Students’ Seminar and Poster Making Competition

The Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education Society College, organized a Students’ Seminar and Poster Making Competition for the students of the fourth and sixth semesters on 12th March 2022 in the Concept Hall from 10 a.m to 4.30 p.m.
As the students return to the College after a long period of online classes due to the pandemic, this initiative was taken by the Department of English to encourage them to think independently, engage in self-study, develop research aptitude and participate in group activities. Two separate topics were selected for the students from the two semesters and a Call for Papers was circulated inviting them to submit their original thoughts and reflections.

The topic for the fourth-semester students was “American Literature and Cinema”. Literature and cinema have shared close kinship since the advent of the modern celluloid in the 1900s in America and the process of translation from the written word to filmic texts is fraught with advantages as well as drawbacks. The seminar sought to address the expanding interface between American literature and Cinema and explore the dynamic and multifaceted practice of cinematic adaptations. Several students submitted original, reflective and research-oriented papers exploring different sides of the process of adaptation from text to screen. The topic for the sixth semester students was “Mapping Histories Through Women’s Narratives”. Women’s Writing as a distinct area of studies recognises the importance of gender in literature and attempts to highlight and appreciate the literary representation of female experiences. There is a lively, diverse and widespread female literary culture, much of which has for long been neglected or has had to face challenges like unjust and negative criticism. Women’s writing across time and culture represent a range of responses to patriarchy, society, religion, politics, wars and the many specific social and cultural contexts in the course of history, thereby reflecting alternative perspectives, challenging dominant discourses and even filling gaps in the historical narratives. The seminar attempted to discover and explore the rich and varied output of women writers; to consider critical issues surrounding gender and writing and to initiate a forum for dialogue, discussion and debate. Students presented several thought-provoking papers as they engaged with the subtextuality of women’s narratives. They also prepared brilliant posters voicing the angst and plight, as also the achievements of women in the patriarchal hierarchy.
The event was successfully coordinated by Ms. Chitrangada Deb and Ms. Neetisha Jha, Department of English, with enthusiastic support from the student volunteers. The papers and posters presented by the students were judged by a panel of judges comprising Dr. Suchandra Chakravarty, Ananyya Banerjee and Tathagata Sen from the Department of English. The winners were awarded books as prizes at the end of the day-long session and all the participants were given recycled notebooks as token prizes to familiarize them with the idea of upcycled notebooks made from used paper and thereby promote environmental awareness.