “Stranger than Strangest”. The play was written by Dr Jolly Das, based on William Shakespeare’s Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and directed by Dr Debasish Chattopadhyay.
• 2014: Dr Arpita Chattoraj (Mukhopadhyay), Associate Professor and Head, Department of English, Burdwan University lectured on “Modernism in Literature”.
• 2015: Debasish Mukhopadhyay spoke on “Satyajit Ray – Ekti Bishleshan” (Satyajit Ray – an Evaluation). The Lecture was followed by the screening of the rare film on Ray by James Beveridge with the help of Dr Pinaki De.
• 2016: Dr Subir Dhar, retired Professor, Department of English, Rabindra Bharati University spoke about the art of illusion in the Renaissance with special references to the roles of magic and rituals in the evolution of Elizabethan literature. 
• 2017: Dr Sanjukta Dasgupta, Professor, Department of English, University of Calcutta spoke on “Indian writing in English: Triumphs and Transformations”. The lecture was followed by a solo drama performance, “The Artist and the Waiting” by Soumyadeb Hui.
• 2018: Dr P. K. Majumdar, retired Professor, Rabindra Bharati University spoke on “Ancient Mathematics and Literature”. Prof. Debabrata Das, Assistant Professor, Rabindra Bharati University, “Why Shouldn’t We Read Literature?” These lectures were followed by a performance by the students, “Shakespeare’s Songs and Modern Bengali Songs: Tradition and Individual Talent,” a piece composed and directed by Dr Debasish Chattopadhyay.
• 2019: Dr Chidananda Bandopadhyay, Head, Department of English, Rabindra Bharati University delivered the endowment lecture on “John Keats’ Romantic Aesthetics.”

International Conference:

• The Department organized an International Conference on “Frames of Marginality: Interpreting and Interrogating Theory and Praxis” in collaboration with the Department of English, Pandit Raghunath Murmu Smiriti Mahavidyalaya, Bankura, West Bengal, on 21-22 February 2018.

Extension Lectures:

• The Department organizes Extension lectures for students by inviting eminent personalities of both national and international repute. Prof. Ramkrishna Bhattacharya; Prof. Robert Masterson, Professor, of English, Borough of Manhattan Community College, USA; Prof Ana Jelnikar from Slovenia are among the list of many more names. 

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

ALUMNI