DURGAPUR GOVERNMENT COLLEGE

Govt. Of West Bengal

(Accredited by NAAC with "A" gradation in 2017)

English

Department of English

History

The academic journey of the Department of English coincides with the first academic session of Durgapur Government College: 1970 – 71. A veteran department believes in collaborative work in the teaching-learning process as in all other activities of the department. The department encourages and accommodates heterogeneity, the diversity making rich contributions towards its mental expansion. The Department of English started functioning in the academic session 1970 – 1971, which was also the first academic session of Durgapur Government College established in 1969.

The teaching in the department commenced with the joining of three male teachers fromKolkata: Prof. Bimal Kumar Banerjee, Prof. Sambhu Nath Banerjee and Prof. Haripada Bhattacharya. Prof. Bimal Kumar Banerjee acted as the first Head of the Department ofEnglish. Other Heads of the early 70-s were Prof. Pradyumna Mitra and Prof. Haripada Bhattacharya. The first class in the department was taken by Prof. Haripada Bhattacharya. The Department of English, offering Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree (Honours and General),played a key role in the entire Durgapur and the adjoining region as no other institution existed at that time to cater to the needs of those aspiring to study English literature at the undergraduate level. The first batch of students pursuing the Honours course in English comprised eleven students, five female students and six male students. Of the eleven students, four qualified as Honours graduates. Dr. Tanuka Das and Dr. Devika Bose were the first lady teachers to join the Department of English in 1981. Renowned teachers like Gouri Prasad Ghosh, Nilagrib Deb Roy, Debabrata Chatterjee, Tanuka Das, Devika Bose, Chandreyee Niyogi have served the department. Dr Devika Bose is still an integral part of the department with more than 34 years of teaching experience. The department was initially affiliated to the University of Burdwan. The college is now affiliated to Kazi Nazrul University since June 25, 2015. Since Compulsory English is taught to all the students in the college, the actual student strength of the department would include the entire first year registered students of the college (Humanities, Science and Commerce).The Commerce course held in the Morning Section of the college, has a separate faculty. This public-funded education, catering to students from different sections of the society, can boast of offering quality education leading to brilliant performance of students. Quite a good number of students have been placed in various administrative and academic posts. Some of the distinguished alumni of the Department are Prof. Basudeb Hazra, Head of the Department of English, Michael Madhusudan College, Durgapur; SantanuNiyogi, Associate Professor of English, Raniganj Girls College, Raniganj; Arpita Chattaraj, Associate Professor, Department of English, Burdwan University; Dipankar Sen, Associate Professor, Sanskrit College, Kolkata; Anindya Sengupta, Assistant Professor in Film Studies, Jadavpur University. Rumela Saha, a former student of the department has qualified the NET examination of 2018 and is presently serving Raniganj Girls College as Guest lecturer in English.

Several other students of this department are serving different schools, colleges and other institutions across the country and abroad. The faculty, besides being on several sub-committees of the Teachers Council, is engaged in various examination related works at the undergraduate and at the postgraduate level. Faculty members have also served as members of Board of Studies(undergraduate and postgraduate level), and as members of Syllabus Committees instrumental in introducing vital changes in the English syllabus of the Honours course. The department receives grant through the college office from the state government and the University Grants Commission.

Courses

The department offers following two undergraduate programmes in English under the affiliation of Kazi Nazrul University, Asansol

  • B.A. Honours in English
  • B.A. Program in English

The curriculum and syllabus of these programmes is under the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) implemented by the affiliating university.

The department offers generic elective course in English for the students of Arts Honours programmes.

The department offers Modern Indian Languages (MIL) course for all students studying in Arts Stream.

Faculty
Teachers
Dr. Anindita Chatterjee
Associate Professor & Head

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Teachers
Dr. Ramit Das
Assistant Professor

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Intake
  • Total Intake for B.A. Honours in English : 60

     

    Total Intake for B.A. Program in English : 35
Infrastructure
  • Department of English is housed in a single room, Room 214 (Professor G P Ghosh classroom) on the first floor of the Main Building. The department has been provided with a computer, printer and scanner. The department also has a LCD projector. The department has a well-maintained seminar library of 236 texts and reference books. Books are issued to the students of each semester once a week. The faculty ensures that the library caters to the academic needs of the students. The seminar library is currently under the charge of Dr Ramit Das.

Teaching
  • Department of English has an efficient teaching and learning mechanism which is evident from the success profile of students and student progression to higher studies. Teachers of the department use both chalk and talk method and computer aided methods to teach in classrooms.

    Some important aspects of teaching and learning:

    Poster making, research, team work, healthy competition,

    Make Paper presentation, PPT, Projects, Interactive sessions, Group Discussions, Virtual Classes

    Student Teams Check and comment on assignment of peers.

    E-Methods of Learning

    Open Air Classes are held. Open House Discussions are organised. Quiz Competitions are organised.

    Role-playing the character they study in texts

    Educational trips, Wall Magazines and DGC English social networking site

Assessment
    • Students areas of weakness are filtered from the evaluation of their series of internal assessment
    • The Department takes up cases which require attention and addresses them individually or, in clusters, where applicable, and focuses on the remedial measures
    • It has often been found that disturbed family background and/or psychological problems seriously affect their academic and related performances
    • Great importance is given to confidence-boosting and to make learning stress-free and fun
    • Everyone is appreciated for some aspect of his/her performance, even when the marks scored are low
    • Humiliation of student(s) leading to personality disorders of various types is NOT allowed
    • The entire approach taken as remedial measure(s) is positive
    • Students are divided into groups, each group comprising academically strong and not-so-strong students and made to discuss and write assignments together; contribution/ knowledge gained by members of the group is tested through interactions
University Results
Event
Events

Seminar

  • April, 25th, 2018: Revisiting Shakespeare. Seminar, Performance, Quiz to commemorate Shakespeare’s Birthday
  • April 24th, 2018: Shakespeare’s World(s) Seminar Poster Competition and Elocution Contest to commemorate Shakespeare’s 453rd Birthday

 

Exhibition

  • December 3rd and 4th 2017: Sunshine, freedom and a little flower: Tracing the Role of Nature in English Literature
  • January 2nd and 3rd, 2017: ‘From “Thou shalt not” to The Da Vinci Code: Crime Fiction and its Development’

 

Discussion Meeting

  • August, 31st, 2017: Who/What is “Modern”?’ Dr. Ramit Das
  • August, 24th, 2017: ‘How simple and innocent is Children’s Literature?’ Manjari Ghosh
  • February, 23rd, 2017: Paintings of Virgin Mary by Different Artists’ Dr. Devika Bose

 

Special Lectures

  • July 04, 2018: MirzaGhalib’s A Thousand Desires (Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi) Speaker: Bhaswar Faisal Khan
  • April, 25, 2018: Revisiting Shakespeare: 2018 Speakers: Dr. Sharbani Banerjee (Mukherjee) and Dr. Subhajit Sengupta
  • August 24th, 2017: Milton’s Paradise Lost. (Virtual Lecture) Speaker: Dr. Amrita Sen
  • May, 11th, 2017: A Brief Over view of the Renaissance; Speaker: Nilakshi Bhattacharjee
  • February, 10th, 2017: A Close Reading of Dylan Thomas’ A Refusal to Mourn the Death of a Child by Fire in London; Speaker: Dr. Ajoy Sengupta; Comprehension and Appreciation of Poetry; Speaker: Dr. Sukriti Ghosal
  • January, 30th, 2017: Cross-dressing on the Renaissance Stage Speaker: Dr. Subhajit Sengupta; Interrogating Masculinity Speaker: Dr. Niladri R. Chatterjee
  • January, 16th, 2017: Modernism and Indian English Poetry Speaker: Dr. Himadri Lahiri

 

Educational Trips

  • April, 10th, 2018: Students were taken for participation in a Seminar on Nivedita: In Search of the Lesser-Known’ to Kazi Nazrul University
  • 31st July to August 4th, 2017: Students were taken to participate in a workshop on Cultural Decolonisation in the 21stCentury: A Literary Perspective of Mobility and Fixity in Post Coloniality at NIT, Durgapur
  • November, 19th, 2016: Accompanied students to participate in the State level Inter-College-University Debate Competition at Ramkrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur Math.