The Department of English, now a constituent of the newly-formed School of Languages at the coming St. Joseph's University, offers learners fruitful academic engagement at both the Undergraduate and Post-Graduate levels. In addition to university-mandated language courses (General & Additional English), the Department offers Optional English in the BA English-Journalism-Psychology combination (sin
ce 2013), Communicative English in the BA Communicative English-Political Science-Economics combination (since 2016), writing, reading, linguistics and production components in the Journalism courses under BA EJP (since 2013) and BA Journalism--International Relations and Peace Studies--Public Policy, since 2019. In 2020, the Department began a new direction in with twinned collaborations in Theatre and Performance Studies and Optional English, as part of the BA- Theatre and Performance Studies--Optional English-Psychology course. The Optional English course provides a thorough grounding in research skills and academic writing in addition to standard university requirements. The student is assured of steady academic support through a live tutorial programme that aims at one-on-one support for every student. Students may choose between electives in Linguistics and South Asia Studies in the final year. The Department began offering Communicative English Studies in the BA--Communicative English-Political Science-Economics combination in 2016. This programme offers students both a liberal arts grounding and vocational skills crucial for entry into fields of employment such as communication, theatre, teaching, publishing, research, archiving and learning design. Here too, one-on-one support through a tutorial engagement is assured. The Department partners the fledgling Journalism Department to promote a hands-on learning approach in the field. The Journalism programme focuses on Print and Web Journalism; it thus offers a comprehensive grounding in writing, editing, print design, web design and production. Students may choose between electives in Development Journalism and Arts & Culture in the final year. The syllabus was revamped in 2018 to provide a strong Production focus. Three academic flows are compulsory: British Literature, Indian Literature and English Studies alongside a Creative Practices flow ranging across Creative Writing and Theatre Studies. In addition, the students
must choose between electives such as World Literature and Linguistics. They must work on a research paper every semester, while also balancing public communication and production responsibilities. The Department also offers a series of certificate courses every year. These include courses in creative writing and contemporary literature. The department runs three associations: The Literary Society, The Performing Arts Society, Nous, the College Quiz Club, and the Linguistics Society. The annual literary festivals META and META-Schools are held through these associations. Performing Arts hosts Upstage, an intercollegaite Theatre Festival every year. The College Quiz Club holds an annual quiz festival titled Tie Grab, while Nous holds a news arts festival titled Blue Pencil.
