POSTGRADUATE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The Postgraduate Department of English is one of the largest departments of the College and was founded with the College itself in 1966. It was upgraded to the Postgraduate level in 2005.

At the Undergraduate level, the Department offers an interdisciplinary approach to students of all streams of Commerce, Sciences and Arts. The courses at Undergraduate level include English Compulsory; English Elective; English Honours and English and Business Communication.  At the Postgraduate level, Masters in English is offered on merit basis. The number of students enrolled in these subjects and the number of teachers for the same has witnessed an enormous growth.

The faculty of the Department is well qualified with areas of expertise as wide and diverse as  Indian Writings in English , Comparative Literature, American Literature, Linguistics, Shakespearean Studies, British Poetry, Adaptation and European Drama.  Presently the Department consists of 9 members in the regular faculty.

In addition to teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, some of the faculty members of the Department have been providing training to NET Exam aspirants. Students have benefitted immensely from the same. The classes were conducted by the faculty after regular teaching hours.

The Department has been actively hosting National level Seminars, Workshops and Lectures by inviting the likes of the noted author Shobhaa De and luminous academicians like Prof Shyamala A Narayan, Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi; Prof Bhargavi Rao, Osmania University, Hyderabad; Prof Simi Malhotra, Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi; Prof Sonjoy-Dutta Roy, Prof Sunita Parmar, Prof Smita Agarwal,  University of Allahabad; Prof Goutom Ghoshal, Vishwa-Bharti University, Santiniketan; Dr BS Korde, University of Pune; Dr Niladri Chattterjee, Kalyani University, West Bengal; Prof Aneel Raina, Prof Manju Jaidka, Prof Shelley Walia, Prof Rumina Sethi, Prof Pushpinder Syal, Prof Rana Nayar , Prof Deepti Gupta from Panjab University, Chandigarh and many more. Over the years, dignitaries of distinguished literary merit have been invited to various Workshops and Seminars organised by the Department. Some of them include eminent Punjabi poet Surjit Patar, Navtej Johar, urban activist and choreographer, Mr Ravi Singh, Editor-in-Chief, Penguin Books India (P) Ltd, Dr AJ Thomas, poet, writer, translator and Editor, Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi,  Mr Sridhar Balan, Senior Consultant, Ratna Sagar (P) Ltd, New Delhi,  writer and academician Neel Kamal Puri, noted writer Khushwant Singh, Mrs Raji P Shrivastava, DPI (Colleges) Chandigarh and Jt Secretary Finance and several others.

The Department undertakes numerous activities to promote and improve the literary skills of the students under the banner of Adabi Manch, a multi lingual platform for the various departments of the languages in the College. Several students trained by the faculty have won laurels for the College in literary activities in Inter- College competitions and Zonal Youth Festivals.  

The Department of English is fortunate that several teachers from the Department have served the College as principals. S Ajit Singh (1985-87), Major PS Sangha (1994-2004), Mrs Harpreet Kaur Sangha (2008-2009), Dr Jyoti Lamba (2016-present) dedicated years of service as heads of the premier institute. The present principal Dr Navjot Kaur was an integral part of the department and been served the College since the last 18 years. She joined her duties as the Principal on 01 July, 2021.

The progression and growth of the Department is reflected in the success achieved by its  faculty members. Prof Harpreet Pruthi who taught from 1981-94, joined Department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. Dr Charanjeet Sohi who taught from 1982-2009, served as Principal of GGSCW, Chandigarh from 2009 to 2017. The serving principal of the College, Dr Navjot Kaur has taught in the department from 2004-2021. Mr Sandeep Singh Gill, IPS, who taught in the college  from 2011-16 has joined the prestigious Civil Services.

Various student alumni of the Department who passed out with Masters and Honours Degree are suitably placed. Among them, Dr Chanchal Narang, an alumnus of our College is teaching in the UILS, Panjab University.  Ms Ashia, who completed her Masters with top Honours in the College has been appointed as Assistant Professor ( ad hoc) in the Department faculty of the College. Abhinav Sharma, who did his Masters from the Department is working as Sub-Editor, English in The Tribune while Parminder Kaur is teaching in a school in Rupnagar under the Department of Education, Punjab.  Upasna Sharma is Senior Verbal Faculty at IMS, Mumbai.  Kshitij Mohan, who did Honours in English, is working as Emergency Medical Responder at Wet and Wild, Toronto and Abhijeet Shahid is employed as Event Supervisor, Water View Venue, Sydney, besides others who are working at various important positions.

In the coming years the Department intends to heighten the process of learning and ensure well rounded development of the students who pass through the portals of this College.

COURSES OFFERED

INTER DISCIPLINARY COURSES

BCom I - Short Stories, Plays, English and Business Communication

BSc II Medical/ Non Medical/ Computer Science - Short Stories, Plays, Business Communication and Writing Skills

BCA I - Short Stories, Prose, Poetry, Business Communication and Writing/ Correspondence Skills

BSc Biotechnology I – Prose, Drama, Business Communication and Writing/ Correspondence Skills

FACULTY

INFRASTRUCTURE

• English Departmental Room – cum – Staff Room equipped with a Library and a Wi-fi enabled Computer (Room no 117)
• Two exclusive classrooms for the postgraduate section, one of which is a Smart Classroom (Room M1 and M2)
• Classrooms for the undergraduate classes allotted as per the timetable in the main building, and smart classrooms available on-demand.