The Honours course in English at Maharaja Agrasen College was introduced in 1997. It aims to provide an exposure to a spectrum of global literatures and students are trained in various methods of literary analysis. The department has consistently provided opportunities to students for interacting with some of the most renowned scholars, critics, artists and thinkers. It has systems in place to ensure delivery of quality teaching, transparent mechanisms for internal assessment and structured preparation for University examination as well as orientation for future preparation for diverse fields and professions. Furthermore, it has a full calendar of activities aimed towards making students connect not just with the literary world but also to the larger world beyond their classroom ambit. The Department has its own departmental library as well as a rich reserve of resource in its Centre for Performing Arts and Cultural Studies (CPACS). The Department of English Co-curricular Student Society ‘ACTIVE’ lives up to its name each year by organizing and participating in many well attended events under the guidance of the teachers.

The co-curricular events include The Annual Lecture Series, Literature Festival, Meet the Author Series, Workshops, Excursion to places of cultural interest. In the academic year 2017-18, the department organized a trip to the historically and culturally vibrant town of Udaipur and the spectacular fort of Kumbhalgarh. Heritage Walks, exhibitions, theatre and movie viewing supplement class-room teaching on a regular basis. Last year, an English Proficiency Workshop was conducted to enhance the overall language proficiency of students. The annual literature festival ‘Literati’ included exciting and enriching events thereby promoting exchange of peer learning ideas in an interactive and fun-filled environment. The Annual Lecture Series featured Prof. Savita Singh, from the School of Gender and Development, IGNOU, Delhi. In Meet the Author Series on the topic ‘Biography and Popular Imagination’, three eminent biographers Mr. Vijay Lokapally, Mr. Yasser Usman and Ms. Sheela Reddy gave a glimpse to students into the world of writing and publishing by talking about their inspiring books. Furthermore, Prof Marcel Courthiade, Professor & Head of Romani Studies, Department of South Asian Languages, INALCO, Paris, gave a scintillating lecture on the history of Romani literature.

The Department has been organizing interdisciplinary conferences: International Conference Deterritorialising Diversities: Cultures, Literatures and Languages of the Indigenous (February, 2013); National Conference City Lives: Spaces and Narratives (February, 2016); and National Conference Reading Migrations: Fractured Histories, Forged Narratives (March, 2017). With the introduction of the CBCS curriculum, the department has successfully offered Generic Elective papers on ‘Text and Performance’, ‘Academic Writing’ and ‘Media and Communication Skills’ as well as ‘Creative Writing’ and ‘Technical Writing’ as Skill Enhancement Courses, eliciting very enthusiastic response from students of various streams. The Department also offered a variety of value addition Discipline Specific courses including Literature and Cinema, Literary Theory and Travel Writing. The students of the Department of English have also been proud winners at several inter-college and intra-college events. Several students of the department have been successful in procuring internships and jobs in prestigious organizations. The Department of English hopes to continue with its endeavors in the coming years and provide holistic training and support to its students to help them evolve and succeed.