Over the years, the Department of English has developed from what used to be traditional, purely text-based criticism, to wider outlooks, taking into account various standpoints as well as various literatures. Alongside changes in the syllabi, there have been marked changes in teaching methodology, going in the direction of more and more open understandings of knowledge generation and transmission. Classroom processes encourage student participation in the reading and interpretation of prescribed texts, subscribing to the belief that readings cannot be singular unilateral. What literature and criticism teach is an emphasis on the capacity to argue logically one’s point of view, as well as the value of a multiplicity of perspectives. The pedagogy strengthens effective communication skills, both verbal and non -verbal. Informal discussions and interactions between students and teachers as a good practice has been an invigorating experience for developing leadership qualities and healthy competitive spirit.
The department envisions fostering critical thinking, articulate expression, and aesthetic sensibilities. Through expertise in English literature and language, we hope to nurture students who will become excellent professionals as well as responsible, sensitive, and conscientious individuals. We hope to provide professional and personal skill-building with a special emphasis on effective communication and creative expression in language.
The department strives to encourage students to excel in literature, literary criticism, communication, research, creative writing, and translation through an active engagement with literary texts and scholarship. The mission of the department is aligned with the mission of the college which is to help students into better human beings.
The programme is designed to train students in critical thinking and interpretation through exploration of English literature and critical theory. Texts in focus range from traditionally canonical ones to current experimental genres like graphic novels and translations of marginal texts. The course also offers a Vocational specialisation with papers in English Language and Communication Skills as well as Media studies for students interested in learning English Language at a more advanced level, in order to pursue careers in media and mass communication, TESOL, Second language studies as well as linguistics.
Studying English at St. Xavier’s College, at the Postgraduate (MA) level, combines a focus on linguistic proficiency with an attempt to nurture critical thinking and engagement with creative literary works. While language skills are a recognized necessity given the competitiveness of the national and international job market, the development of the ability to read critically and empathetically, to critique cultural artefacts and to establish rigorous and current theoretical frameworks for social and textual analysis form an integral part of humane living. The humanities in general, and literature in particular, have the ability, through this focus, to further what has been a long term aim as far as the College is concerned: equitable and just processes of learning, taking into account a multiplicity of positions from which this knowledge is produced.
