Poetry Workshop Held by DEH with Rochelle Potkar
On Sunday, June 23, 2019, a three-hour poetry workshop was organized by the Department of English and Humanities in the Auditorium of Campus A, with fiction writer and poet, Rochelle Potkar, from Mumbai, India.
After Prof. FakrulAlam introduced the poet, the workshop began with the poet reading out some of her poetry, which
enthralled the audience. The poet then discussed the styles and forms of poetry, she also pointed out the significance of haikus and haibuns. The latter part of the workshop included enthusiastic students reading out their self-written poems or poems of other poets to the audience. The workshop was attended by the Pro Vice-Chancellor of ULAB, Prof. Shamsad Mortuza, the Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, faculty members of DEH, and curious students from all the departments of ULAB (graduate and undergraduate programs). The program ended with a Vote of Thanks by the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Shamsad Mortuza.
Paper Canoe Organized German Language Workshop
Paper Canoe- ULAB Literary Society hosted a workshop on German Language on July 4, 2019, at the University, Campus A. Lecturer Anika Shah, the advisor of ULAB Literary Society was present along with over 20 zealous students from various departments of ULAB.
Afsana Rahman, a student of the Department of English and Humanities coordinated the workshop, which focused on how the German Language and culture have been conventionalized by the rest of the world. The workshop began with her introducing the German alphabets and the way the letters are pronounced. Further, in the workshop, she discussed the stereotypes and myths surrounding the German people as well as their culture and students soon joined the discussion sharing their views about the culture, providing a reference to the sources that shaped their opinions about it. The jovial atmosphere throughout the workshop proved that the German Language was not all somber and mirthless. Towards the end of the workshop, students expressed their positive views on the overall experience of the workshop and hoped for more workshops on German Language as well as other languages across the world.
BELTA-CLS and DEH Held English Language Seminar
On July 4th, 2019, the Department of English and Humanities along with Center for Language Studies (CLS) and BELTA conducted a two-hour English Language Seminar at Campus A,at 3 pm, where two papers were presented by distinguished scholars.
The first paper titled “Hard to reach: the role of the Sylheti-Bengali diglossia, orality, and multilingualism in promoting public health and community resilience amongst UK Bangladeshis during extreme weather events” was presented by Dr. Chris Tang of King’s College, UK. Dr. Tang explained that the difficulty in societal and linguistic translations result in a shortage of resources to warn Sylheti-Bangladeshis of the dangers of Mother Nature in East London. He also hinted that language could become a possible barrier and in times of emergency without access to proper resources lives could be lost. His paper also analyzed the way the younger and older Sylheti-Bangladeshis interpret the warnings issued about the weather.
The second presenter was Dr. Obaidul Hamid from the University of Queensland, Australia who presented his paper titled “English and teachers of English: Reflecting on ideology, agency, and pedagogy.” The focal point of Dr. Hamid’s discussion was the emergence of variation in English phonetics, syntax, and grammar due to the wide use of English by non-native speaking countries. He also added that the line between actual errors and new types of languages has become blur with the mania in learning English.
The seminar was well attended by the Vice-Chancellor of ULAB, Prof. Jahirul Haque, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of ULAB, Prof. ShamsadMortuza, the Special Advisor to the Board of Trustees, Prof. Imran Rahman, Advisor to CLS, Prof. Shaila Sultana, BELTA President, Prof. Rubina Khan, Advisor to BELTA, Prof. Arifa Rahman, faculty and students from ULAB and several other universities.
The seminar concluded with Dr. Arifa Rahman’s insights on the presented papers and the Vote of Thanks by Dr. Shaila Sultana.
Digital Storytelling Workshop Organized by DEH
A three-day-long workshop washeld by the Department of English and Humanities on Digital Storytelling through which the participants could showcase their creative skills by creating stories with the medium of video essays. Ms. Lavina Ambreen Ahmed, a faculty member of the Creative Writing Program at Rutgers University, New Jersey, facilitated the workshop.
On the first day of the workshop which was held on 25th July 2019, the participants learned to create a video essay or short film for portraying their narratives through the help of various video editing software. On the second day of the workshop, held on 1st August 2019, the participants exhibited their partially completed works for some feedbacks from their facilitator. They got one day to incorporate the feedbacks for preparing their video essays before finally showcasing their works on the 3rd August 2019, which was the third and final day of this workshop. The participants received certificates and lots of appreciations.
DEH Organized Summer Seminar Series-1
As a segment of the Summer Seminar Series, the Department of English and Humanities hosted two talks on August 1, 2019, at Campus A.
The first speaker was Ms. Nazia Manzoor, Senior Lecturer (on leave) in the Department of English and Modern Languages, North South University. At present, she is pursuing her doctoral studies in the State University of New York, Albany. The speaker was introduced by Prof. FakrulAlam to the DEH faculty members, students, and other guests. Her talk entitled, “Sympathy, Kinship, Humanity – The Making of a Political Subject,” was related to her doctoral thesis which explored the abstract and hypothetical role of race in the analysis of the human as a political subject.
The latter part of the seminar featured Ms. Dilruba Z. Ara, a Swedish-Bangladeshi author. She is well known for her novels such as Blame and A List of Offences. Prof. Golam Sarwar Chowdhury was “In Conversation with Dilruba Z. Ara” where he inquired the writer about her process of writing and her selection ofthe subject matters on which her works focus on. The session provided valuable insights and ideas on the different steps of writing books as well as short stories and selecting subject matter or content for any write-up. Prof. ShamsadMortuza, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of ULAB and the Head of the Department of English and Humanities concluded the sessions by sharing his thoughts and perception on the discussed topics.
The Department of English and Humanities recently organized a special talk titled “Rethinking Shadhana: The Evolving Traditions of Baul Literature, Music, and Spirituality” by Golam Rabbani Shihab, an Assistant Professor at Jahangirnagar University currently pursuing his PhD in Queen’s University, Canada. The talk was held on August 6 as part of the department’s Summer Seminar Series.
Mr Shihab was introduced to the audience by ULAB Pro-Vice Chancellor and DEH departmental head Professor Shamsad Mortuza. Mr Shihab presented extensively on the findings of his ongoing research, drawing attention to questions of retaining the authenticity of Baul spirituality and navigating through the effects of commercial influence in the contemporary market. Mr Shihab – who is a trained Chhayanaut singer specialising in Baul music – also performed different songs for the audience to portray the evolution of authentic Baul tunes over the years. He further focused on the misrepresentation and exploitation of Baul communities, forced distortions of the spiritual aspects of Baul Shadhana, and the ethical dilemmas of an academic exploration into this sector.
The program was attended by students and faculty members from different departments, as well as a number of guests.
ENG.LIT MEET: DEH Inter Batch Cultural Contest
For the second time, the Department of English and Humanities hosted the inter-batch cultural competition, ENG.LIT MEET on 3rd August 2019 which is one of the most exciting events for the students of DEH. Through this event they can enhance their skills related to co-curricular activities. It allows them to represent their inner creativities to flourish through various modes of art, such as- dramas, poetry recitations, skits or charades, songs, dance, etc.
Prof. Kaiser Haq (Dean, School of Arts and Humanities), Prof. ShamsadMortuza (Pro Vice-Chancellor, ULAB, and Head, DEH), Prof. Suhail Islam (Visiting Professor), and Ms. Nadia Rahman (Assistant Professor, DEH) were in the judges’ panel of this event. About eleven batches participated to compete for the cash prizes where they showcased their talent through providing mesmerizing performances and also showed off their knowledge by giving unique interpretation on both the classical era and contemporary time.
There was a diverse range of performances starting from a Bengali (Old Dhaka dialect) version of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”; Shakespeare’s Women; a mockery of the mock-epic, “The Rape of the Lock” and other portrayals of songs, dances, drama, etc. Batch 191 became the winner for their performance titled, “Sexual Abuse: It Ends Now.” They received Tk. 8000 as the cash prize and a certificate for becoming the champion of this competition. Both Batch 172 and Batch 182 had been announced as the joint Runners Ups because of their performances of “Happily Ever After” and “Fate” respectively. Each of them received Tk. 5000 as the cash prize and a certificate. Honorable mention wasgiven to the Batch 183 for their performance named, “Borrowed Time.” Each of the participants received a certificate for participation.
Both the faculty members and the students experienced great excitement and enjoyment through attending these marvelous and spellbinding performances, thus making this event another huge success.
Crossings, Vol. 10 Published
DEH Journal, Crossings Vol. 10 has been published in July 2019. You can click on the following link for the full pdf text.
The Department of English and Humanities held the Fall 2019 Orientation program for Batch 193 on October 17, 2019 at the Campus A Auditorium in Dhanmondi.
The event was structured a little differently from usual with tables set up so that faculty members could interact with the students individually and get to know them better. After the welcome speeches by the Head of Department and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Shamsad Mortuza, and by the Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, Prof. Kaiser Haq, students and faculty members were entertained with songs, a game, and a play performed by members of other batches.
Prof. H M Jahirul Haque, Vice Chancellor of ULAB, who also attended the event, in his speech, welcomed the new students to ULAB and commended the department and the head of department for organizing a unique program. The program, organized by Paper Canoe and supported by the Fall 2019 Event Committee, was attended by all the DEH faculty members, students, and admin officer.