Evaluative Report of the Department of English

1. Name of the Department: ENGLISH;

Its year of establishment: 28/05/1960

2. Names of Programmes / Courses offered (UG, PG, M.Phil., Ph.D., Integrated Masters;

Integrated Ph.D., etc.):

UNDERGRADUATE

3. Interdisciplinary courses and departments involved : NONE

4. Annual/ semester/choice based credit system : SEMESTER

5. Participation of the department in the courses offered by other departments

NIL

6. Number of teaching posts sanctioned and filled (Professors/Associate Professors/Asst.

Professors)

Sanctioned Filled

Professor 0 0

Associate Professor 4 (through CAS) 4 (Through CAS)

Assistant Professor

7. Faculty profile with name, qualification, designation, specialisation (D.Sc./D.Litt./

Ph.D./M.Phil., etc.)

Name Qualification Designation Specialisation No of years of

experience

No of PhD

students

guided in the

last 4 years

Subrata Roy

Chowdhury

MA, AFIAP

(Federation

Internationale

de la Art

Photographie,

Associate

Professor

Cultural

Studies,

Photography

26 Nil

Belgium)

Dr Swarup

Ray

MA, MPhil

PhD

Associate

Professor and

Head

Translation

Studies

20 1(RKMVU)

Tanweer

Alam

Mazhari

MA, MPhil Associate

Professor

Drama,

Translation

Studies

22 + 6 (as

Visiting

Faculty,

Vidyasagar

University,

Midnapore)

Nil

Dr Sudip

Bhattacharya

MA, PhD Reader Narratology,

Colonial

Writing and

History of

Calcutta

14 + 7 (as

External

Teacher,

Evening

Section, Dept

of English,

Jadavpur

University)

Nil

8. Percentage of classes taken by temporary faculty – programme-wise information : 6%

9. Programme-wise Student Teacher Ratio :

ratio remains constant at 8:1

10. Number of academic support staff (technical) and administrative staff: sanctioned and

filled : NIL

11. Number of faculty with ongoing projects from a) national b) international funding agencies

and c) Total grants received. Mention names of funding agencies and grants received

project-wise. :

National: 1 (UGC)

International funding agencies : Nil

Total grants received : 1,45,000.00

12. Departmental projects funded by DST-FIST; DBT, ICSSR, etc.; total grants received : NIL

13. Research facility / centre with

• State recognition

• National recognition

• International recognition : NONE

14. Publications:

A. Sudip Bhattacharya,

a) ‘Kenulf and the Wyrm,’ published in Niteblade, 01 September 2011, ISSN (Print)

19134517 (Online) 19134525.

b) ‘Post-modern Narrative Continuity: A Comparative Analysis’, Jadavpur Journal of

Comparative Literature, No 45, 2008.

Book

a) [Work in Progress] Sudip Bhattacharya, The Strange Case of Lord Pigot, Cambridge

Scholars Publishing, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.

B. Subrata Roy Chowdhury

a) ‘Tumi ki Keboli Chhobi’ pp. 23 – 27, Photography o Ganomadhyom (An anthology

on photography and Mass communication), Rupali Publishers, 2012.

b) ‘Bakhtin, Carnival o Ladakh’ pp 59 – 63, Chander Deshe Chander Pahar: An

Anthology on Ladakh, Tepantar, 2012.

c) Subrata Roy Chowdhury, ‘Kabhi Alvida na Kehna,’ pp 146 – 157, Chander Deshe

Chander Pahar: An Anthology on Ladakh, Tepantar, 2012.

Editing Book

a) Chander Deshe Chander Pahar: An Anthology on Ladakh, Tepantar, 2012.

Book

a) (co-author with Pinaki De): Here to Eternity: A Journey from Gangasagar to Kumbh

Mela, Alchemy Publishers, New Delhi. 2011.

b) (co-author with Pinaki De): The Ghats of Benaras: A Symphony of Life, Alchemy

Publishers, New Delhi, 2011.

C. Swarup Ray

Book

a) (trans), The Observant Owl: Hootum’s Vignettes of Nineteenth-century Calcutta by

Kaliprasanna Sinha, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2008. ISBN: 8178241986

b) ‘The Observant Owl (excerpts)’, The Oxford India Anthology of Bengali Literature,

Volume 1, 1861-1941, OUP, New Delhi, 2010. ISBN: 0-19-806462-4

15. Details of patents and income generated : NONE

16. Areas of consultancy and income generated : NONE

17. Faculty recharging strategies

Sudip Bhattacharya attended a Refresher Course in 2008, ‘Time Space, and

Narrative,’ at the Department of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata

Sudip Bhattacharya was Faculty Visitor, Department of Comparative Literature,

Jadavpur University, Kolkata: March – April 2009.

18. Student projects

• Percentage of students who have done in-house projects including inter-departmental

100% of the students have completed departmental in-house projects

• Percentage of students doing projects in collaboration with industries / institutes

Kaustuv Chatterjee, one students of 3rd

yr has worked in a project at Centre for

Advanced Study, Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University,

Kolkata.

19. Awards / recognitions received at the national and international level by

Faculty: Subroto Roy Chowdhury

o International:

a) North West International Exhibition of Photography (2008)

Honourable Mention Award.

b) North West International Exhibition of Photography (2008)

Judges’ Choice Award.

c) Photolovers International Slide and Digital Circuit(2010)

Photographic Society of America Honourable Mention Award.

d) All Japan Association of Photographic Societies-Asahi Shimbun (2010)

e) Honourable Mention Award.

o National:

a) Photographer of the Year Award from Better Photography(the best magazine on

photography in the South east Asia region), 2006.

b) India International Photographic Council and Photographic Society of America

approved India Print Circuit (2006)

c) Winner of IIPC Medal from Bhopal

d) India International Photographic Council and Photographic Society of America

approved India Print Circuit (2006)

e) Winner of Certificate of Merit Award from Jodhpur.

f) India International Photographic Council and Photographic Society of America

approved North East Photographic Academy, Guwahati, All India Salon of

Photography(2006).

g) Winner of Krishna Potadar Medal.

h) Photographic Society of India Salon held in Mumbai (2007)

Certificate of Merit Award.

i) 6th

Photographic Society of Jabalpur All India Salon of Photography (2008)

3rd

Award.

Doctoral / post-doctoral fellows : NOT APPLICABLE

Students : NOT APPLICABLE

20. Seminars/ Conferences/Workshops organized and the source of funding (national /

international) with details of outstanding participants, if any.

UGC-Sponsored National level seminar, ‘The Poetics of Indian Writing in

English: A Quest for Definition,’ 26 February 2008

‘The Art of the Scribbler: A symposium on creative Writing,’ 15 February 2011.

UGC- Sponsored National Level seminar, ‘At the Crossroads: The Short Story

in Indian Literatures,’ 13 – 14 February 2012. The eminent writer, Keki N

Daruwalla gave the keynote at this seminar.

21. Student profile course-wise:

22. Diversity of students

Name of the Course: HONOURS IN ENGLISH

% of students from the College NIL

% of students from the State 100%

% of students from other States NIL

% of students from other countries NIL

23. How many students have cleared Civil Services, Defense Services, NET, SLET, GATE

and any other competitive examinations?

24. Student progression

Student progression Percentage against enrolled

UG to PG 90%

PG to M.Phil. NOT APPLICABLE

PG to Ph.D. NOT APPLICABLE

Ph.D. to Post-Doctoral NOT APPLICABLE

Employed NOT APPLICABLE

Campus selection NIL

Other than campus recruitment NIL

Entrepreneurs NIL

25. Diversity of staff

Percentage of faculty who are graduates of the same parent university: THREE

From other universities within the State ONE

From other universities from other States NIL

26. Number of faculty who were awarded Ph.D., D.Sc. and D.Litt. during the assessment

period : NIL

27. Present details about infrastructural facilities

a) Library: The college has an extensive library housed in an adjoining building, and

it holds over 4900 books on english literature. This excludes books by continental

writers available in translation. Additionally, the departmental library holds 200 books

mainly as reference works for the convenience of teachers. Books in the departmental

library are made available to students on demand.

b) Internet facilities for staff and students: Extensive internet facilities are

available for the use of students in the college reading room. Faculty members use the

departmental computers to access the internet.

c) Total number of class rooms: The total number of classrooms usually made

available to the department for its classes are determined by the number of classes

allotted.

d) Class rooms with ICT facility: There are eight classrooms with ict facility

available for use on demand by the teacher during an allotted class. These classrooms

are: room numbers 1, 8a, 7a, 31, 27, 11, 23, 21.

Students’ laboratories: NOT APPLICABLE

Research laboratories: NOT APPLICABLE

28. Number of students of the department getting financial assistance from College.

29. Was any need assessment exercise undertaken before the development of new

program(s)?

If so, give the methodology.

No, since no new programmes were developed recently. Following the grant of academic

autonomy, the course was restructured following a thorough assessment of the needs of

students enrolling for the honours course in english. Feedback on this was informally collected

from former students, and faculty experience and exposure to other institutions which had

carried out similar changes.

30. Does the department obtain feedback from

A. faculty on curriculum as well as teaching-learning-evaluation? If yes, how does

the department utilize it?

Members of the faculty meet regularly and exchange views on all academic matters

including teaching-learning and evaluation but all changes need the assent of the board of

studies. Hence the department places all such issues for consideration before the board of

studies.

B. students on staff, curriculum as well as teaching-learning-evaluation and what

is the response of the department to the same?

Student feedback has been a regular feature of the college, applied to all faculty

members of all departments for the last ten years. The department receives its feedback, while

the teachers are given theirs. In both instances the faculty meets and discusses the feedback

thoroughly. Due consideration is given to every aspect of the feedback and adequate measures,

if considered necessary, are taken. The department furthers the interactive process of

obtaining student responses by meeting them formally at the conclusion of each semester. The

performance of each student is discussed, and students’ opinions on the teaching-learning

process carefully assessed.

c. alumni and employers on the programmes and what is the response of the

department to the same?

There is no formal system of obtaining feedback from alumni in particular. However former

students keep in touch with their alma mater and reports of their success are received by the

department. The general success of the alumni in all fields of endeavour is a matter of pride to

the department. Alumni are employed in various professions ranging from the civil services to

the mass media across india.

31. List the distinguished alumni of the department (maximum 10) :

SUBHAMOY GOSWAMI, WBCS (EXECUTIVE): currently deputy collector of excise and

assistant commissioner, excise, at Murshidabad, WEST BENGAL.

CHIRANJIB DE: Currently assistant branch manager, sales, Life Insurance Corporation of

India, Howrah.

Shubhanjan sengupta: Currently senior lecturer, Echelon Institute of Technology, New Delhi

Shubhankar chakravorty: Currently sub-editor at the new Indian Express, Chennai.

Kalyan dass: Currently assistant professor, department of english, Presidency University,

Kolkata.

Ashis bose: Currently assistant professor in english, MCKV Institute of Engineering, Liluah,

Howrah.

Kumarjit laha: Currently instructional design analyst at Accenture, Mumbai.

Biswajit kundu: Currently senior manager (hrd) at Visa Steel limited, Jajpur, Orissa.

Rajarshi banerjee: Currently Assistant manager, State Bank of Patiala, Jalandhar branch.

Dhrubajyoti sarkar: Assistant Professor, department of english, Kalyani university.

32. Give details of student enrichment programmes (special lectures / workshops / seminar)

with external experts.

Special (extension) lectures by experts are regularly arranged.

In the recent past the department organised three academic gatherings. Two of these were sponsored by

the ugc and the third by the college out of various funds available for the purpose.

I) ugc-sponsored national level seminar, ‘the poetics of indian writing in english: a quest for definition,’

26 february 2008.

Ii) ‘the art of the scribbler: a symposium on creative writing,’ 15 february 2011.

Iii) ugc- sponsored national level seminar, ‘at the crossroads: the short story in indian literatures,’ 13 –

14 february 2012. The eminent writer, keki n daruwalla gave the keynote at this seminar.

33. List the teaching methods adopted by the faculty for different programmes

Use of ict technology

Films as further inter-media exploration of texts

Proofing and editing by a professional media person to provide hands-on

experience.

34. How does the department ensure that programme objectives are constantly met and

learning outcomes monitored?

The department ensures this through constant monitoring of students, who are required

to undergo formal and informal internal assessments. Other methods implemented include

classroom debates on topics being discussed, home assignments.

35. Highlight the participation of students and faculty in extension activities.

students and faculty members organised three seminars during the period under consideration.

They went on two excurions.

One student went on an internship at the centre for advanced study, department of comparative

literature, jadavpur university.

One faculty member went on a four-week ugc faculty visit to the same department.

36. Give details of “beyond syllabus scholarly activities” of the department.

SUDIP BHATTACHARYA:

a. Guest Observer at an International Seminar on ‘Understanding Consciousness:

Recent Advances,’ organised by the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture,

Gol Park, Kolkata, 18 – 20 Jan 2008.

b. Paper, ‘Where Have all the Narratives Gone: Reviewing Postmodern Trends in

Michael Crichton,’ presented at the Annual Seminar of the Jadavpur University

Society for American Studies (JUSAS), Department of English, Jadavpur

University, 13 Feb 2008.

c. Organising Secretary, ‘The Poetics of Indian English Writing: A Quest for

Definition,’ a UGC-Sponsored One-Day National-Level Seminar, Department of

English, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur Math, 26 Feb 2008.

d. Delivered 2 special lectures on Washington Irving for the Postgraduate Optional

Course on ‘19th Century American Literature,’ at the Department of English,

Jadavpur University, 30 Sept 2009.

e. Attended an International Seminar, entitled ‘Many Rabindranaths: Across

Space and Time,’ organised by the Dept of History, Jadavpur University,

Kolkata, 28-30 March 2011.

f. Chairperson, fourth session, Fifth Annual Debrupa Bal Memorial Students’

Seminar, ‘Text, Stage, and History,’ Dept of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur

University, Kolkata, 24-25 January 2012.

g. Attended by invitation lecture by Professor B N Patnaik, entitled ‘Interpreting

Sarala Mahabharata,’ on 23 March 2012, at the Dept of Comparative Literature,

Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

h. Guest Observer and Rapporteur at a One-Day Workshop on framing a syllabus

for a course entitled ‘Linguistics for Literature,’ 22 March 2012, organised by

the Centre for Advanced Study (Phase II), Dept of Comparative Literature,

Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

TANWEER ALAM MAZHARI:

a. Attended an International Seminar organized by Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira

in collaboration with The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark entitled

‘Ramakrishna’s Ideas and Our Times’ from 19 to 21 January 2012.

b. Attended a workshop on the syllabus of BA (English Honours) organized by the

Undergraduate Board of Studies (English), University of Calcutta on March 13, 2010.

c. Resource Person at National Workshop on ‘Modernism in Indian Literatures’

organized by CIIL, Mysore and Department of Comparative Literature, Jadvapur

University.

d. Member of Syllabus Committee, UG & PG (English), Alia University, Kolkata.

SWARUP ROY:

a. Talk on ‘Translation: Theory and Practice’, Vidyasagar College for Women, 12-01-

2010.

b. Talk on ‘Translation: Domination, Empowerment, and Subversion’ at a panel

discussion in Jadavpur University organized by National Translation Mission, Central

Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, 20-12-2012.

37. State whether the programme/ department is accredited/ graded by other agencies. Give

details.

NO, THE DEPARTMENT HAS NOT BEEN ACCREDITTED BY OTHER AGENCIES

38. Detail any five Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Challenges (SWOC) of the

department

STRENGTHS:

i. Dedicated faculty

ii. Above average student quality

iii. Rich library

iv. Good infrastructure of the college including clean and quiet environment

v. Academic autonomy with the freedom to design the syllabus

WEAKNESSES:

i. Location vis-à-vis universities, other autonomous colleges, and libraries in kolkata, in terms

of distance, accessibility, and transportation, which causes considerable logistical

problems for extension lectures, distinguished visitors on lectureship tours, and

seminars / symposia. This also demotivates cooperation with corporate entities for

sponsorship and exchange of ideas.

ii. Unavailability of classrooms dedicated to use by the department.

iii. Lack of space for a higher intake of students which would provide a better teacher-

student ratio. This causes considerable problems during admissions, when deserving

students have to be turned away due to lack of accomodation.

iv. Paucity of funds for visitorships inspite of there being willing scholars of

international reputation to come and offer courses ranging from a week to ten days

including home and class assignments.

v. Lack of access to libraries outside the campus.

OPPORTUNITIES:

To use the scope provided by academic autonomy to develop

Excessive texts or exams, in interactive and interesting ways.

Students should be into a department of exceptional academic ability and excellence by

devising its own modus operandi in all its activities, based on elementary infrastructural

support by the college.

To design the syllabus so as to provide students as complete coverage of the subject as

possible without burdening them with either allowed to visit other institutions in and

around kolkata to audit classes and courses, attend seminars and workshops, and

generally participate in extra-curricular activities. There are several centres of

academic excellence in the neighbourhood of kolkata to which students of the

department should frequent.

The department should obtain an issn (print & online) and launch its own journal with

a student editor under the supervision of a teacher so that students can edit, contribute,

publish, and read articles of interest. This opportunity can easily be availed given basic

infrastructural assitance by the college. The journal may be made available for sale to

generate resources that will enable it to break even.

Visitorships by eminent academicians and writers should be encouraged and invited, so

that students may benefit.

CHALLENGES:

i. To evolve as a centre of excellence with academic flexibility so that faculty members

can recharge themselves and students gain recognition and reward.

ii. To overcome the location-related disadvantages and compensate by sending students

to attend and audit classes, courses, and seminars, at other institutions in and

around kolkata.

iii. To use the low student-teacher ratio to full effect so that infrastructure is completely

and effectively utilised.

iv. To obtain the allottment of an isbn/issn so that the department may issue its own

journal to which contributions by eminent academicians, researchers, and teachers,

may be sought.

v. Adequate utilisation of limited space available to the department.

39. Future plans of the department.

Future plans of the department include the use of the opportunities listed above and the

surmounting of the challenges enumerated.

POST-ACCREDITATION INITIATIVES:

Quality sustenance evident from the results of students at university examinations

Ict classrooms

Formation of the board of studies after grant of academic autonomy in 2010, and

restructuring and redesigning of the honours syllabus as a major enhancement

measure.

Collaborative seminars

Surveyed and refurbished departmental book holdings in the central and departmental

libraries