Department: English

About the Department

The department of English, Majuli College, came into being in 1962, the year in which the college was founded. Since its inception, it has witnessed fluctuating fortunes with several teachers joining and leaving it at frequent intervals. Nevertheless, the department has to its credit a glorious heritage of imparting English education to thousands of undergraduate students, many of whom have adorned prestigious capacities of academics and administration of the state. The department also boasts of having possessed some brilliant teachers with stellar academic credentials who, however, joined different universities and state civil services in pursuit of rosier fortunes of life. Notable among these teachers who served the department and left it are Dr. B.N. Singh (expired while serving as HoD, English, Lucknow University), Rama Saikia (joined ACS), Abhijit Sarmah (joined ACS), and Dr. Virendra Kumar Singh, a BHU medalist, who joined his alma mater after serving the department for twenty-four long years. The only full-fledged teacher having completed his service period in the department so far is Rudra Kanta Jha who almost single-handedly steered the department during tough times and remained witness to generations of students pursuing education in the college through thick and thin. At present, the department imparts education to more than a thousand students in both Arts and Science streams at both Higher Secondary and Degree levels. Major Course in English was introduced in the year 1997 and is still in progress under a different course name called CBCS Honours. Several of its alumni (Major and Honours) have passed out with 1st class and have completed their higher studies from different universities/institutions of the state. Ajitabh Hazarika who topped the ranks of Dibrugarh University English Major Students in 2017 has emerged as the brightest of its alumni thus far.

The department currently has three permanent faculties ably assisted by three other contractual teachers with different specializations. Among the current faculty, two have rendered significant contribution to the literary canon of the state — Dr. Debabhuson Borah with his solitary volume of essays on literary criticism in Assamese entitled Nirbochon (2018) which fetched him Munin Borkataky Award in 2019; and Nabajit Chelleng with his collections of short stories in Assamese entitled Ajopa Gosor Atmakatha (2012) and Non-Digital Golpobor (2019), both of which have endeared him to the readers across the state. The other teachers also have published their research papers and literary articles in different journals. Since well before NAAC’s first assessment of the college in 2004, the teachers of the department have been devotedly engaged in the grueling process of NAAC’s assessment of the college by way of preparing the SSR (Self Study Report) — Dr. Virendra Kumar Singh in 2004 and Apurbajyoti Hazarika in 2018 while the latter also served as coordinator of IQAC during NAAC’s second cycle of assessment of the college in 2018. Dr. Debabhuson Borah is currently serving as coordinator, IQAC of the college. Apurbajyoti Hazarika and Dr. Debabhuson Borah are jointly editing an annual peer-reviewed research journal named Bodhidroom, published by Majuli College Literary Forum.

The department currently functions in a chamber of its own that is equipped with separate tables and chairs for the teachers and a computer. It has a small library stocked with some select classics of English literature and other books that are issued to both teachers and students as per rules laid down for the purpose.

Vision:

Instilling values of life and literature, harnessing the skills of language in the students and thus making them sensible enough to serve humanity.

Intake capacity (Major): 20 (Honours)