porikroma desk : The Department of English and Modern Languages (DEML) at North South University inaugurated its two-day long international conference in English Studies, titled ‘Ruptures and Resilience: English Studies in the Now’ on November 4th at the North South University campus in Bashundhara Residential Area. Honorable Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor in-Charge of NSU, Professor Dr. M. Ismail Hossain, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Dr. Abdur Rob Khan, Chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages, Professor Dr. A.Q.M.A. Rahman Bhuiyan, Keynote Speaker Dr. Dana Lynn Driscoll, Professor of English and the Director of the Jones White Writing Center at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA, along with other academic luminaries from English departments in the country and around the world were present.
In his welcome address, Professor Bhuiyan discussed the department’s priorities in creating an academic environment for sharing knowledge, generating and exchanging ideas, and initiating collaborations to inculcate life-long learning opportunities. The theme of the conference drew an overriding insight into the emerging conflicts surrounding the academic sphere of English Studies of today. In her Keynote, Professor Dana Lynn Driscoll shared her expertise and research in the area of academic writing and the importance of it across disciplines. The Dean of SHSS, Professor Khan discussed the continued importance of humanities in the current context of the world. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor in Charge Professor Hossain, stressed on the importance of hosting such conferences in Bangladesh as he declared the conference open.
The first day of the program also included two special sessions, a plenary, a session participated by both academic scholars and students from various national and international universities, punctuated by a literary afternoon. The conference brought together over 100 scholars and thinkers from 5 continents: North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and of course, Asia, working in the fields of language, literature, and TESOL.
Alongside Dr. Shireen Huq as moderator, Dr Deena P. Forkan, Dr Razia Sultana and Dr Niaz Zaman participated in a special session on ‘Bangladeshi Women Writing in English: Struggles and Fulfilment’. In that session, they challenged the overarching limited binaries of male and female perspectives in the case of creative writing; Dr. Niaz Zaman said, ‘A creative mind is an androgynous mind.’ Another special session on ‘Ruptures and Resilience: English Studies in Bangladesh: ‘ was moderated by Dr. Nazia Manzoor. Other speakers in that session were Dr. Shireen Huq, Dr Kaiser Huq, Dr Fakrul Alam, and Dr. Sayed Manzoorul Islam. In the session, the participants discussed language and literature, and the importance of how literature is woven into the fabric of social identity. They also discussed the importance of bridging the gap between literature and language especially in the context of Bangladesh.
