Significant Achievements

The Department has successfully organized the following seminars and conferences in the last three decades:

• XXXVI International Conference of the Indian Association for American Studies (2004)
• The Post Condition (1999)
• Comparative and National Literatures (1991)
• The students of the Department have produced some commendable dissertations on various subjects.
• Feminine Sensibility and English Literatures (1989)
• Commonwealth Literature (1987)
• Critical Approaches and Research Methodology (1984)
• Silver Jubilee Session of All India English Teachers Conference (1974)

The Department has published the following monographs:

• The Post Condition: Theory, Texts and Contexts, ed. Ranjit Kaur Kapoor and Manjit Inder Singh (Proceedings of the Seminar organized in 1999).
• Footprints: Critical Essays on Literature in the Memory of Professor G.S. Rahi, a Festschrift (1998).
• Critical Approaches and Research Methodology, ed. B.R.Rao (Proceedings of the Seminar organized in 1984).

Besides these monographs, the following books have been published by the members of the department:

• Dr. D.S. Maini, Henry James: The Indirect Vision, Studies in Punjabi Poetry, Cry, the Beloved Punjab, The Spirit of American Literature, A Reluctant Flame (Poems).
• Dr. Gurdit Singh, The Poetry of James Thomson, B.V.
• Dr. B.R. Rao, The American Fictional Hero,The Novels of Mrs. Anita Desai
• Dr. Sant Singh Bal, George Orwell: The Ethical Imagination
• Dr. G.S. Rahi, Edith Wharton
• Dr. Gurbhagat Singh, Eastern Poetics and Western Thought, Studies in William Blake, Literature and Folklore after Structuralism, Transcultural Poetics, Sikhism and Postmodernist Thought, Japuji: A Translation.
• Dr. Ranjit Kaur Kapoor, The Theme and Treatment of Evil in Joseph Conrad
• Dr. Gulshan Rai Kataria, The Faces of Eve: A Study of the Plays of Tennessee Williams
• Dr. Manjit Inder Singh, V.S.Naipaul and George Lamming: The Poetics of Alienation and Identity, V.S. Naipaul (Diasporic Writers Series), Milestones (Poems), The Critical Space: Studies in Literature, Theory, Nationalism and Diaspora (forthcoming).
• Ms. Jaspreet Mander, Lemons, Oranges and Pomegranates (Poems).

More..

• The members of the Department have on different occasions visited foreign countries to participate in conferences and seminars. Dr. Darshan Singh Maini was a frequent invitee to international seminars in the U.S., Canada, England, Poland, Singapore and other countries. He was also the National Lecturer for one year. Dr. Gurbhagat Singh visited Europe, America, Brazil and Japan to chair seminars and make innovative presentations. Dr. Gulshan Rai Kataria visited the U.S. as International Visitor to the United States on invitation from the American Council of Learned Societies in 1991. He was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship in 1992. During this period, he was based at New York University in Manhattan. Dr. Manjit Inder Singh visited the United Kingdom and France to present papers at the International ACLALS Conference and World Literature Conference in 1989.
• The Department also organizes weekly seminars to keep the students actively engaged through regular presentation of papers and participation in discussions. The members of the faculty also contribute to these discussions.
• The Department organized a Refresher Course in English from 8th to 28th March 2004. Thirty six Lecturers in English participated in this 3-week course. The next Refresher Course is scheduled for December 2004.
• The Department has recently started a need-based, self-sustaining and path-breaking Remedial Course in English. It aims at improving English speaking and writing skills of students. The course though open to all is primarily meant for the campus students. Classes for this course are held in the evening in the Department.

Infrastructure Facilities

• Department Library
• University Library
• Computer
• Internet

Major Research Projects (In Progress)

1. Hina Nandrajog: Partition as Metaphor of Betrayal and Violence in Selected Fiction in English and Translated Works, Supervisor: Dr. G. R. Kataria
2. Karmjit Kaur Virdi: Search for Identity in the poetry of Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon and Paula Muldoon, Supervisor: Dr. G. R. Kataria
3. Mandeep Singh Chahal: The Nation and Beyond: The Historico- Cultural Identity of Punjabi Character in 20th Century World Fiction in English, Supervisor: Dr. Manjit Inder Singh
4. Swaraj Raj: Diasporic Consciousness in the Selected Novels of Salman Rushdie, Rohinton Mistry and Bharati Mukherjee, Supervisor: Dr. G. R. Kataria

List of Successful Doctoral Dissertations

• Anand Prakash Sharma- Mysticism and the Nature of Consciousness in Robert Frost
• Avtar Singh Bhullar- India: Myth and Reality in the Fiction of Rudyard Kipling,
• E.M. Forster, L.H. Myers and John Masters
• Avtar Singh- Ethics and Aesthetics in the Novels of E. M. Forster
• Ayesha Khosla- Marginalisation of Women in the Works of Mark Twain
• Bhupinder Jit Kaur- Ethics and Aesthetics of Saul Bellow: A Selective Study
• Daler Singh- Existentialism of the Absurd: A Study of Albert Camus Works
• Harinder Sohi- Images of Women in Nayantara Sehgal, Anita Desai and Ruth Jhabvala
• Jagroop Singh- D. H. Lawrences Concept of the Holy Ghost: A Study of His Fiction
• Jolly Vrinda Bhardwaj- God in the Darkling Plain: Spiritual Quest in the Poetry of Hopkins
• Kumkum Bajaj- Towards Higher Self: Critical study of Iris Murdochs Novels
• Manjitinder Singh- V. S. Naipaul and George Lamming: Two Approaches to the Problem of Alienation and Identity.
• Mohinder Singh Dhillon- R. K. Narayan: Novelist of the Middle Classes
• Narinder Kumar- Existential Concerns in the Poetry of Robert Frost
• Nirmal Bajaj- Narcissism in Black Poetry Between the Wars
• Paramjit Singh Ramana- Narrative Patterns in the Fiction of R. K. Narayan
• Parveen Kaur Khanna- Socio-Cultural and Regional Interface of Women in Post- Independence Indian Fiction in English.
• Perminder Bandesha- Comparative Study of Female Characters in the Major Fiction of Henry James and Anita Desai
• Prabh Dayal- Philosophical Vision of Raja Rao: A Study of His Fiction in English
• Rabinder Powar- Tragic Patterns in Modern American Drama: A Study of Selected Plays
• of Eugene ONeill, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller
• Rajesh Kumar Sharma- Kamala Dass Work: A Feminist Perspective
• Rajtinder Singh - Marginality vs. Centre: Paradigms of Colonial Experience in theMajor Fiction of V. S. Naipaul.
• Ranjit Kaur- Symbiosis of Drama and Imagery in Henry James
• Rupinder Kaur- Faith and Doubt in the Poetry of Robert Browning
• Rupinderjit Saini- Partition Theme: A Comparative Study of Indo-Anglian and PunjabiFiction
• S.K. Mushtaq Dwesar- Thomas Hardy and Graham Greene: Study of the Picaresque Saint in their Novels
• Sant Singh Bal- George Orwell and the Ethical Imagination
• Santosh Gupta- Nature and Patterns of Evil in the Fiction of William Golding
• Seema Bansal-Images of Society in the Plays of J. B. Priestley
• Sharan Pal Singh- Moral Paradigms: A Study of the Selected Novels of Herman Melville and Joseph Conrad
• Sukhdeep Dhillon- Relationship Between Content and Form in the Plays of Arthur Miller