Friday 29 April 2016

INSTITUTE SEMINAR SERIES - May 2016

Topic: Evolution of Fiscal Transfers in India: Challenges Ahead
Speaker: Dr. Sitharam Gurumurthi, IAS (retired)
Member, Planning Board, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli
Chairperson: Shashanka Bhide
Professor and Director, MIDS
Date & Time: Wednesday, 04 May 2016 at 3:30 p.m.
Venue: Adiseshiah Auditorium, MIDS
All are cordially invited

Thursday 28 April 2016

Call for Papers

[This note is on behalf of my friend and brother Dr. Kavi from Bishop Heber College, Trichy. Please read on and do submit your original, unpublished articles either for this volume or for the other one that is up on the next post. Do visit his wonderful blog for more details.]

Dear learned friends,
I feel delighted to inform you that I am editing two volumes of books - "Enriching English Language Teaching" and "English Literature across East and West" which are my 7th and 8th books respectively. If you have original unpublished articles you are welcome to contribute. I request you to pass on this information among your learned colleagues and friends.

The details are available on my blog.
Kindly check my blog kkseminars.blogspot.in
Regards,
Dr. K.Kaviarasu, M.A., M.Phil., PGDELT., Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of English,
Bishop Heber College (Autonomous),
Trichirappalli - 620 017
Phone: +91-9894981142

Call for Papers

[This note is on behalf of my friend and brother Dr. Kavi from Bishop Heber College, Trichy. Please read on and do submit your original, unpublished articles either for this volume or for the other one that is up on the next post.]

Greetings!

I [Dr. Kaviarasu] am pleased to inform you that I am editing my 7th book entitled “English Literature across East and West” with an ISBN. Original, unpublished, quality research papers are invited from Researchers/Scholars/Members of Teaching Fraternity. The wide range of areas focused in this book are:

ü  British and European Literature
ü  American and Canadian Literature
ü  African and Caribbean Literature
ü  Indian Writing in English and other Asian Literatures in English
ü  Australian Literature
ü  Literary Theories and Criticisms
ü  Translations of World Literatures  

The papers will undergo a Blind Peer Review process. So, the contributors are advised to strictly adhere to MLA 7th Edition methodology and Works Cited and are expected to send the error-free paper on or before 10 May 2016. The book will be published in May 2016.

Wednesday 27 April 2016

A 'thoughty' treatise of sorts...!

Scene I: A breakfast-room adjoined the drawing-room, I slipped in there.  It contained a bookcase: I soon possessed myself of a volume, taking care that it should be one stored with pictures. I mounted into the window-seat: gathering up my feet, I sat cross-legged, like a Turk; and, having drawn the red moreen curtain nearly close, I was shrined in double retirement. 

Scene II: Bessie asked if I would have a book: the word book acted as a transient stimulus, and I begged her to fetch Gulliver’s Travels from the library.  This book I had again and again perused with delight.  I considered it a narrative of facts, and discovered in it a vein of interest deeper than what I found in fairy tales. 

Like Jane, was I, when I had my hard copy of Switching Codes: Thinking Through Digital Technology in the Humanities and the Arts in hand. I was, too, like Jane - ‘shrined in double retirement’, and very much like her, this particular book, ‘I had again and again perused with delight’!!!

Well, everything about the book fascinates me! The book is simply unrivalled in the treatment of its new-age subject with time as its central metaphor or paradox!

After ploughing in all earnestness through the 440 pages of ‘transient stimulus’ that the book offers, my eyes rested on the wonderful epilogue to the book titled, ‘Enquire Within upon Everything’ by Richard Powers.

After having read through this wonderful book (in around a week’s time), I was thrilled or rather enthralled by this ‘oh boy’! epilogue. What a brilliant way of putting things in perspective! Indeed most of the essays in the volume, like the ‘Migration of the Aura or How to Explore the Original through Its Facsimiles,’ or ‘the Truth in Versions’, or ‘Untidy Generativity’, or ‘Electronic Linguistics,’ or ‘Rewiring Culture, the Brain, and Digital Media,’ or ‘Re-placing’ – now all these wonderfully thought-provoking articles have their logical culmination in this wonderful epilogue by Powers. Those of you who’ve read his ‘Pulitzer-winning’ novel The Echo Maker can tune yourselves in without much ado - in sync with his frame of mind – to yet another brilliant narrative of Powers - this time in prose – for those wonderful ‘relating modes of thought’ that pervade this thoughty [my coinage J ] treatise!

Just giving you excerpts [aka a teaser trailer] from the first two pages!

Say a boy is born in a northern middle class suburb of the large Midwestern metropolis of C.

Say he is born in the year 1989.

This is the last of years. This is the first of years.

This is the year the walls come down and the webs come up.

Tuesday 26 April 2016

Are you game???

Are you a Teacher/Professor based in Chennai?

Do you feel like, ‘If only I were able to escape away into another time, far far away from the madding crowd?’

Well, do you have it in you to be a part of a grand road trip that traverses the length and breadth of India?

Do you sense your soul reverberating to the finest of music when you wake up to hear your friends call you for an enticing road trip of 2000 kilometers and more? Does the sight of a summer getaway entice you more than your KFC or Dominoes?

Then, plan packing your travel bags and join us rightaway!

You need a good car, (not older than three years!!!) and of course, money for your food and petrol. Stay and other amenities would be taken care of!

It’s a Road Trip from Chennai to New Delhi, covering ten hill stations from Morni to Parwanoo, to Nainital, and a whole lot of equally adventurous getaways including amazing adventure sports like trekking, bird watching, boating, Aqua Zorbing, Kayaking, Ziplining, Rafting, Paragliding, etc etc etc…

Sunday 24 April 2016

The Institute Seminar Series @ MIDS

The UID/Aadhar: Understanding the Issues after the Law
Speaker: Dr. Usha Ramanathan, Legal Researcher
Chairperson: Dr. Ajit Menon, Professor, MIDS
Date & Time: Wednesday, 27 April 2016 @ 3:30 p.m.
Venue: Adiseshiah Auditorium, MIDS

Abstract: Is Aadhar UID now mandatory? How does one understand the money bill route, and what are its implications for the validity of the law? What will happen now to the court cases challenging the UID?  Where are we now on the thorny issues of surveillance, tracking, profiling, biometrics, private and foreign companies and subsidy? What does the law say? And why is the Aadhar not like the social security number? This discussion will revisit the debates around the UID and examine the implications of the new law.

About the Speaker: Dr. Usha Ramanathan is a legal researcher and a regular guest professor at many universities. She works on the jurisprudence of law, poverty and rights.  Her work draws

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Myriad Musings on Mumbai

Have you ever wondered why Hyundai Santro and its micro-sedan Xcent are the most sought after taxis in the commercial capital of India?

Carved from below a hill!!!
Have you ever imagined in your wildest and weirdest of dreams that autorickshaws are banned in a great part of Mumbai, including the precints in and around the Gateway of India?

Have you ever thought about beaches without waves? [Well, at least in Chennai we don’t!!!]

Well, for an answer you should plan a visit to the Commercial Capital of our country - Mumbai!!! Indeed we [three of us professor-friends from Tamil Nadu and an equal three from Kerala] were witness to this and much more curios on the go, during our three-day tour of this wonderful tinsel-town - dubbed the bollywood of Indian Cinema!

Although the domestic airport is an eyesore, and an apology for an airport, one redeeming feature is that, you’ll forget this eyesore the moment you snatch one step into the International Airport which is really a paradiso eartho!!! And well, on the brighter side, there is no coo cooing by taxi wallahs out there on the high lanes and by lanes, coaxing and cajoling their intended ‘target’ customers, which has become a way of life or shall we say, the norm at the Railway Station and at the Domestic Airport in Chennai! Like in Calcutta, the taxis are regulated by pre-paid taxi stands that don’t charge you a penny extra than what is fixed!

This not only lends credence to their services but also lets the passengers heave a great sigh of relief – far far away from the maddening cries of the taxi wallahs who drone around their ‘victims’ like a bird hovering around its prey!

Monday 18 April 2016

Internal Marks - Reg

Dear Students, 
All your CIA Marks with me will be up on display on Thursday, 21 April 2016 on the Department Notice Board. Alternatively, they will also be displayed on my table for your convenience. 
Regards, 
Rufus
Course Teacher

Saturday 16 April 2016

Talks @ MCC in Audio/Video Format

Dear Students, [Past & Present]
While we make every possible effort to make available to you the video series of the guest lectures by eminent personalities at the Department of English, MCC, may we also take this opportunity to inform you that almost all back volumes of all these guest lectures are available for you in MP3 format.
Some of the lectures by eminent personalities that are available in audio format include:
Dr. Gauri Viswanathan's talk @ MCC
Dr. G. N. Devy's talk @ MCC
Dr. Joseph Dorairaj's talk @ MCC, etc. 
Copies of the same are also available with the College Librarian.
With warm regards, 
Rufus

Friday 15 April 2016

Just Arrived...

Dear Students of I MA English,

Your much-awaited book review presentation videos along with Dr. Premila’s scholarly profiling of Ms. Anita Nair and her works, have come in just now. The videos are now up on Youtube.

To view Dr. Premila Paul’s profiling of Ms. Anita Nair, click HERE [Part 1] & click HERE [Part 2]

To view the release of the tenth issue of our bi-annual Journal Eclectic Representations and the release of an anthology of poems titled Upbeat Vista by Ms. Esme Robina, and Ms. Nissy & Team’s wonderful performance, click HERE

With all best wishes,
Rufus

Class Mentor [I MA English Literature]

Monday 4 April 2016

Oral Presentations - An Overview

PG & Research Department of English
Madras Christian College (Autonomous)
Chennai – 600 059
Oral Presentations Day for Book Reviews 2016
Wednesday, 06 April 2016

Guidelines for Student Participants

1.        Begin with the author, title, and date of publication.
2.       Speak clearly, and look directly at your audience (not just at the Prof.!)
3.       Showing the cover of the book is a nice way to capture the attention of the audience, and to quickly demonstrate the book’s length, size, and appearance.
4.      Summarize the thesis or main idea (s) of the book in 2-4 sentences.
5.       Mention at least one memorable aspect of the book, so that at the end of your presentation we all will remember something distinctive about your book.
6.      Limit the presentation to less than 5 minutes.  You should time yourself at least once in advance so you have some sense of how much can be said in five minutes.
7.       Give the book a thumbs-up or thumbs-down for inclusion in a future iteration of our class, and briefly explain why it should (or should not) be included for future students.
8.      Now it’s the turn of the Moderator/Chairperson to ask you questions/clarifications based on your presentations and assess you for a score of 100.
9.      Toppers in each of the five teams win prizes.


I MA English Special Invite :-)


I MA English Special... :-)


Sunday 3 April 2016

Reading File for I MA English [Updated]

Reading List for Oral Presentations [Updated - 04 April]
S.No
Name
Book
Author
1.
AGNES EUNICE JASPER
Jesus > Religion
Jefferson Bethke
2.
AISWARYA SUSAN SAMUEL
The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank
3.
ANNMARIA SEBASTIAN
Randaamoozham
M. T. Vasudevan Nair
4.
ANU M. VARGHESE
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
5.
APARNA R.
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Khaled Hosseini
6.
CHITRA S.
The Unexpected Guest
Agatha Christie
7.
CHRISTINA MARY GEORGE
Memories
Lang Leav
8.
FRAGRANCE PRAISY GEORGE
Hostage of the Sea
Cherith Baldry
9.
HANNAH CHANDRAN
Wide Sargasso Sea
Jean Rhys
10.
HARIPRIYA SREEKUMAR
True Believer
Nicholas Sparks
11.
HELEN ANN JOSEPH
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
12.
HELEN GLORY ROBERT
Tit for tat to Treat for tat
Dr. Pal
13.
INDUMATHI
Countdown
Amitav Ghosh
14.
IRENE SHILPA S.
The Cross and the Switchblade
David Wilkerson
15.
JAYASHREE RAJAN
Asura
Anand Neelakanthan
16.
JOANNA SHALOM JOHN
Bad Ground
Joanna Shalom John
17.
JOLENE CANDICE
Roadside Crosses
Jeffery Deaver
18.
JOSE MARY JENIFER A.
if tomorrow comes
Sydney Sheldon
19.
MAANINIJAYAL V.
Midnight’s Children
Salman Rushdie
20.
MAGDELENE ANEETEE BROWN H.
The Last Wave
Pankaj Sekhsaria
21.
MERRIL MARY MATHEW
The Namesake
Jumpha Lahiri
22.
MOHANA PRIYA
The Rainbow
D. H. Lawrence
23.
NISSY SARA GEORGE
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
24.
PHEBA K PAUL
Night
Elie Wiesel
25.
PRIYANKA TOMY
Mahashweta
Sudha Murty
26.
REBECCA JACOB
Animal Farm
George Orwell
27.
SADEPALLI JHANSI RANI
SOMEONE LIKE YOU
Nikita singh and Durjoy Datta
28.
SALEENA S.
En Kadha

29.
VIJAYALAKSHMI INDIRAN
Kavalaigal anaithirkum theervu
Sri Bhagavath
30.
Abhishek I Singh
The Whale Rider
Witi Ihimaera
31.
Akash Saji Kumar
Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
32.
Akil Raj G.
Ner Ner Thema
C. Gopinath
33.
Andrew Titus Jasper
Three Men in a Boat
Jerome K Jerome
34.
Bhuvanesh Kumar
The White Tiger
Aravind Adiga
35.
Kumara Sethupathi R.
Manakkugai Chithirangal
Aathmaarthi
37.
Oswin Barnabas
The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
38.
Phinehash R.
The Sacred Wood
T S Eliot
39.
Ravi Shankar
Digital Fortress
Dan Brown
40.
Sampaul C.L.
The Home and the World
Rabindranath Tagore
41.
Sivakumar
"I'm not twenty four... I've been nineteen for five years"
Sachin Garg
42.
Veillakshmikanth
Karna’s Wife
Kavita Kane
43.
A. M. Arun Kumar
Balyakalasakhi
Vaikom M. Basheer