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A literary tradition spanning six decades — language, criticism, and the considered study of texts that have shaped modern thought.
The Postgraduate Department of English is one of the largest departments of the College and was founded with the College itself in 1966 — a literary tradition kept current by careful teaching, broad scholarship, and a faculty whose interests range across Indian writings, Comparative Literature, American Literature, Linguistics, Shakespearean Studies, British Poetry, Adaptation and European Drama.
At the undergraduate level, the department offers an interdisciplinary approach to students of Commerce, Sciences and Arts through courses in Compulsory English, Elective English, Honours and English & Business Communication. At the postgraduate level, the Master's in English is offered on merit. Enrolment in these subjects — and the size of the faculty supporting them — has witnessed considerable growth.
The department has hosted national-level seminars, workshops and lectures with figures of distinguished literary merit. Visiting speakers and resource persons have included noted author Shobhaa De, eminent Punjabi poet Surjit Patar, urban activist and choreographer Navtej Johar, Mr Ravi Singh (Editor-in-Chief, Penguin Books India), Dr A.J. Thomas (Editor, Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi), and luminaries from Jamia Milia Islamia, Allahabad, Vishwa-Bharati, Kalyani and Panjab Universities.
The department has a long association with the College's leadership — four of its teachers have served as principals of the institution, a measure of the calibre and seriousness of the department's tradition.
Over the years, the department has hosted writers, editors, poets and academicians of considerable standing — figures whose work informs the very curriculum the department teaches.
The progression and growth of the Department is reflected in the success achieved by its faculty members — and in the careers its students go on to build.
A measure of the department's tradition: four of its teachers have served as principals of the College, the most recent having served the institution for eighteen years before assuming office.
From close reading to comparative criticism, from Shakespeare to South Asian writing, the department welcomes students prepared to take literature — and language — seriously.