On Writing an Effective Assignment..:

PC: hartwigenglish

Dear Students, 
After having discussed with you in class today on the nuances and the dynamics involved in writing a good, effective and persuasive academic assignment, I thought it would be of immense help to you if you could read a couple of articles we (KG & SR) had written on the subject in the past. Kindly click on the link HERE

With all best wishes, 

Rufus

MIDS SEMINAR SERIES - February 2015

Topic

Occupational Segregation, Wage and Job Discrimination 

against Women in the Indian Labor Market: 1983-2012

Speakers

P. Duraisamy

Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan National Fellow of ICSSR, MIDS

and

Malathy Duraisamy

Professor of Economics, IIT-M

Chairperson

Shashanka Bhide
Director, MIDS

Date & Time

 Thursday, February 5, 2015 at 03.30 p.m.

Venue

Adiseshiah Auditorium, MIDS

Laugh OK Please at Phoenix...!

Touted to be one of the best comedy festivals in Chennai, Laugh OK Please features the best of Indian stand-up talent.

The three day fiesta starts on 30 January 2015, at Phoenix Market City, Velacherry, from 7.30 pm onwards, and has performances by Jeeveshu Ahluwalia - 'the Salman Khan of the fat world', Aditi Mittal, Sorabh Pant, Karthik Kumar, Naveen Richards, etc. 

Tickets are priced between Rs.300 and Rs.600/- and can be bought at bookmyshow.com

Scholarships/Internships on Offer..:

Scholarships: Inlaks International Scholarships are given annually to support young talented people in any field of study, to broaden their vision overseas and improve their skills to operate in society. 

Scholarships are granted at top American, European and U.K. institutions. Candidates should be below 30 years of age. Scholarship covers tuition fees, living expenses and one-way travel.

Deadline for application: April 15, 2015. For details, http://inlaksfoundation.org/inlaks-scholarship.aspx

Internships: Freelance Online Cricket Writing at Sportskeeda, from the comfort of your home.

Category: Content Writing/Journalism

A Stipend of Rs.1000 to Rs.5000 per month will be provided.

Website: http://www.sportskeeda.com/writing-for-sportskeeda

Acting Workshop (Part-time)

Mirage Film Institute, T.Nagar, is conducting a month-long film acting workshop from 26 January 2015. Classes will be held on weekdays in the evenings, from 7 pm to 9 pm.

Students will be initiated into the various nuances of film acting, through exercises, games, visualisation techniques, scene improvisation, method acting, character building and acting for camera. 

There will also be a video shoot to prepare the student to face the camera.

Acting coach Jack Prabhu will be the resource person. Only limited seats available.

To register, call 99520 99040

[PC: Walnut Street Theatre]

Congrats to Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam!

Noted poet Arundhathi Subramaniam has won the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry for her work When God is a Traveller.

The winner was announced at a prize ceremony at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2015. The award carries a cash prize of Rs.2 lakhs, and it was established by Suhel Seth in memory of the late Khushwant Singh and is open to Indian poets writing in English or Indian language translation.

Our congratulations to the poet! 

Arundhathi was here with us at the Department of English, Madras Christian College, to read out from her collection of poetry on 17 December 2012, as part of our annual 'Poetry with Prakriti' festivities.

We wish you many many more laurels in the years to come! 

Arundhathi @ MCC HERE

Eco Film Fest 2015 in Chennai

Software and More for the Visually Challenged..!

One interesting stall that caught the attention of many an inquisitive visitor at the Chennai Book Fair was Stall 48 S, that highlighted the various software available for the visually impaired. Volunteers who manned the stall, explained the various electronic facilities available for the visually challenged in the Digital Era. The Karna Vidya Technology Centre, with the patronage of the Rotaract Club of Drishti, gives counselling for free to all those who visit its stall. 

They give a demonstration on the DAISY software, [Digitally Accessible Information System] where voice and words synchronise, port, and read aloud in the best and easily accessible way, is a very interactive software for the visually challenged. Apart from this, there are thousands of Digital EBooks available exclusively for the visually challenged, and the availability of Talkback software for androids and tablets, and learning devices like Math pads, Braille pads, etc. 

For more details, you may contact: 

K. Raghuraman

Karna Vidya Technology Centre

RR Toweres III, Thiru-Vi-Ka Industrial Estate

Guindy, Chennai – 600 032

Mobile: 9840018012/9840667984

Email: kvtc.chennai@gmail.com

Chennai Book Fair 2015

The previous edition of the Chennai Book Fair was way better at crowd and parking management, if the 4 ‘P’s [parking lots/pollution control/public toilets//police presence] statistics were taken as an indication. 

A quick look to the right of this blog would give a snap of the parking lot last year, which was managed effectively by the police personnel who manned the entire parking bays. This year, since the parking bay had by now been turned into a playing court, parking was more chaotic than last year! Adding to the woes, the pathways and the stall venues, especially the food courts, were filled with pollution (both air and land!!!), and very little was done to keep pollution under check, as was done in the previous editions of the Fair.

Crowd management wasn’t that effective too, as police personnel were thinly deployed, compared to last year! Rising number of food courts is testimony to the fact that, people come to the fair for a sort of comprehensive package – food for the mind as well as for the body!

Cleaning equipment, designed by some dynamic novices, [maybe as part of their project work in final year engineering], was up for sale, and the equipment, the size of a huge pen, could be fitted in any used MNC Cola drinks pet bottles! Many who passed by these equipments, had more of a smile on their faces on the novel find, than wanting to go for it!

Indeed, right from Arabian nuts to soap bubble toys, you have them all there!

Yet another glorious chapter in Literature Unfolds...

Eleanor Catton, Winner of the Booker in conversation...

Well, yes... Yet another glorious chapter in literature unfolded today at 9.40 am at Harrington Road, Chetpet, Chennai. 

The fifth edition of The Hindu Lit for Life 2015 was inaugurated by one of the most venerated and renowned post-Independence Novelists in English - Nayantara Sahgal. Speaking on the occasion, Nayantara gave out a strongly-worded message in support of freedom of expression: “Let me just endorse what Nirmala has just said. If this kind of intimidation and bullying goes on there will be no more literary festivals of this caliber. Firstly I would like to see the formation of a union  or  common platform for writers and concerned citizens to come together to speak in support of writers who are in danger and have been intimidated by fringe groups, as in the recent case of Murugan Perumal’”.

The first session of the fest saw Eleanor Catton, the youngest recipient of the Booker Prize in conversation with Parvathi Nayar.

Introducing Eleanor as an outstanding writer who weaves complex, divergent and experimental themes in every strand of her writing, Parvathi Nayar set the ball rolling by asking her about how life had changed after becoming an acknowledged celebrity author, and how she felt being catapulted to the limelight all of a sudden, and what’s really changed after the Booker. Eleanor said: “Well, it was indeed a curious thing to suddenly be in the public eye for which I was unprepared for!”

Reading out a passage from her first novel The Rehearsal, the youngest Booker Prize winner said that, the novel is thoroughly experimental by nature, and as someone who’s working on the fringes, dealing with the extraordinary was something I thoroughly enjoyed!” Narrating the birth of the novel, and how it was originally meant out to be a play, she said that, it started as a monologue for a saxophone player, a friend of hers, and later, as life got in the way, she thought it would be much interesting as a piece of fiction than as a play. The feminist performance theory that makes up the gamut of the novel was something she came across as a result of her first introduction to feminism in University. She said:

Nayantara Sahgal in conversation 

“After I finished the book I could see that, the book became a kinda theatre of its own. Moreover, issues dealt with, in the book, are concerns that affected me as an individual. For example, when you reach puberty, you become your own audience, self-conscious, and the experience of being a teen was absolutely enigmatic. I always wanted to be somebody outside of my own skin, and always conscious of being watched!”

Workshop on Publishing & Copy Editing: A Report

A Workshop on Copy Editing and Publishing, was organised by Chevalier T. Thomas Elizabeth College for Women, on 09 January 2015. The workshop threw light on the various facets of publishing and copyediting, with interesting inputs by distinguished veterans in the field, Mrs.Nalini Olivannan, Director, Emerald Publications, and Mrs.Nandhini Iyengar, Senior Copy Editor with Oxford University Press. 

Dr. Nalini Olivannan

The various aspects of Publishing starting from Commissioning, where the publisher decides on the need for a particular book and approaches a writer for the same, to the process of Editing, Production, Marketing, Distribution and Sales were touched upon with illustrations from each domain. 

Mrs. Nalini also elaborated on the book-editing process, and stressed upon the need for the writer-editor sync' which is instrumental for the book to see the light of day in the shortest possible time. 

After the publisher sends it to their Editorial team (who are a list of subject experts), to see if the content of the book fits into their publishing programme, it is then sent to the Developmental Edit section, where the content is developed and sifted for errors. From here, it goes on to the Illustrations department, followed by the line-edit, and then the final manuscript is drawn up. 

A Noble and Laudable Initiative...!

Vehicles – two wheelers and four, of all hues and shades, lined up or rather clogged up the entrance to Hotel Savera, Mylapore, Chennai, on the eventful morning of 07 January 2015. We were a tad late to the programme, and hence we had to squeeze our car in, mustering all the driving skills at our command, to masterfully manoeuvre within the pretty decent car parking lot at our disposal.

Making our way to the first floor of the grand Hotel which houses (or hotels) the Conference Halls we were ushered in by pleasant  and hospitable receptionists who got us our elegantly designed Delegate Badges and professionally made Office files.

It was indeed a packed hall with a beehive of academic activity, with the who’s who of academia being present in full strength.

Symposium in Progress

Teachers, Professors, Headmasters, Principals from various parts of the City and from the State – name them, and they were there. The reason was not hard to seek. They had all come by the dozen to witness and to cheer a noble endeavour from the portals of St. John’s Rajakumar Education and Research Trust: the establishment of a Centre for Teacher Empowerment on St. John’s Public School Campus in order to train inadequate candidates/teachers and empower them with the required skill set, competency and temperament. Academia was there in time (9.30 am) for the Educational Symposium on the theme “Teacher Excellence – School Excellence”.

The programme was divided into two sessions, and the members of the audience were indeed spell-bound by the commitment shown by the visionaries par excellence on the dais, who set paradigms of excellence for the teaching fraternity to emulate and to strive for, in their roles as dispellers of ignorance and nurturers of budding talents.

Dr. Latha Pillai

Rarely does one come across a Centre for Teacher Empowerment, especially in a developing country like India, wherein Teacher Training Institutes have mushroomed in every nook and corner, giving their candidates a richly made up Degree, sans the required skill base. Hence, the real challenge lies, not only in dutifully obtaining a degree in teacher training, but also in the ability to translate competence into performance, or rather, from being competence-based teachers to being performance-driven teachers!

Therein lies the phenomenal success of St. John’s Centre for Teacher Empowerment…!

New Year Greetings..

Dear Students, Colleagues, Friends and Well-wishers,

Wish you a very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2015.

Best and regards,

Rufus

MIDS Monthly Seminar - December 2014

Topic	Urbanization and Governance in China and India: Informal Settlements, Land Disputes, and Citizen Rights
Speaker	Dr. Xuefei Ren Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Global Urban Studies Program, Michigan State University
Chairperson	Dr. M. Vijayabaskar Assistant Professor MIDS
Date & Time	December 18, 2014     Thursday     3.00 p.m.
Venue	Adiseshiah Auditorium, MIDS

Submission of Essays - Reg

Dear Students of I MA English Literature,

I haven’t forgotten the deadline! J 

And, a big thank you to all of you who’ve submitted your essays online to me. 

Others, who haven’t, please do submit the same by 19 December 2014 to my mail id at rufusonline@gmail.com 

For those of you who are yet to get your topics, contact your class representative Ms. Hela rightaway.

Thank you so much.

God bless.

Rufus

Dr.Juneja on Canadian Literary Culture

'The Colloquium' in Progress

Dr. Joe addressing our students on Theory

The first part of Dr.Joe's lecture was on traditional criticism, and the second part was an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of modern and contemporary literary theory.

Excerpts from his lecture:

Literary History is an irreconcilable binary of theory. M. H. Abrams who is the Father figure of Liberal Humanism, in his famous work The Mirror and the Lamp, brings out the four coordinates of criticism corresponding with four theories.

The first coordinate relates to the primacy of the Universe as the source (or fountainhead) of literature. It was Plato who first talked about the mimetic theory in literature. The word Mimesis is a Greek word meaning imitation. The world that we look around is not real. There is an ideal world – a prototype. So, writers imitate this world (the prototype).

Guest Lecture Invite...:

for two lectures in a row, by two eminent scholars
on Saturday, 09 August 2014.

Dr. Daniel David speaks on 

Myth, Legend and Romance from 9:30 am - 10:45 am.

After a short break for tea and interaction, the second session by 

Dr. Sivaraman, on 

Contemporary Indian Theatre, will start at 11:00 am and end by 12:30 pm. 

All UG, PG, MPhil and PhD Students are welcome...!

"To Write is to Know Who You Are...!"

Mr.Bishwananth Ghosh, Senior Editor, The Hindu, releasing Eclectic Representations

Mr. Bishwanath Ghosh, Senior Editor with The Hindu, was the chief guest at the inaugural of the English Literary Forum, today at 11 am. The occasion saw the release of the seventh issue of Eclectic Representations, the peer-reviewed International Journal from the PG & Research Department of English, Madras Christian College. In addition, a book that guides in effective preparation for UGC-NET-ENGLISH, containing a descriptive overview of literatures in English, alongside a detailed analysis of the previous years’ question papers [paper II & III], titled NET... SET… GO: Literatures in English was released by our Bursar.  

Excerpts from his address: 

Writing is not a glamorous profession. Rather, it is a lonely profession – wherein you might have a deadline staring at you, prompting you to be prepared all along! If you’re lucky enough, you’ll get published, and if you’re still lucky, you’ll also get to be famous!

Release of Seventh Issue of Eclectic Representations and NET Preparatory Book

Our Bursar, releasing the first copy of the UGC English Preparatory Book "NET SET GO... Literatures in English"

Guest Lecture Series - I: An Overview of Literatures in English

Dr. Benet gave the maiden guest lecture of this academic year, today at 11 am, on “Preparing for UGC-NET: A Panoramic View of Literatures in English”.

Excerpts from his lecture: 

Our mind has a way of connecting and associating information. How do we retain pieces of information, and string them together in order to have them recollected in the long run, forms the basis of preparing for any competitive examination.

There are two types of Principles in Memory: One is, the remembrance principle. I ask you and you are quick to respond. The second is the Recognition principle. You look at the answer in print and then you recognise the answer. It really helps if you can raise your memory from recognition principle to the remembrance part.

History of English Literature and History of Literary Criticism are both inseparable. Hence it is important to develop a historical sense of chronological time. Look out for major schools, major writers, major genres etc in your preparation.

Existentialism in 'Waiting for Godot': An Overview

Prof. Daniel David addressing our PG Students

Postcolonial Studies wrt Indigenous Studies: An Appraisal

Dr. Armstrong, Professor & Head, Dept of English, University of Madras, delivered a thought-provoking lecture on Contemporary State of Postcolonial Studies with reference to Indigenous Studies to our I & II MA students, today at 11 am.

Overview of Professor’s Lecture:

Dr. Armstrong

Dr. Armstrong began by outlining the domain of Postcolonial Studies, which focuses on the reading and writing of literature written in previously or currently colonized countries, and seeks to critically investigate what happens when there is a clash between two cultures. This clash is where one of them ideologically fashions itself as superior and assumes dominance and control over the other, Hence, the field of postcolonial studies has itself been hotly contested ever since its rise in the 1970s.

Although the term “postcolonial” avoided some of the terminological problems of its predecessors, namely Commonwealth literatures, World Literatures, New Literatures, etc, it sought to create problems of its own especially when related to Indigenous studies. Moreover, Dr. Armstrong, rhetorically asked, if the space for Indigenous studies in the broad field of Postcolonial studies was much less when compared to other areas like diaspora, comparative literature,  hybridity, post colonial gender studies etc?

While there are two types of Post colonialism – Oppositional Colonialism and Complicit Colonialism, the latter cannot be applied to indigenous texts. Only complicit colonialism provides a minimal space for the indigenous peoples interest.

"Truth in Drama"

Dr.Radmila Nastic, Professor of Philology and Arts, Serbia, gave a talk on “Truth in Drama” to our students, today, from 10.45 am to 1.30 pm.

Excerpts from her talk:

Nobel laureate Harold Pinter is one of the greatest modern dramatists, who “cleaned the gutters of the English language, so that it ever afterwards flowed more easily and more cleanly”. His Nobel Prize acceptance speech titled, “Art, Truth & Politics” was in a way, a manifesto for his literary career. He says: 

There are no hard distinctions between what is true and what is false. A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false. I believe that these assertions still make sense and do still apply to the exploration of reality through art. So as a writer I stand by them but as a citizen I cannot. As a citizen I must ask: What is true? What is false?

Truth in drama is forever elusive. You never quite find it but the search for it is compulsive. The search is clearly what drives the endeavour. The search is your task. More often than not you stumble upon the truth in the dark, colliding with it or just glimpsing an image or a shape which seems to correspond to the truth, often without realising that you have done so. But the real truth is that there never is any such thing as one truth to be found in dramatic art. There are many. These truths challenge each other, recoil from each other, reflect each other, ignore each other, tease each other, are blind to each other. Sometimes you feel you have the truth of a moment in your hand, then it slips through your fingers and is lost.

Talk on Postmodernism, Media Studies and Subaltern Studies..:

Dr. Marx delivered a thought-provoking and spell-binding talk today, from 9.50 am to 12.50 pm, on Postmodernism, Media Studies and Subaltern Studies, to an ardent and enthusiastic audience, comprising students from III BA, I MA, II MA, M.Phil & PhD Scholars. 

Excerpts from his talk:

To Fanon, silence is dishonesty. Although there are millions of angles and thousands of opinions available to get a perspective of an object or a person, we always prefer to go by the binary, wherein one is prioritised over the other. The first problem of any language is knowability. It is seemingly knowable, but in reality it is not knowable. What then, is real? Reality is relative. In Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, we have a clear case of different versions of truth given to the police by different people. 

A typical rainy day at MCC (today):

Inter Hall Sports Meet - 2014

Our Principal with Shri K. Baskaran

The Inter-Hall Sports Meet 2014 got off to a rousing start with the customary Commemoration Meet. Dr. Stephen Jebanesan, Head, Department of English gave the commemoration address. The Chief Guest of the Sports Meet was Shri K. Baskaran IAS., District Collector, Kanchipuram, an illustrious alumnus of our College. 

Professor J. Vasanthan - A Tribute

I am stunned when I look with respect and awe at a picture of Prof. J. Vasanthan. The fire in his eyes, the grace in his looks, the nobility in his visage, the determination in his firm lips, his royal bearing and his majestic posture compel me into a wild guess of what an enigma of a professor he must have been!

Loved all, loved by all, hated none, and hated by none.

J.Vasanthan, started his teaching career at Madras Christian College, and later retired as Professor of English with the American College, Madurai. His passing away recently in Madurai, has created a void which cannot be replaced now or in the future. Such was his style! such was his verve! such was his commitment to his vocation!

JV (as he was fondly called by his students and admirers) was a versatile personality - a professional cartoonist, writer, actor, professor all rolled in one. He also had a wonderful sense of humour and an artful way with words. One could sit with him, at his dinner table, and listen to him recollecting fond memories of days past in MCC, or talk about Tom and Jerry, or bring out the aesthetic and the sublime in Shakespeare, or Milton or Wordsworth, or Keats, with abundant verve and gusto. He was teacher to famous stalwarts in academics, like Dr.Nirmal Selvamony, Dr.Benet, Dr.Premila, Prof.Daniel David, to name a few, and eminent politicians like Prakash Karat, etc.

Chennai Book Fair - 2014

The Chennai Book Fair is getting better and better, by the year, going by present indications. The YMCA Grounds that played host to the Fair this year, was a lot more effective in crowd management and parking management. Unlike last year, when volunteers from BAPSI controlled the parking lots using their own volunteers, this year saw the traffic constables and SIs doing a really commendable job in traffic management and parking management. They facilitated neat parking of cars and bikes.

Celebrating the Eternal Woman...

Dr. Dasan delivered the key note address on “Celebrating the Eternal Woman:  A Note on the Heroism of the Feminine Psyche” at the National Seminar on Women’s Writing in English, held at St.Mary’s College, on 10 January 2014.

Excerpts from his address:

This keynote address aims at the figural portrayal of the female self. While attempting to highlight the contrasting perceptions between the ‘female self’ as a biological and natural construct and ‘the woman’ as a social construct, it underscores that ultimately it is the paradoxical differences in gender sexuality, differences which simultaneously reiterate the beauty and richness of the biological complementarity ingrained in the very act of the creation of man and woman, which prevail in terms of true humanity. I am one of those who subscribe to the view that the social construct of woman, woman as objectified Other, ‘reified as a sexual and linguistic commodity fixed, written about and traded among men’ by the metaphysical Self, ought to be dismantled and deconstructed, and the natural construct of the female self, attuned to the biological and the eternal feminine, should prevail as a liberating force.

The Elizabethan Age - Lesson Outline - IV

DONATE BLOOD..! SAVE LIFE..!

Ring in the New Year with a Noble Deed!

DONATE BLOOD! SAVE LIFE..!

1st January 2014 (Wednesday)

9.30 am to 3.30 pm

Venue: Lotels Serviced Apartments,

No: 6, 4th Main Road, 

Jayachandran Nagar, 

Jaladampet, 

Chennai.

Ph: 43304252/53

In Partnership with:

LOTELS: SERVICED APARTMENTS

INDIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY

VERVE

Back in Shelf..:

Dear Students of III BA English Lit., Copies of Achebe's Things Fall Apart are now available at Landmark, Spencer's. 

Clicked at Landmark, Mount Road

Release of the Sixth Issue of Eclectic Representations

Dr. Ranga Narayanan receiving the first copy of ER

Dr. G. N. Devy, Chairperson, Bhasha Research and Publication Centre, released the sixth issue of Eclectic Representations, on Monday, 16 December 2013, in the Media Centre, Madras Christian

Chennai Literary Fest @ MCC

APHASIA IN THE 21st CENTURY

The Department of Humanities and Social Science (DoHSS), IIT Madras is conducting its third Academic Conference structured around the theme Urban Spaces. The Conference is inter-disciplinary in nature, with the Call for Paper proposals open in the three streams of Economics, Development Studies and English Studies.

Taking place in the February of 2014, between 7th and 9th, the Conference will have a session on each of the streams, featuring leading thinkers in their respective fields of work and research while also offering an array of events including paper presentations, movie screenings, and workshops. Paper-proposals are open to undergraduate, post-graduate and PhD students.

For more details, click HERE

Prakriti Poetry Fest @ MCC

Kabir Kala Manch performing...

The Elizabethan Age - Lesson Outline - III

The Elizabethan Age - Lesson Outline - II

The Elizabethan Age - Lesson Outline - I

[Click on the slideshow to enlarge]

Hearty Congratulations to Prof. Udayaraj, on receiving the 'Top Notcher' Prize and Certificate from the Vice-President of India, for excellence in his MA English Programme here at MCC. We wish and pray that you win many more laurels in the years to come. God bless you!

Photo Courtesy: Dina Thanthi (scanned picture)

All geared up..!

A security blanket has descended on the salubrious portals of Madras Christian College, even as inquisitive eyes in grey and white corduroys strut across the length and breadth of the campus, with walkie talkies to assist them in their zealous mission. Barricadings in vantage positions  have been strategically placed to help usher in the dignitaries to the venerated venue. 

Interestingly, 'chaos' of all hues and colours, has been asked to fall in line for the big show, and for once, the id card got its respect at the entrance points. For absent-minded professors who happen to have lost their id cards, solace is nearby. They could now sport any 'one' from among the govt. issued identity cards like passport, driving licence, voter’s id etc. on D-day.

Yes, the reason for the season is that, MCC's  D-day is at hand. Wednesday, 13 November 2013 - the day that celebrates the 34th Graduation Day and the Valedictory of the 175^th year celebrations. Distinguished dignitaries who are expected to adorn the hallowed dais of the Anderson Hall on this memorable day include, the Vice President of India, the Governor of Tamil Nadu, the Deputy Chairman - Rajya Sabha, and the Minister for Higher Education. Students and staff, past and present, are expected to throng the venue in large numbers, to reminisce their eventful days in their alma mater. God bless MCC. 

The sod-turning ceremony to mark the start of the ultra-modern indoor sports stadium, was performed by the retiring staff members in an august ceremony conducted near the Pavilion today at 10:45 am. The event also saw the dedication of the RO Drinking Water Purifiers, which are strategically placed, one on each side of the Arts and Science blocks respectively for the benefit of the student community. Dr. Stephen Jebanesan, Head, Dept of English was given the honour of inaugurating the RO Purifier located in the Arts Block, while Dr. Ramesh Sundar, Head, Dept of Pol. Science inaugurated the RO Purifier in the Science Block.  

And the monsoon sets in... (MCC)

Withdrawn books for Sale at British Council

The withdrawn book sale is being organised from Sunday 20 October till Thursday 24 October between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the British Council Division.

All books which BCD had in their IT, Science, Medicine, Engineering, History and India Collection will be on sale. Junior books and magazines will also be on sale. 

The books are priced between Rs.50/ and Rs.500/- based on their value and condition.

The sale will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Since the sale is extended only to library members, you are requested to carry your membership card with you. There is no restriction on the number of books an organisation (in the case of institutional membership) can buy.

Seminar @ Madurai - A Report

Dr. Ganesh was the Chief Guest at the UGC-Sponsored National Seminar on Indian Writing in English, organised by MTN College, Madurai, in association with TJELLS on Saturday, 28 September 2013. His brilliantly absorbing and thought-provoking talk was on “Indian English Literature: Shifting Terrains”.

Outlining the broad framework of Post-Independence Indian Literature in English (ILE), he classified the post-Independence ILE into two broad generations of writers – the 1950–mid-1980s and late-1980s–current, respectively.

Identifying the general trends in the Poetry of the First Generation of Writers, he outlined the shift in themes and techniques, from idealistic nationalism  and romanticism to personal engagement with the problems of a newly formed, extremely diverse nation, wherein national identity came into conflict with personal experiences.

Praising Amitav Ghosh as a novelist with substance, he said that, Ghosh belongs to a relatively new genre of novels called the research novel.

Theatre @ WCC..:

Women's Christian College, Chennai, played host to the staging of two brilliant plays – Mahesh Dattani’s "Where there is a Will" which revolves around improving interpersonal relationships, and the other, “Jokumaraswamy” which centres on the superstitious life and schemings of a village zamindar named Gowda. The fund-raiser plays were staged on three consecutive days (26 Sep. to 28 Sep.) to a packed hall of enthusiastic spectators.

Both the plays were directed by our former professor Dr. Rajani, whose ‘director’s touch’ was palpable not only in the brilliant performance of the actors but also in the carefully made-up stage props as well.  

Both the plays were fine(time)-tuned to 50 minutes duration each, and the characters made themselves endearing to the audience by their passionate performances which led to thunderous ovations and applause all along. 

Research Methodology Workshop: A Report

Dr. Joseph Dorairaj, Professor of English, Gandhigram University, conducted a workshop on Research Methodology today, (04 September 2013) for our MA, MPhil and PhD scholars. The workshop started with the invocation by Dr. Ann Thomas, followed by Dr.Stephen’s welcome address. Dr. K.Ganesh introduced the resource person of the day, Dr. Joseph Dorairaj. The first session of the workshop touched upon the theoretical framework of Research, and its various nuances, while the second session highlighted the best practices in research.

Defining Research as a “systematic activity that is directed toward discovery and the development of an organized body of knowledge” (Best and Kahn), he also outlined the three elements or components, namely: (1) a question, problem, or hypothesis, (2) data, and (3) analysis and interpretation of data,” respectively.

A good research, then, is “expected to make a contribution to knowledge. It is expected to be ‘original’. . . It does not have to be ‘original’ in the much more daunting sense that it springs fully armed from the head of the  researcher without reference to any previous account”, but, “on the contrary, in fact: it is much more likely to involve assembling ideas that have not been brought together in quite that way before. And it does not have to shift the paradigm: the contribution can be quite small, a piece of the jigsaw”. Citing Belsey, he said, that, “research is expected to make a difference to the standard account of a topic, whatever the topic might be”. Dr. Dorairaj also outlined the three basic concepts in Research Methodology, like the Research Tools, Research Methods and Research Methodology, and the three domains of Research activity, which are broadly divided into: Physical and Life Sciences: (experimental – laboratory-based),     Social Sciences: (empirical & numerical – quantitative and qualitative), and, Literature: (textual analysis).

Professor then proceeded to detail on the various types of research, namely, Pure/Basic/Fundamental and Applied Research, Experimental (lab-based) research, Deductive and Inductive Research, Quantitative and Qualitative Research, Diagnostic Research, Intervention Research, Action Research, etc.

On choosing a topic for one’s research, Dr.Joseph Dorairaj quipped that, most research starts with a hunch, or, an inspired guess. Moreover, it should be interesting, and one should be passionate about it. The work should not only be original, but also preferably non-canonical, and that which contributes to the existing body of knowledge. Most of all, it should have a usefulness or relevance to society. He also suggested around five key texts like Research Methods for English Studies, which  would provide a frame of reference for the research scholar. 

The session ended on a happy note, with feedback by Sebastian (MPhil), Ajil (II MA), Lemma (I MA) and the Vote of Thanks by Prof.Phebe Angus.

Our sincere thanks to our Photographer Mr. Jagadeesh Kumar (BA English, MCC), and to our Videographers Mr. Albert and Mr. Naseem of the MA Communication Department, MCC.            

Seminar Review:

walking with the leader...

The two-day National Seminar on “Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis: The Scope of Postcolonial Theory and Literature” organized by the Research Department of English St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu, on 2^nd & 3^rd September 2013, was informative and thought-provoking by all means. All the plenary sessions and satellite sessions were well-organized and resulted in rich exchange of ideas. Plenary Sessions on Postcolonial Studies, Diasporean Literature etc were very informative and challenging to both teachers and researchers in these fields. Dr. K. Ganesh gave a brilliant talk on Diaspora Literature, while Prof.A.S.Dasan and Dr.Joseph Albert spoke extensively on Postcolonial Studies. to be contd...