Creating Secondary Worlds in the Realms of Literature
Date: 27 February 2024
The Department of English at Kristu Jayanti College (Autonomous), Bengaluru, Karnataka, in collaboration with several esteemed institutions across India, organized a lecture as part of the "Literary Explorations: A Collaborative Lecture Series" on the 27th of February, 2024. This initiative exposed students to diverse literary themes and perspectives and facilitate a shared academic discourse among participating institutions.

Dr. Neha Kumari, Professor, Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru, Karnataka, served as the resource person for the lecture, providing valuable insights into the intriguing topic of " Creating Secondary Worlds in the Realms of Literature." The hybrid mode of the event allowed students from different institutions to participate seamlessly, fostering collaborative learning and a shared exploration of literary concepts. The lecture series aimed to enhance students' understanding of literary creation and the imaginative process involved in crafting secondary worlds within the domain of literature.

Guest Lecture: “Identity and Resistance: Interpreting Wole Soyinka and Derek Walcott through a Postcolonial Lens”
Date: 20 February 2024
The Department of English organised a guest lecture with Dr. Sonal Sharma, Assistant Professor at JECRC University, Jaipur. She delivered a lecture titled "Identity and Resistance: Interpreting Wole Soyinka and Derek Walcott Through a Postcolonial Lens." The session aimed to explore the works of these two eminent postcolonial writers, shedding light on themes of identity, culture, and resistance in the context of colonial legacies. Hosted by Kristu Jayanti College, the event fostered a shared academic discourse among participating students, facilitating a deeper understanding of diverse literary perspectives. Led by Dr. Mary Raymer and student coordinators, the program concluded with an engaging Q&A session, enriching the students' experience in the realm of English studies.

Full-Bright Experience : A Discourse
Date: 16 March 2023
The Department of English organised an interactive session with Dr. Urvashi Kuhad, Fiction Writer and Faculty of English from Ram Lal Anand College, University of Delhi for the MA English Literature students at Kristu Jayanti College on the 16 of March, 2023. The session was a very informative one on the Fulbright Scholarship and fellowship program. Dr. Urvashi Kuhad elaborated on what makes a successful application and discussed eligibility, suitable applications, letter of recommendations etc. She also discussed the multitudinous benefits that accrue when you pursue opportunities abroad.

Literary Theory Lecture Series on Structuralism
The Department of English (PG) held a Literary Lecture series on Structuralism, by Dr. R B Sharma which took place on 25th March, 2022 to understand the concepts of Literary theory. The chief guest discoursed on Structuralism in Linguistics and Theories of Literature. He elaborated the importance and nuances of Structuralism with myriad examples.

Mr. Eljo a first year student opined that the talk was insightful and opened new vistas of knowledge.

“Literary Theory Lecture Series: Formalism”
The Department of English (PG) held a lecture as a part of the Literary theory Lecture Series on March 23rd, 2022 with Dr. Sudheer C Hajela, as the chief resource person in the 1st Auditorium, 2nd floor, Admin block at 2 pm.

Dr. Sudheer C Hajela an associate Professor of English at Shri J N P G college, Lucknow delved into the background of New criticism and Russian formalism using myriad reference to critics, essays and other literary texts. The talk highlighted the proponents and exponents of New Criticism and also gave us a brief overview of literary criticism over time. The talk spanning over 1½ hours was much appreciated by the audience which consisted of PG students as well as BA honors students from the department of English.

Mr. Teslin a first year MA student felt that the talk was very insightful and helped the students understand the nuances of Formalism.

International Lecture Series: Learning Languages Online: Tips for Teachers
On December 2nd, 2021, The Department of English (PG) held a lecture as part of the International Lecture Series with Dr. Laurence Mann on Learning Languages Online: Tips for Teachers, which took place in the 2nd Auditorium, Admin block at 2 pm.

Dr. Laurence Mann is a senior Lecturer in Japanese Language at Oxford Brookes University and associate faculty member of the Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. He teaches widely on topics related to Japanese language, Literature and translation at both institutions.

During the event, Dr. Laurence Mann talked and presented information on the new book on teaching and learning languages online, based on the experiences of teachers working at the faculty of Oriental Studies. The talk highlighted some of the key observations of the book which documents the unique challenges and benefits of the online space for teachers and learners of lesser taught languages such as Korean, Turkish and Japanese.

Ms. .Andriya Biju opined that Dr. Laurence’s presentation was an eye opener and very enlightening.

Webinar on Research Methodology
Department of English (PG) organized A Webinar on Research Methodology “Use of Linguistics in Research” on 11th November 2021 at 10:30 a.m. The webinar was both online and offline with the English Honours students joining online and with the MA English students participating offline .The resource person Prof. M. Hariprasad is the Department Head of Computational Linguistics in The English and Foreign Language University, Hyderabad. He is an eminent writer and a researcher with 24 years of teaching and research experience in Language teaching. Prof. M. Hariprasad began the session by giving an introduction to the Linguistic Theories stating “Linguistics Theories are no less scientific than any theories of physics such as Newton’s theory of gravity or Einstein’s relativity theory”. It was an informative session where the speaker talked in detail about various aspects of Linguistic research. The resource person explained about the Observation of Languages, Theory of Universal Grammar, Problem of Learnability, Principle and Parameters of linguistic, Reflective pronouns with different hypothesis.

“The session was enriching and informative. It opened up new areas to be explored in research”. - Hridaya from 3rd MA English literature.

Webinar on ‘The Scope and Space of Alternate Media in India- Possibilities and Challenges’
The Department of English (PG) organized a webinar on ‘The Scope and Space of Alternate Media in India- Possibilities and Challenges’ on 8th October, 2021 from 10:30am to 12pm. The guest speaker of the day was Shri .Arun John - an Associate Professor at the Liberal Arts Department, Annapurna College of Film and Media. Prof. Arun John commenced the session by explaining about the meaning of big and alternative media, the challenges of alternative media, and the importance of indigenous knowledge. He cited and elucidated on the importance of inclusivity and media sovereignty. The session was interactive and was well received by the audience. The session was quite edifying and insightful- I was able to learn many aspects of alternative media and the relevance of media in the better functioning of a nation.” – opined Sheryl Anna of III MA.

Webinar on “National Cinema: Negotiating Culture And Histories”
The Department of English (PG) organized a webinar on “National Cinema: Negotiating Culture and Histories” on 5th October 2021 at 10:00 a.m. The webinar was an interactive session with Dr. Swapna Gopinath, Associate Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.

Dr. Swapna began the session by giving an introduction to the concept of cinema being culturally influenced and spoke about many aspects under the topic, ‘Notion of National Cinema across the Culture and then to Indian Context’. She said that cultural studies is the major tool to understand cinema, and explained how cinema has a huge impact in connecting with the Nation. She mentioned that humankind is heterogeneous, so we have to create homogeneity among heterogeneous. She also gave an insight into the aspects of nationhood in films and how national sentiments are evoked by employing the concept of the ‘other’ where unity among a certain group of people is established with the introduction of ‘other’ in the plot.

“It was a wonderful session with new information about films. It made me develop an interest to know more about interpreting films and their cultural and historical background”. - Adra Therese

Philosophical Foundations of Literary Research
Resource person: Dr Jibu Mathew George
The Department of English [PG] conducted a guest lecture titled ‘Philosophical Foundations of Literary Research’ on 9th September 2021 at 10.30 am. The resource person was Dr. Jibu Mathew, Assistant Professor within the division of Indian and World literatures, The English and Overseas Languages College, Hyderabad. He holds MA levels in English literature, Philosophy and Faith and Political Science, an MSC Diploma in Utilized Psychology, a PhD on James Joyce, Superior Diploma in German, and Junior Diploma In French.

He began his lecture by defining Philosophy and Philosophical Reason. He then explained the types of philosophy like Analytical philosophy and Continental philosophy, Role of Constance. He has made this philosophical idea much clearer by illustrating certain literary works and also given certain examples of philosophers like Milan Kundhera, Friedrich Hegel, Hayden White etc. He pointed that today’s 75% of the literary texts were entangled in race, class and gender. Next, he moved into the objectives of the literary text, which is the ontological commitments. It is the question of relation between world of literary text and the real world. Here, he mentioned that, one set of philosophers say, the literary texts have no ontological commitments. And the other set of philosophers says that the literary texts has limited ontological commitments. According to Dr. Jibu it varies from genre to genre. He also mentioned about different kinds reasoning in literary texts. One of them is Analogous reasoning and gave examples for it. He remarked that components of a good research were Textual analysis, Effective historization, Theoretical contribution. He concluded by giving some methods to contribute some changes in literary texts. That is engagement with fundamentals, knowing intellectual history and being ready for meta reasoning. He ended this lecture by reminding us that “It is the critical gathering of the writer’s notes and texts, that reconstruct the process of writing”.

Ms Neelu quoted that “the session was very interesting and everyone were able to get a clear picture of philosophical ideas and how deeply literature is related to it.”

Expert Lecture on Placement Orientation - III
An expert lecture on Placement Orientation-III was organized by the Department of English (PG) for the final year English PG Students on March 25, 2021 at 3:30 pm in room no A 310, Admin Block, Kristu Jayanti College. Prof. Sen B. Mathews, Faculty and Director of Centre for Employability and Corporate Relations, Kristu Jayanti College, was the expert speaker for the day. The earlier sessions of Placement talk by Prof. Sen B Mathews had taken place on zoom platform. 28 students of Final year English (PG) along with the faculty coordinator Prof. Susan Sanny were present for the expert lecture.

The session was exclusively organized for the English PG final year students. Professor Sen dealt with the importance of getting placed, how to groom oneself before attending an interview, what are the parameters to meet for interview, how are the employers testing the candidate and how to respond positively and affirmatively. Professor also put forth a new technique called Pomodaro technique to meet the deadlines. The Pomodaro Technique is a time management system that encourages people to work with the time they have. Followed by the talk, the students clarified their concerns and worries with Professor Sen.

“It was an important session as it helped us understand the market and the nuances of Employment. The interaction would unquestionably be fruitful in the long run.” A student from the audience stated.

Meet The Counsellor
The Department of English (PG) conducted a seminar titled ‘Meet the Counsellor' on 20th January 2021. The resource person was Dr Alice Aloysius, student counsellor, Guidance and Counselling, Kristu Jayanti College. It was held through zoom online platform with around 31 participants. The resource person enlightened the audience about the importance of counselling and its focus especially on college students as they undergo stress and pressure which can lead to accidents. Dr. Alice also spoke about money management and its importance for students to keep a track of the money which they spend as they begin to live alone in hostels without the supervision of their parents during their college life. Furthermore she also mentioned that students must not have over expectations of their relationship with others as everyone comes from different backgrounds and different places. She spoke about the concept of introspection which every student practise to know one self-better, and understand their strengths and weaknesses. She explained stress affects students in various situations for example: stress due to online classes, social distancing etc.

She also spoke about the importance for knowledge and that we as students must focus on developing out knowledge. Therefore students should have the quest for knowledge which makes them a well-rounded individual. She also spoke about the concept of mental health and how it is a global concern.

She continued further by saying that there should be constructive and friendly competition between friends as it helps in making one person improve. She also spoke about the issue of body shaming, and how we must focus on keeping ourselves healthy. She also told that socialization is an important aspect in the life of a students. Students must make good friends, cherish them, and always keep in touch with them.

Lastly Dr. Alice invited the students to meet her anytime in the campus when we begin our offline classes if and when they face any issues .

Ashitha said that the “session was really helpful as we could meet the counsellor and interact with her and also helped us become aware of the facilities available in the campus.

Guest Lecture on The Soul of India
The Department of English [PG] conducted a guest lecture titled ‘The Soul of India’ on 18 December 2020. The resource person was Mr. Francis Xavier, an Agro-Ecologist, a Consultant at ADITI Organic Certifications. It was held on an online platform with around 64 participants. Francis Xavier is a person who lives in a most eco-friendly way, respecting and promoting the wellbeing of all other creations in nature and reaches out to children to educate them on Ecological lifestyle. For his Post-Graduate degree programme in Ecology, Pondicherry Central University, Pondicherry his dissertation was on the “Growth Performance of some Tree Species in Auroville”. Sir began his session by quoting “Think globally, and act locally” helping us reflect on the aspects of Rural India with the help of photographs and enlightened us on the topic of Agriculture in India. He also spoke about the history of Agriculture in India helping all of us to trace out the evolution of the agricultural sector of our country. He reminded us that the best fertilizer is the footprint of the farmer. He specially stressed on the cleanliness maintained in the tribal villages of India and appreciated their commitment towards cultivation and farming. Speaking on the topic of dynamic farming, he used the examples of multi storeyed cropping in Malanad, Kerala, Thudis in Haryana etc. Later, he discussed the disadvantage of putting manure directly in soil which results in root burn which is the burning up of the roots of crops. He further elaborated on the size and stacking of haystacks that depends upon the geography and weather conditions. He also introduced us to the tribal community of Araku Valley who engage in coffee production. He commented on the versatility of mud in rural construction and the tools used for ploughing. He shared with us, his personal experience of visiting various rural villages of our country. He then made us aware of the usefulness of the Ant hills which brings out a lot of calcium and enriches the soil and helps in nitrogen fixation in the soil. He then discussed the disadvantage of growing tea plantations which include deforestation of large areas, mono cropping, soil erosion etc. He also talked about rain-fed crops that are cultivated only during rainy seasons. This type of farming doesn’t include the usage of pesticides and only local seeds are used for the cultivation. The pulses are treated with castor paste, which is made out of castor seeds that weed out worms from the crop. He introduced some of the scientific methods and processing of the agricultural sector. He also mentioned the role of livestock in agriculture. He tried to engage the participants by asking questions and also conducted a quiz in the session. He ended the session with a quote “He who plants a seed beneath the sod, and waits to see, believes in God.” The session was followed by a Q & A session where participants enthusiastically asked their doubts and queries which was answered by the expert.

Sreelakshmi opined that the session “was an incredible one as everyone learnt amazing facts about the wonders of nature and for a few special moments could look into the real soul of India”.

Guest Lecture on ‘Gender in Cinema’
Department of English (PG), Kristu Jayanti College, organized a guest lecture on ‘Gender in Cinema’ with special focus on December 14, 2020. Dr. Vellikkeel Raghavan, Assistant Professor, Central University of Kerala was the guest speaker of the day.

Sir helped the students to trace the background of queer category, specifically with reference to the genre of films in India. Sir explained, how Queer studies is a by-product of the post structuralist paradigm of understanding things. In order to comprehend the concept of queer cinema, one has to acknowledge the fact that mainstream commercial cinema across the world represents heterosexual culture and context. Within the heterosexual cinematic paradigm itself, there is a patriarchal dominance, which pushes the concerns of women to a secondary or peripheral position. The prominent movies that were discussed were the celebrated queer films of Cheryl Dunye, ' The Watermelon Women’ and the queer film BOMgAY .The session was made invigorating with videos and presentations.

A final year MA student acclaimed, - “We are in a society that needs to change and in a changing society such talks are needed to break the barriers of the society and strengthen all the communities worldwide. This session is a mark of marching towards accepting communities and setting equalities. Just getting inspired”.

There were almost 63 students along with faculty members of the department who actively took part in this illuminating session.

Expert Lecture on Professional Skills
Resource Person: Prof. Sen B. Mathew
An expert lecture titled “Professional Skills Expert Lecture” was organized by the English Department (PG) on 21st October 2020 for both I MA and II MA, under the guidance of Prof. Susan Sanny, the Faculty- in-charge of placement and Prof. I. Stephen, Class Animator II MA.

The resource person for the day was Prof. Sen B. Mathew, Assistant Professor and Director – Centre for Employability and Corporate Relations. Prof. Sen holds the complete responsibility for facilitating the overall activities of Training and Development and Career Guidance for the young talents of Kristu Jayanti College. Prof Sen comes with an expertise of 18 years in Industry and Teaching in large organizations. His certifications include Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification by Asian Institute of Quality Management, Pune and Certified trainer in Life Skills by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Govt. of India. He is also the recipient of Best Faculty Award from ICFAI Academy.

The whole lecture was an interactive one with all the relevant details and insights on placements. Prof. Sen primarily focused on preparing the students for placements with proper resumes. Prof. Sen explained the advantages of campus placement and its future benefits. During the session, sir introduced the students to new AI software called Applicant Tracking Software, which is used to scan the virtual resumes to identify candidates meeting specific criteria. Furthermore, he pointed out important tips and key words to be kept in mind in the resume, which can be a turning point to impress the board and the AI. Towards the end of the session, the students put forth their queries related to placements, which was very efficiently answered and cleared by Prof. Sen.

The lecture came to a close with an interactive session. The session had around participants including teachers. One of the participants Elize from I MA English literature felt that the “session was very useful and made them start planning for the future”

Guest Lecture on Lead The New Normal
Resource Person: Prof. Sen. B. Mathews
The guest lecture “Lead the New Normal” was organized by the Department of English (PG) on 23 October 2020. Prof. Sen. B. Mathews, Director – Centre for Employability and Corporate (CECR) was the resource person of the day. Prof. Mathews started the lecture by interacting with the students about their concepts of career and job. After a brief interaction, he started the talk with the concept of positive uncertainty. Positive thinking helps us to experience things in our lives and help people change their way of thinking and alter their future visions. He also spoke about self-awareness, which helps in making changes and to build on our areas of strength as well as identify areas where we would like to make improvements.

He also talked about opportunities and threats, and awareness of opportunities. Awareness of opportunities of the environment, both external and internal, is the real beginning of a planning career. It also helps one to establish a reasonable goal and draw up an action plan. He said that building a relationship with people is quite essential for a person who longs to achieve his/her dream because you need their support and help in the long run. Standing with people is way better than standing alone.

When he talked about dependable strength, sir explained the necessity of strength to achieve a career goal. Emotional and Physical strength helps not only the person but also helps people who are in need. It is this strength that most of us need to build to tackle whatever obstacle life throws at us. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it takes consistent effort to see improvement.

Prof. Mathews spoke about the necessity of communication and a confident mindset. Being confident is a state of mind that comes across in how you communicate, and how you present yourself to the world as well as what you say.

At the end of the session, students had a question-answer session where they could clear their queries and concerns.

Seba Elizabeth Saji said, “We, students during this pandemic, need knowledge about how things approach us rather than how we receive it.. This session helped us to be more aware of opportunities and even taught us to be self-reliant in searching for them”.

Expert Lecture on Psychology and Language Learning: Interconnections and Interventions
An expert lecture titled Psychology and Language Learning: Interconnections and Interventions was organised by the Department of English (PG) on November 02, 2020. Dr B.S. Jamuna, Dean (Retd.), Faculty of Arts, University of Kerala, was the resource person of the day.

Dr Jamuna’s talk dealt with three essential paradigms in the field of education; The Learner, Learning and Teaching. Ma’am elucidated that Learning can be a process by which the behaviour changes as a result of experience. The main interconnections made in the session were between Learning and Teaching, Linguistics and Psychology, and also Psychology and Language Learning. She briefly discussed different types of pedagogies and theories in teaching and elaborated on different learning theories by different behaviourists and theorists namely, Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Cognitive Theory, Social Learning Theory.

There was a fine correlation established between the early theories on learning to modern theories of learning such as Chomsky’s Innateness, Constructivism to name a few. Ma’am also focused on pedagogical implications, their advantages and disadvantages. The session was then open for discussion and interaction, wherein students got an opportunity to clarify their doubts and queries. It was indeed, a voyage to the realm of psychological theories of learning and its connections to Language Teaching. Ms. Arolin, a final year student, shared her experience “The session was extremely informative. Listening to Dr Jamuna was a great intellectual experience. I feel highly privileged to have been a part of this edifying session. I am indeed grateful to my department and the college management for providing such a blessed platform of knowledge sharing. Looking forward for more such illuminating sessions”

There were 62 active participants for the session, which included the senior and junior batches of the English Department as well as the Faculty members of the department.

International Expert Lecture on Pedagogies for the Classroom
Resource Person: Dr. Austin Dwyer

An International Expert Lecture was conducted on the topic ‘Pedagogies for the Classroom’ by the Department of English [PG] on October 28, 2020. Dr. Austin Dwyer the resource person of the day, spoke to us from Birmingham, England. Dr. Dwyer had received his PhD from Durham University and is considered an expert on Cognitive Theory. He broached the topic by first vividly bringing the aims of teaching under focus namely Evidence based approach, Cognitive load theory, Spaced repetition, Deliberate practice and interleaving practice mentioning that each of these topics could be dealt with individually with different lectures, he then moved on to describe the aims that a teacher should maintain elaborating on Scaffolding method and how to help students focus, how to help them navigate, analyse and apply it in their practical lives.

He also mentioned about the two kinds of memory that we all have and the danger of overloading the mind. The main idea in the field of Pedagogy is to bring focus and attention to what they have to understand and learn rather than just hear a lot of inflexible words which often don’t bring positive results in young minds. He emphasised how the teachers could involve and interact with the children to know what they feel and think; and why they think what they are supposed to learn is important for their lives. Spaced repetition was one of the teaching methods he explained as what can be used innovatively and with initiative to be very productive. Another practical application in pedagogy Dr. Dwyer elaborated on was recollection - when a student is asked to recollect a certain topic, and if he cannot, then it’s the teacher who feels as if he/she has failed leading to discouragement and he went on to speak on how to ensure proper recollection. Dr. Dwyer concluded on methods that ensured that the most essential and most accurate information that can be ingrained in young minds rather than cramming and rote learning especially in English Language as there where a lot of sentence formations and rearrangement of words taking place.

The lecture came to a close with an interactive session. The session had around 57 participants including teachers. One of the participants Grace Therace from I MA English literature felt that the “session was a fascinating, knowledge enriching experience to one and all”.

Personal Effectiveness Through Emotional Intelligence
Resource Person: Dr. Smarty P. Mukundan
The Department of English [PG] conducted a guest lecture titled ‘Personal Effectiveness through Emotional Intelligence’ on 15th October 2020. The resource person was Dr. Smarty P Mukundan, a faculty member of State Bank Institute of Leadership. It was held on an online platform (ZOOM) with around 60 participants. Dr. Smarty P Mukundan began her session by explaining what emotional intelligence meant and how it wasn’t just another kind of intelligence but a part of it. She let us reflect on ourselves on the people we’d met in our life and the people we’ve tried our best to avoid. It helped all of us think and evaluate for a moment on how deep our connection with each person was and perhaps even understand what needed to be done. She added that emotional intelligence would be counted as one of the most important skills that any person would need in professional and other fields in the next 10 years. She made us understand how we always look for people who try to unleash our potential in us and others, but we should build our self- awareness and encourage ourselves every day. She further explained how emotional intelligence means that one should be honest about how you feel; it’s not about being emotional but expressing it in a smart way. She encouraged participants to read up on what the experts had to say namely Daniel Goleman and John D Mayer an American psychologist.

She reminded everyone that overthinking wouldn’t bring positive results; instead we should consciously take a decision, accept the reality and just move forward. She also taught us ways on how we can ease our anger and how to practice self- awareness describing how research work was done in the year 2010 on animals and how they discovered empathy, and the positive benefits of empathy. She helped us understand how fear impacts the rest of the body and how we should learn to control it. She also elaborated on how emotional intelligence impacts our lives in ways of careers, better health, and effective leadership skills and even at personal levels. She ended the session with some tips on how to improve our emotional intelligence.

The session was an incredible one as everyone enjoyed learning many new aspects of Emotional Intelligence said Swathi Nair of I MA English Literature.

Webinar on Upskilling for Successful Living
A webinar titled “Upskilling for Successful Living ” was organized by the Department of English (PG) on 23rd September, 2020. Ms. Anuradha Parakkat, Director of Knowledge Exchange was the resource person of the day. The event was held on an online platform with an active number of participants. She is an independent consultant in the aspect of Education and Mentoring.

The interactive session started off with a general overview of the world with respect to the human mind. Ms. Anuradha talked on how the external world was often a result of the thoughts of one's internal world. "What is more powerful? Your inside or outside world?" she queried. She focused on the idea that we humans often project our internal thoughts onto our life as actions. Thus, making a conclusion that our mind actually controls most of our actions. Further, she delved into the various aspects of upskilling for a happy life. The use of visuals to explain each idea made the session interesting and interactive. Ms. Parakkat focused on the importance of confidence. She stated how a positive state of mind could be achieved through positive self-affirmations. Factors like activity, occasion, place, group, etc., affect the confidence of an individual, however, one could always develop his/her confidence with the right coaching, practice and assurance. Ms. Anuradha elaborated on the aspect of self-esteem. She stated "It drives, pushes and energizes one to become creative while handling situations and these can be achieved with the power of self-talk. Self-talk helps you achieve self-confidence through practice.”

The session then delved into a refreshing subject on confidence and how to overcome anything that hinders the same. Ms. Anuradha talked on how we should overcome fear, anxiety and shyness as these are the inhibitors of confidence. The only answer was to face the question of fear. In conclusion, Ms. Anuradha encouraged students to abide by positive affirmations and believe in themselves. She opined that this truly would give us the confidence and help in achieving successful living.

Sheba Serlin, a second-year student stated "The session was extremely knowledgeable, that would help in our very lives. The speaker used personal examples and real-life incidents that hooked the listeners and helped us understand better. Most often we fail to focus on ourselves, our anxiety and esteem so it was a much-needed talk to take time from our busy schedule to introspect."

"The webinar held today was headed by an experienced professor and life coach -Ms. Anuradha. She started off on the concept of the outside world and the inside world and further elaborated on the importance of the human mind with its thoughts. I consider this as a privilege to be able to listen to such a positive elaboration on self-esteem and self-confidence. Ms. Anuradha stated how one shouldn't be overconfident nor have a lack of confidence, instead we should balance and train our minds to be neutral. The session helped us to understand various values and issues we subliminally face. The use of visual elements helped us relate better" opined Elize Sara Abraham, a first year MA student.

There were 55 participants from the department including students and faculty

Guest Lecture on Self Awareness And Productivity
A webinar titled “Self-Awareness and Productivity” was organised by the Department of English (PG) on September 8, 2020 via zoom platform and began exactly at 10:00 AM. Ms. Kalpana Yuvarraaj an award winning artist, curator and entrepreneur was the resource person of the day. It was held on an online platform with a 56 participants. Ms. Yuvarraaj is a post graduate in History and currently pursuing her Doctorate in Social Entrepreneurship. She is the founder of the Artist's Conclave Foundation and conducts regular art classes, seminars, artists’ residency programs, retreat camps and curate art shows apart from creating documentary films. Her works reflect her deep interest and passion in the mysteries of Science, Yoga and the Creations of the Universe.

Ms. Yuvarraaj started off with a breathing exercise, where the participants were asked to concentrate on their breathing for a couple of seconds. She emphasised that breath is the primary and essential element in the life force. To be aware of the self, one has to be aware of the life force, ie, breath. She also stressed on the importance of chewing well before swallowing the food. 80% of the digestion happens in mouth remarking that chewing well is an essential concept of wellness.

She then introduced the theoretical concepts of Yoga. The two most important concepts in Pathanjali Yoga Sutra are Yamas and Niyamas. Yamas include Ahimsa, Satya, Aastya, Brahmacharya, Grihasta and Aparigraha. Ahimsa emphasises non-violence physically, mentally and verbally. To attain emotional balance, Yoga is a good solution. When talking about Brahmacharya, Ms Yuvarraaj highlighted the importance of maintaining celibacy and how an individual could attain self-realisation. Contentment is another important aspect that everyone needs to strive for. Contentment is the concept of being happy and satisfied with what we have. Being content is important to deal with stress. Ms. Yuvarraaj said that each morning we should thank the Creator, for what we are and what we have and try to look for the positive side of every situation.

There was an interactive session at the end of the lecture, where some of the students posed questions to the resource person. She urged the participants to be lifelong learners saying learning is a never ending process and helps us to be better persons. The more one becomes aware of themselves the more wisdom he earns. Anagha Srinivas, student, 2nd MA EL opined, “It was an enlightening session in which she beautifully explained about the life force and its connection between our body, mind and the soul.”

There were 56 participants for the event including faculty and students of 1st and 2nd year MA English.

Expatriate Reflections: On Poetry and Creative Writing
The Department of English (PG) organised an International Guest Lecture on December 19, 2019 titled Expatriate Reflections: On Poetry and Creative Writing for the I MA and II MA students. The purpose of the guest lecture was to provide the students with an idea of Diaspora, connecting it with literature and life and also to expose about the different levels of writing as well as reading poetry.

The resource person of the day, Prof. Elsy Satheesan started the session with sharing her own experiences of diaspora when she left India in 1999 and settled in Virginia, USA. She imparted about the longing and deep desire to come back and the reasons why people leave their country and go to a foreign land. She also expressed how the Indians in foreign land look at India from different perspectives.

As the session went further, Prof. Elsy Satheesan, spoke about poetry and how poetry can be written. She communicated that poetry is composed of inner or outer inspirations such as the agony of an artist, happiness of an artist and various other feeling. She gave examples of famous poets like William Wordsworth, Sri Aurobindo Ghosh and stated “in vacuum state mind acquires the deepest harmony”. She said that nature plays an important role in the lives of a poet as it gives immense inspiration to them. Further, she distinguished between the roles of a poet and a reader. She spoke about writing techniques and stream-of-consciousness technique of writing and how it helps a writer to grow. She ended the session by quoting APJ Abdul Kalam “Dream is not which you see while sleeping. It is something that does not let you sleep.”

The session was very informative and useful as the students learnt about the different layers of how and what is important to write a poetry. The session also gave them an area to introspect that each person is capable enough to share their feelings through poetry.

“The lecture by Prof. Elsy Satheesan was very informative. She explained various definitions of poetry and substantiated it with practical applications. She also gave us a few tips on writing poetry which was very useful” stated T.F. Calvin, a final year student.

“The session was immensely informative. She dived into how a diasporic poem or piece of work is written. The concept seemed more personal to her as she lives in a different nation. It felt genuine and gave an insight into how most of these writers would have written. She also spoke on how to write a creative piece, teaching us to stay calm, mediate and delve into oneself” expressed Sheba Serlin, a first year student.

There were 40 participants who took part in the session with immense curiosity.

International Career Orientation
An International Career Orientation was conducted by the International Relations Office of Kristu Jayanti College for the Department of English (PG). The orientation programme was held on December 16, 2019. The main objective of the orientation was to make the students aware of the opportunities that are provided in the foreign country for English language teaching.

The session began with Prof. Vani Chakraborty, a faculty of Department of Computer Science and a member of the International Relations Office of Kristu Jayanti College, addressing the students and giving a brief insight on what the orientation was about.

The session was then taken over by the speaker of the day, Miss Maria Lopez de Bayas, a member of Erasmus in School, Spain. Miss Maria started off by sharing her own experiences as a teaching assistant. She also spoke about the different opportunities we can procure in Spain and France through Erasmus in School, a platform which provides paid internships to the vibrant minds as teaching assistants for language teaching. She also mentioned about the different advantages of being a teaching assistant. Further, she spoke about being a student ambassador for the foreign embassy and representing the country as a student which helps in learning about a foreign country. Working as a student ambassador also helps in socialising with the students from different countries which increases the interactive quality of a student.

There were 45 active and curious students who participated in the session. The session was very helpful as it gave many information about the chances we were unaware of. It also gave a sense of realisation of underestimating our country and individual qualities. The session ended with a short question and answer session where the students cleared up their doubts about the whole session.

“It was an eye opening orientation. The information given were vivid and very helpful. I was so glad to have attended an international orientation as such and felt privileged. Looking forward to avail the opportunity” expressed Esther Jayakumar, a final year student.

“It was such a wonderful experience to know about the culture of Spain and how people are willing to learn another language. It is a great opportunity provided by the Spanish government for the Indian students” opined Alan Sebastian Saju, a first year student stated.

Guest Lecture - PLACEMENT TALK
Date: 30.03.2019
Classes Attended & Number of beneficiaries: 22
Name and details of the Resource Person: Professor. Sen.B.Mathews
Objective: To explore the various career options and opportunities available

The Department of English (P.G) at Kristu Jayanti College, organized a placement talk on Saturday, the 30th of March, 2019 under the Department Placement Cell guided by Prof. Susan Sanny.

Professor Sen B. Mathews began the session by introducing the students of I MA Department of English (P.G) about the various fields that they can choose for their career. Professor Mathews then spoke about the communication gap/skills that every student needs during the interviews and provided the students with steps to overcome barriers if any. The session was very interactive. Aptitude related games were organized and inferences were drawn on the spot. All the students participated actively and gained much needed insights about their career choices.

Guest Lecture - The ‘India’ Experience
Date: 12/03/2019
Speaker: Dr. Etienne Rassendran
Topic: Cultural Studies: The ‘India’ Experience
Class and No. of Students: IInd and IVth Semester M.A. English Literature; 44
Objective: To introduce the fundamentals of cultural studies in the context of India.

Dr. Etienne Rassendran, Associate Professor, St. Joseph’s College, Bengaluru introduced the students to the very interesting topic ‘Cultural Studies: The “India” Experience’ Popular culture is not necessarily ‘low brow’, he opined and explained the it might have that reputation is due to the fact that what is produced in popular culture is consumed by the masses. Popular culture actually goes on to form the public and shape the polity. He explained this using the example of Germany and Britain during the 1950s and 60s. He elaborated in the three markers of ‘cultural materialism’ which are multiculturalism, assessment of power and representations of popular culture. He used these parameters to verify the growth and journey of the ‘India’ experience, analysing movements or significant events in Indian history like the Bahujan movement and the Emergency. He further detailed on the clash between the grand narratives and the small narratives the inevitable tension between the two and concluded with how to make sense of our everyday experiences.

Guest Lecture - A DAY WITH AN AUTHOR
Class and No. of students: I MA and II MA English Literature: 51
Date: 08.03.2019
Objective: To provide students with the knowledge on how to write and publish a creative piece.
Resource Person: Ms Maitreyee B Chowdhury

The Department of English (PG) at Kristu Jayanti College, organised a guest lecture titled “A day with an author” on Friday the 8th of March 2019. The program commenced with a formal inaugural session which also had a beautiful rendition of an invocation song. Ms Maitreyee B Chowdhury, a Bangalore based poet and writer with three books to her credit- ‘Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen: Bengali Cinema’s First Couple’(Non Fiction), ‘Where Even the Present is Ancient: Benaras’(Poetry) and ‘The Hungryalists’ (Non Fiction) was the facilitatior. Ms Maitreyee is also the organiser of Bengaluru Poetry Festival, and poetry and fiction editor of The Bangalore Review, a literary journal. She spoke about her journey into the world of literature as a full time writer and the challenges of writing a non-fiction novel. The event was attended by both the first year and second year students of the Postgraduate programme in English literature giving them thoughts on publishing their creative write ups. We thank the Department of English (PG) for inviting Ms Maitreyee B Chowdhury who shared her insightful experiences and encouraged the students to engage more into the field of creative writing.

An Introduction to Media Literacy and Media Evaluation by Martin Lang- International guest lecture
The post graduate department of English in Kristu Jayanti College had organized the first lecture of the International lecture series on 12th January 2018 at 11 a.m. in Conference Hall II of the PG Block. Prof. Martin Lang, Associate Professor of media, gender and communication studies from the University of Minnesota, USA. The lecture covered the topic An Introduction: Media Literacy and Media Evaluation.

He began by throwing light on the theory proposed by Stuart Hall, stating that representation by media shapes our definition of reality. He brought in a lot of practical examples to emphasize on the point that media has manipulated our thinking process in order to gain profit. There was an active discussion which involved the teachers as well, on the subliminal meaning which most of the advertisements carry today. He ended the lecture by saying that media gains power when we get accustomed to the fixed meaning that media attributes to the most normal things. The lecture was extremely impactful and it was attended by both English Literature and Communication and Journalism students.

Guest Lecture on Culture Studies
The Postgraduate Department of English had organized its first lecture on Cultural Studies as a part of lecture series on January 24, 2018 in the conference hall of the PG block. It was attended by the students of English Literature and MCJ as well. The session started with the invocation song then a welcome note. The session was taken over by the guest lecturer Dr. Meena .T. Pillai. The session focused on the new wave of marginalized that is evident in the 21st century. The session gave valuable insights into the “virus of ideology” that manipulate human mind, the fluid concept of State and Nation, and how gendering is often used as a tool for enforcing the societal norms invented by the power system. The session also brought in various references from popular Indian films that reflected degradation of women and her individuality. Thus this lecture was a revelation to all students as it was a door to the world beyond our understanding. The session ended with a vote of thanks and with Jayantian anthem.

A guest lecture on Advertisements and script writing
An interactive session on Advertisement and scriptwriting was organized by the department of English on 10/8/2017. The spokesperson for the day was Dr. Anupama Nayar, who enlightened the students. She spoke about the importance of scripts. Dr. Nayar said that the scripts are actually created in our conscious and subconscious mind. She shared the remarkable and extremely valuable insights on various forms. According to her the media has evolved in a positive way and advertisements play a major role in transforming the thought process. And it is happening from generations, advertisements not only caters to the needs of students who are studying journalism, but also to the students who are studying literature

Guest lecture on the Essence of French culture by Regis Caudrillier
In an effort to understand and experience the essence of French Culture, the postgraduate students and staff members of the Department of English were treated to a full-fledged Parisian experience thanks to the entrée provided by Mr. Regis Caudrillier. “A product of France” and how Monsieur Regis Caudrillier introduced himself to his audience at the Guest Lecture delivered by him on the 19th of December 2017. The topic of the session was, “The Essence of French Culture” and Mr. Caudrillier successfully managed to distil the broad and extensive subject of French Culture, including the various current trends to present it effortlessly and beautifully to his spell bound audience The audience was redolent of the eau de cologne of France thanks to Mr. Regis Caudrillier articulating on the themes of Arts, Literature, Theatre, Cinema, Music and the Vivacious and enthusiastic ,yet resilient French identity.