M.A. in English

The idea of creating an M.A. course in English was conceived after due deliberation on the strengths and achievements of the department, its exemplary track record and the quality of students it produces. The Department of English has achieved a recognised level of excellence and the repeated and insistent requests from our students and the general public to start an M.A. in English are a positive indicator that the course will attract many students. In addition, the Department has a dedicated faculty whose commitment to teaching and research, academic qualifications and achievements, experience of post-graduate teaching and training students in fundamentals of research, and enthusiasm about starting a post-graduate course constitutes a strong asset. The Department has already ideated a post-graduate syllabus, a draft of which was shared with St. Xavier’s University where it is currently being taught, and has begun to update and modernize that syllabus keeping in mind the nature and slant of contemporary English studies and the specializations that will empower students in their study of the subject. The Department has the adequate infrastructure, library facilities and grants, and sufficient number of faculty to begin the M.A. course with the confidence of ensuring and maintaining academic quality.

Course Objectives:

While the course objectives have been outlined for each paper individually, the primary intent of the M.A. course is to give the students a solid foundation in the canonical areas of the subject and provide rigorous training in how to critically read literature to develop analytical skills and to think independently and originally. The syllabus has been updated to expose the student to contemporary writing and to ways of reading, thinking, understanding and writing about post-modernism. The Literary Context papers have been designed with this in mind. Further to this, the syllabus included papers that have become crucial and popular in contemporary literary studies to ensure that students are up-to-date in the areas they have studied. This in turn will also prepare those students who wish to pursue research in those areas. The syllabus has also focused on Literary Theories with two papers entirely devoted to the same. The training in Theory is intended to provide the student with advanced tools and methods and strategies for writing and interpreting literary texts. The course as a whole is intended to lead up to and prepare and train the student to research and write the Dissertation that has to be submitted in Semester 4.

Course Outcomes:

By the end of the course the student will have developed the ability to think independently, to write cogently and critically, and to be prepared for producing a Dissertation of at least 10,000 words. The course outcome will be understood in terms of the assignments, paper submissions required in a number of papers, along with dissertation in the end of the course. Evaluation of the same will enable us to determine to what extent the course objectives have been fulfilled and satisfied.

Research Orientation:

The syllabus has been designed to innovate and improve the teaching-learning experience and process. To this end students will be trained to write originally and critically and to submit papers as a part of the course requirements. These papers will require them to read and research extensively. They will be trained in Research Methodology, and taught how to locate references, cite sources and prepare bibliographies. Classes will also be taken in critical thinking and writing and how to prepare an organised and argued paper. All this will lead up to the Dissertation they will have to submit at the end of the programme. By the end of the course it is expected that the student will be adequately prepared for doctoral research