MCM launches UGC-funded global meet on Shakespeare scholars

The theme of the event was introduced by Manju Singh,conveyor of the seminar and head of the Post-Graduate Department of English,MCM DAV College for Women. Elaborating on the diverse themes of Shakespearean works that would be critiqued through the seminar against a post-modernist backdrop,she expressed hope that the seminar would meet the intellectual standards of the participants in its three days of deliberation.

The galaxy of scholars and academicians,along with the chief guest,released a “Souvenir” of the seminar at the inauguration ceremony. The inaugural address was delivered by Prof R S White of the Department of English and Cultural Studies,University of Western Australia,Crawley,on Love’s Labour Lost: Shakespeare Scholars as Postmodernists. The inaugural session was chaired by Prof R W Desai,former professor of the University of Delhi.

Prof Bhim Singh Dahiya,former vice-chancellor of Kurukshetra University and president of The Shakespeare Association (India) delivered the keynote address on Shakespeare Scholars: An Overview. The inauguration brought principals of various educational institutions from the tri-city,international stalwarts in the area of Shakespearean studies and scholars and researchers on Shakespeare from all over the world.

The college played host to scholars such as Prof Lisa Hopkins,Professor of English and Head of the Graduate School,Faculty of Development and Society,Sheffield Hallam University,the UK,and Prof Stuart Sillars,Department of Foreign Languages,University of Bergen. The inaugural session also included the release of Shakespeare: a New Biography by Prof Dahiya,Critic Shakespeare: Essays in Appreciation,edited by Prof. Anand Prakash and Prof S P S Dahiya,and a special edition of the Journal on Drama Studies. The seminar was inaugurated in an academic ambience created with a book exhibition-cum-sale.

The starting session was followed by a presentation of 21 papers by international scholars and experts. Discussions on various themes of Shakespearean scholarship were held in the various sessions. Parallel sessions were organised to critically contemplate on a diverse set of issues related to a post-modernist analysis of Shakespearean works.

With resource persons such as Prof Swati Ganguly,Associate Professor,Department of English,Vishwabharti University,Shantiniketan,Prof S L Paul,Retd Professor,Kurukshetra University,and Prof Ram Nivas,Department of English,Kurukshetra University,the first day of the seminar offered an in-depth investigation of a wide range of themes from Shakespeare’s works.

The sessions were chaired by experts such as Prof Sillars,University of Bergen,Prof S. Sengupta,Krishnagar College,Prof Manju Jaidka,Department of English and Cultural Studies,Panjab University,Chandigarh,Prof Pushpinder Syal,Head,Regional Centre,EFLU,Lucknow,and Prof Brajesh Sawhney.

The Principal of MCM DAV College for Women,Dr Puneet Bedi,congratulated the PG Department of English for the successful start of the international event. She said that MCM is ever-committed to the task of furthering research in various disciplines and expressed the hope that the seminar would prove fruitful in invigorating further research.