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