The Department has received more than 40 abstracts from teachers, academics and research scholars, across the country, who, have expressed their willingness to participate in the seminar. Besides, the Department has invited five eminent Professors from outside the State for attending the seminar, of whom, three have already confirmed their participation.

The officiating Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Mehraj-ud-Din Mir, shall preside over the inaugural session which will start at 11 AM while as former IUST Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Siddique Wahid, will be the Chief Guest on the inaugural session. Professor Sumanyu Satpati, Professor and Head, Department of English, University of Delhi shall deliver the keynote address.

In addition to the inaugural and the valediction, the seminar will be spread over seven technical sessions in which around 30 participants will make their presentations. Talking about the seminar Head, Department of English, Professor Muhammad Aslam said, “The diverse and vibrant linguistic, literary and cultural traditions of South Asia offer a fertile ground for the analysis of their historical constructions and reconstructions. At the same time, these traditions and forms of knowledge attest both to their own essential quality as well as to the fact that they are products of historical accidents.”

“An analysis of how these traditions emerge and evolve involves the study of the relationship between power and literary production. Hence the explorations of these intersections and interrogations are necessarily cross-disciplinary, cutting across disciplinary boundaries such as anthropology, geography, literary studies, linguistics, media studies, philosophy, political theory, sociology and beyond”  he added.

Registrar, Prof. M Afzal Zargar, reiterated the pledge of the University to support deliberations on the creative and innovative themes across the disciplines to add to the knowledge and also provide valuable inputs to the policy makers through seminars/workshops. He underscored the importance of the academic contributors for major policy intervention and support based on their research data and recommendations. Expressing hope that the seminar shall be surely adding to the knowledge in the concerned field, Prof. Zargar wished success to the participants and the Department concerned.

Giving details about the event, Dr. Ihsan Malik remarked that the seminar would prove to be a good platform not just for the students of English Literature but also for the students from disciplines like Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy and Psychology to deliberate on the dynamics of the convergence and symbiosis of language, literature and culture.