Two-day National Seminar on Food 2015

Govt. of Kerala Sponsored 

Two-day National Seminar on

Food

Organized by
The Department of English
KNM Govt. Arts & Science College, Kanjiramkulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

On 15 & 16 December 2015

CALL FOR PAPERS

Of the three necessities that dictate the human existence, food has always been placed first. However, apart from fattening up the species, food has transcended the traditional definitions of being a life-sustaining consumable. It defines who we are and where we belong. Our perceptions of culture, history, identity, gender, race, ethnicity, tradition, and lifestyle are all intertwined with it. This 2-day National Seminar on Food is an interdisciplinary quest to relish the abundant flavours of ideas it brews.
Original and unpublished papers on the representations of food in fields of literature, culture, art, media, education, history, economy, and sociology are invited. Abstract not exceeding 300 words in Times New Roman – 12 font, along with a brief bionote of the author should be mailed as MS Word attachment to natsemknmenglish@gmail.com on or before 15 October 2015. The intimation of selection shall be made by 20 October 2015. The full papers in the MLA 7th edition format should be mailed on or before 25 November 2015. All papers presented at the seminar will be published in the seminar proceedings and select papers that pass the peer review will be published in book form with ISBN.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE on Culture, the Arts, and Literature 2016

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE on  Culture, the Arts, and Literature

25th to 27th February 2016

 KTHM College, 

Nashik 422002 Maharashtra

CONCEPT NOTE:

The influence of Culture, the Arts, and Literature upon one another is quite obvious, but what kind of influence, why and how it takes place can be very interesting, engaging, and even intriguing. Culture—as shared traditions, values, desires, aspirations, goals, and attitudes of a community or society—plays a pivotal role in the being and becoming of any nation-state. Its reflections in the arts and literature are indicative of the power of culture; however, though the arts and literature are re-presentations, they have the power to leave indelible marks on culture. The arts and literature of a culture are often considered a measure of that culture’s highest achievements since creative activities also represent a culture’s identity. In recent times, it has become very important to understand how the attitudes, ideas, and values of individuals, groups, societies, or cultures are represented in their literature, arts, and other creative activities and even daily life. This, in turn, augments our understanding of the varied and complex relations among lived, represented, and speculated existence. While it is necessary to improve our cultural literacy in order to transform our view of the arts and literature of a society, cultural literacy also broadens our attitude toward the ‘other’ people, thus transforming us into better philanthropists.
 
For a better understanding of the (Globalized) society today, it is important to understand the ways in which cultural values are articulated socially and creatively and how making and circulation of meaning within a culture take place. The conference aims to proceed from addressing basic issues like what culture is (a statement like ‘Culture is everything’ does not really define what it is) and what it does to raising questions about the complex and vexed issue of cultural hybridity and to seek answers to them. It is interesting to see if the arts and literature can facilitate cultural hybridity. One of the most important questions is, of course, to look within whether we have really learnt to describe and discuss arts and culture whether our own or of the ‘other.’ It can be answered only through acquiring insights into the culture of man’s sense and sensibility by comprehending broad views of life, achieving a higher degree of critical awareness, and developing certain ways of thinking. However, since nothing is static, cultures, arts, and literatures are also dynamic, heterogeneous, and dialogic; for this reason, changes in cultures, arts, and literatures call for our understanding of (their) histories as well. Historical approach can help explore the ways of various human civilizations through a variety of disciplines such as theology, aesthetics, mythology, musicology, dance, archeology, architecture, folklore, and so on. While contested histories shape politics in many countries today, it is important to see that the arts and literary works challenge both conventional and political certainties, even transforms the culture of a people.   

 The following sub-themes will be the focus of the conference though innovative ideas related to the conference theme are welcome: 
1. Classical Indology 

2. Mythologies (Indian/Egyptian/Greek/Roman)  

3. Film & Visual Culture  

4. Comparative Studies across Cultures, Arts, and Literatures  

5. Performing Arts and Culture/Literature  

6. Media and Culture/Arts/Literature  

7. Politics and Culture/Arts/Literature 

 8. Social Change and Culture/Arts/Literature

 9. Adaptations  

10. Religion and Culture/Arts/Literature  

11. Crime/War and Culture/Arts/Literature  

12. Gender/Sexuality/Race/Ethnicity and Culture/Arts/Literature  

13. Diaspora/Subaltern Studies/Identity and Culture/Arts/Literature 

14. Language and Culture/Arts/Literature  

15. Ancient and Modern Languages  

16. Philosophy and Culture/Arts/Literature 

 17. Marxist Perspective on Art, Literature, and Culture 

 18. Multiculturalism and Arts/Literature  

19. Postcolonial Studies/Globalization and Culture/Arts/Literature  

20. History and Culture/Arts/Literature  

21. Culture/Arts/Literature of the Present and of the Past 

 22. Religion and Culture/Arts/Literature 

 

Abstract Submission Last Date : 30th December 2015
Full Paper Submission Last Date: 31st January 2016  

Conference Fees: Rs. 1500/- (For Teachers)

Rs. 750/- (For Students & Research Scholars not getting any scholarship or grants)

On the Spot Registration: Rs. 300/- extra (For Teachers)

Rs. 150/- extra (For Students & Research Scholars not getting any scholarship or grants)

Accommodation:

We will make decent accommodation available; however, since we have kept the registration fees to a minimum possible (which includes breakfast & lunch on all three days), accommodation charges will be borne by the participants.

PUBLICATION: The best papers will be published in a book with an ISBN by a reputed       publisher.

 Contact / Information: 

Chetan Deshmane  
Cell: +91 9423963908 (SMS & Whatsapp Only)
 Email: dausche@gmail.com  

Yogesh Gangurde
 Cell: +91 9423696777 (SMS & Whatsapp Only)
 Email: ygangurde@gmail.com
 
Purnima Trivedi-Kulkarni Cell: +91 9764066777 (SMS & Whatsapp Only) 
 Email: purnima_sal@yahoo.co.in

 Prashant Mothe 
 Cell: +91 9890290602 (SMS & Whatsapp Only) 
 Email: prashantmothe14@gmail.com

International Conference on English Language and Literature: Retrospect and Prospects February 2016

International Conference on English Language and Literature: Retrospect and Prospects 

SELLTA and Bishop Heber College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli

 4 & 5 February 2016

Literature is endowed with the potential to transform and intensify language. Literature, therefore, is the product of language. Literature and language cannot be separated, since it is only through language that we create our perceptions and realities of the world.  The English language continues to occupy a pivotal place in world literatures, as the language of prestige, and scholarship.  Although the teaching of English Literature in India has been in vogue for more than a century now, teachers and students of English have always been beset by a range of difficulties in their elucidation and appreciation of English Literature. Hence, it is a paradox that, although India is making rapid strides in the field of English Education, the standards of teaching English Language and Literature have undergone a sharp decline, which needs an effective redressal mechanism in place. 

 
Professor Edgar W. Schneider, with the University of Regensburg, Germany, classifies world Englishes based on a distinction of: 

 

 ‘‘ENL’’ (English as a Native Language) countries

 ‘‘ESL’’ (English as a Second Language) countries and

  ‘‘EFL’’ (English as a Foreign Language) countries.

 

In ENL countries, even if multilingualism may play an important role in the society at large, English is the vernacular language of almost all or at least a significant majority of the population (like Britain, the USA, or Australia).  

In ESL countries, English exists side by side with strong indigenous languages, is widely spoken, and assumes prominent intranational, sometimes official functions, as the language of politics, the media, jurisdiction, higher education, and other such domains (as in Ghana, Nigeria, India, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, etc.).

In EFL countries, English, acquired almost exclusively by formal education, performs no official internal function but is still strongly rooted and widely used in some domains (like the press or tertiary education) because of its special international usefulness in business, the sciences, technology, etc. (as in Israel, Egypt, or Taiwan). Of course, the status of English in any given country may change in the course of time.  
In India we are categorised under the ESL countries, where English occupies a phenomenal role as the language of politics, the media, jurisdiction, higher education, and other such domains. Significantly, one third of all the published books in India and one fifth of periodicals in India are in English. According to the 1981 census, the literacy rate in India is 32.23 per cent, and the English literary rate may be about 6.5 per cent; this will roughly make about 25 to 30 million users of English in the country. According to some other estimates, there are more speakers of English in India than in Britain. The users of English in India outnumber the speakers of some Indian languages like Assamese (12.6 million), Gujarati (36 million), Kannada (30 million), Kashmiri (3.4 million), Malayalam (30.5 million), Punjabi (23.4 million), Sindhi (2.2 million), Urdu (37 million), etc.

In such a situation, exploring the various facets of ESL in the context of English Language Teaching, and in Literatures in English, and to set right the declining standards in the teaching and learning of English, occupies a challenging and interesting scope for research.  
 As such, this Conference intends to provide a platform for Teachers, Professors, PG Students & PhD Scholars to present their original ideas and approaches to Language and Literature through meaningful responses, in a wide range of important rubrics which comprise but not limited to, the following sub-themes:  
 Language, Literature and Ideology  
 Asian Language Learning – Emerging Trends & Prospects  
 Language and Literature  
 ESL and Cultural Communication 
 Classroom Pedagogy  
 English Teaching in the Digital Age  
 Methods for teaching General English  
 Challenges in teaching English for Specific Purposes  
 Effective Teaching Methodologies in the Literature/Language Classroom  
 Assessment Practices in Language/Literature teaching  
 Comparative Literature – Challenges & Prospects 
 Modern Literature  
 The Place of Language in Postcolonial Studies  
 Postmodernism in Literature  
 Indian English Writing  
 World Literatures in English  
 Translation Studies in the ESL Context
 New Varieties of English  
 Role of South East Asian Languages in the Global Context
 Diasporic Writing  
 Immigrant Writing 
 Language of Contemporary Literature  
 Deconstruction and Language

Contact:
Lt. Dr. K. Premkumar
(+91)9843752304        
sellta.conference@gmail.com
http://mathurameducationaltrust.com/sellta.htm

International Conference on English Language and Literature

International Conference on the Historiography of English Education in India

University of Hyderabad

Centre for English Language Studies

International Conference on the Historiography of English Education in India

9-10 February 2016

Coordinator: PingaliSailaja

This conference aims to bring together scholars who are working in the area of the historiography of English language education in India. Although the primary focus will be on English in India, papers on other related aspects are also welcome as indicated below.

The history of English in India begins as early as the 17^th Century almost immediately after the first British traders came to the country. English was used by interpreters initially and then gradually spread to others. Formal English education began in early 18^th Century. The language spread in India through educational policy and missionary activity. Importantly, the British were not the only Europeans in India who encouraged and imparted education. There were other, earlier European endeavours, particularly by the Portuguese. The British continued the process and their efforts were modelled on and departed from previous efforts.

Several complex and contradictory factors impacted the establishment and spread of English education in India—historical, political, social, religious, literary, educational and so on. In different ways, these factors continue to impact English education into present times. There are several attempts to trace the events and record the spread of English in India, yet the works are uncoordinated and tend to have narrow foci. There is much that still needs to be researched and brought to light. There is a need to consolidate the different findings and approaches to the field. In this conference, scholars will share their findings and research work in progress. Papers that have a narrow focus, such as a small region or a relevant work, are welcome along with ones that have a broad sweep for presentation at the conference. Since India in earlier times encompassed present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh, papers with regional focus on those countries (until 1947) are also welcome. Two other areas that the conference is interested in are: the influence of or divergences from other European education systems in India (for example, Portuguese and French), and methodological issues in conducting research in historiography work of this kind.

 The areas in which presentations are invited are:

·        History of ELT in India

·        Representation of the historicity of English education in different types of texts

·        Historiography of English language teaching and testing approaches

·        Methodological aspects of historiographic research

·        Other European languages in India and their educational policies and practices

·        Any other area related to the overall theme of the conference.

Abstracts of 250 words are invited on the above theme. They will be blind reviewed.

Last date to receive abstracts: 31 October 2015

Notification of acceptance: 30 November 2015

Abstracts to be sent to <celsupe@gmail.com>

 If you have any questions, please contact <sailajapingali@yahoo.com>

PingaliSailaja

Professor

Centre for English Language Studies

School of Humanities

University of Hyderabad

Dr. C. R. Rao Road

GachiBowli

Hyderabad 500 046.

India.

Phone: 91-40-23133419

Two-Day National Workshop on Contextualising Literary Theory in ELT

Two-Day National Workshop

on 

Contextualising Literary Theory in ELT

November 17-18, 2015

PG Department of English & Research Centre

Govt. Brennen College, Kerala

International Conference in English Language Teaching, Literature & Cultural Studies dec 2015

 Three-Day International Conference

 in 

English Language Teaching, Literature & Cultural Studies

28th to 30th December 2015
Vidyamandir College, Perumba, Payyanur
Kerala, India