Guest Lecture Series by Dr. Amritjit Singh

A guest lecture series was organized by the Department of English at The IIS University on February 23-24, 2015 for which Dr. Amritjit Singh, Langston Hughes Prof. of English at Ohio University, USA, and Nehru-Fulbright Visiting Professor at University of Delhi, was invited to address Postgraduate students and research scholars in the Dept.  Opening the first session with an overview of American Renaissance, Prof. Singh discussed the reining literary figures of the era ranging from the beginners to the ones who made it known as the “most stimulating period” of the age. The discussion moved to a special emphasis on to the “black” strain in human nature through the works of Emerson and his contemporaries. The latter part of the first session focussed on Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, stating how there is more to them than what meets the eye. In the second session of the first day, Prof. Singh threw some light on the works by Afro-American women writers, especially the difference in the similarities of the novels by Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. Both the sessions were highly interactive with active audience-participation.

In the first session of the second day, Prof. Singh spoke to the students on the mechanics of M.A. Dissertation and Thesis-writing with the help of a focussed attitude, an individual voice and critical thinking. Switching over his talk in the latter part of the session to Partition literature, he initiated his talk by playing a short clipping of “Tamas”, the well-know filmic adaptation of the novel revolving around the violence of Partition. He asserted how the riots were not “inevitable” but “orchestrated”. The second session was an extended discussion on the painful memory of Partition by discussing some prominent works based on the theme. The lecture proved to be a very informative experience for the students.