Course Catalogue

This course provides an introduction to research methodology in English Studies with an aim to familiarize students with basic concepts of research. It also acts as a preparatory course for students undertaking research for their Final Project (dissertation). The course examines current research paradigms, principles of research design, commonly used research methods for small-scale studies, processes involved in the analysis of data with a possible theoretical framework and modes of presenting research findings. The aim is to ensure that students have the training to conduct research academically (and professionally). The course is designed to help them develop specific skills (grant writing for example, or advanced library research), or guide them through useful practices (such as proposal writing for higher studies and conference paper plan).

The aim of the course is to understand how Shakespeare constructs culture, and cultures construct Shakespeare. The bard has already become a part of cultural language everywhere; he is seen to be not only modern but also postmodern and truly multicultural. This course will thus begin by understanding the broad concept of cultural construction as an act of meaning creation arising out of the ideological, political and social dynamics of different cultures. Students will be encouraged to explore Shakespeare’s cross cultural encounters and his appreciation of diversity, plurality and marginality in redefining race, ethnicity, gender, place and text – in other words, ‘constructing’ cultures. The students will then focus on how Shakespeare himself has been the subject of cultural construction across time, space and languages through translation, adaptation, theatrical and filmic reproduction, pop music, advertisement, cartoons, comic books and other forms of appropriation/assimilation.

The course is concerned with interdisciplinary approaches to the study and critique of culture and society. It provides students with an introduction to theoretical concepts and approaches to the many dimensions of culture. Theoretical approaches that have shaped critical and scholarly discourses of cultural are studied, drawing on disciplines of social sciences and the humanities. Engaging the most ground-breaking and prominent theorists of the present—as diverse as Badiou, Deleuze, Derrida, Foucault, Lacan, Nancy, Žižek and recent Feminist, and Digital theorists—the course explores approaches to a range of issues and problems concerning power, economics, media, art, visual culture, identity and discourse in contemporary, and historical contexts.

Research Methods for ELL and Teaching course will discuss essential components that familiarize students with various aspects of classroom based feasible research and prepare them to perceive other relevant aspects of ELT research initiatives. Students will also enhance their understanding by reviewing a good number of research articles published in well reputed journals. The course will connect threads between ELT research trends and its relevance to their own teaching learning contexts. Finally, students are required to write their own research proposal outlining introduction, problem statement, purpose of the study, research questions, research tools, literature review, theoretical framework, methodology, data collection and presentation, and references.