Graduate Student Seminar Fall '23
The Department of English and Humanities, ULAB, held its Graduate Student Seminar of Fall 2023 online, on November 16, 2023. Thirteen MA in English students, nominated by their respective course instructors from the prior semester, presented their diverse research papers, with faculty members and students in attendance. The participants presenting their papers were from the three MA tracks: Literature and Cultural Studies, Applied Linguistics and TESOL, and Literature and Creative Writing.
Ms. Nadia Rahman, Assistant Professor, DEH, inaugurated the seminar, giving a warm welcome to the presenters, faculty members, and students. She, then, introduced the first participant, Md. Naimul Islam (Batch 222), who presented his paper, “The Contribution of Frankfurt School in the Development of Cultural Theories on Popular Culture.” Naimul provided a contextual background on the Frankfurt School and brought forth the various modern theories and current cultures that the school had been a foundation for.
The second presenter was Anika Tahsin (Batch 223), whose paper was titled “Corpus-assisted Discourse Analysis.” Anika delved into the linguistic elements utilized for corpus-assisted discourse analysis and the applications of CADA, highlighting its contribution to the depth of the English language.
The third presenter was Shah Mohammad Tauhidur Rahman Afridi (Batch 232), who introduced his paper “Keyword: ‘Creative’: The Art of Incorporating Creativity in Nonfiction Writing.” He pointed out the objectives of specific nonfiction writings from the respective course, displaying the scale of creativity of the genre and how that had been implemented in his own nonfiction work.
The next presenter was Kaniz Fatema Lamia (Batch 231) and her paper, “Translanguaging as a Medium of Instruction (MOI) and a Pedagogy in Classrooms,” explained the effectiveness of flexible language use as an MOI for equitable education. She also presented a step-by-step demo lesson plan as an example of what could be utilized in Bangladeshi classrooms.
Rownok Jahan Akhi (Batch 223) was the fifth presenter, with her paper “The ‘Raw’ vs the ‘Cooked’: An Analysis of Padma Puran Narrative and Padma Puran Gan Performance in Natore, Bangladesh.” Rownok differentiated between the narrative (the “raw” version) and the performance (the “cooked” version) of Padma Puran, whilst highlighting the unique characteristics of the protagonist.
The next presenter was Maliha Huq (Batch 202), whose paper was titled “Reading ‘Candles from the Mausoleum’: Using Magic Realism and Folkloric Elements in Short Fiction”. She began by discussing the genres of folklore and magical realism, after which she presented her own work of fiction and how elements from the aforementioned genres had been incorporated into it.
The seventh presenter was Sumaiya Nawshin (Batch 231) with her paper “Theories on First and Second Language Acquisition.” Sumaiya discussed the theories and concepts learned from the respective course and how they carry applications in real-life linguistic scenarios.
The next presenter was Sayma Afsana (Batch 223), whose paper “Contradictory Ideas of Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies and Comedies,” demonstrated how the playwright reinforced stereotypes of women in his tragedies while challenging those same stereotypes in his comedies, bringing forth the conflicting ways women were represented in Shakespeare’s two genres of works.
Abida Alam (Batch 232) was the next presenter and her paper was titled “Memory and English Language Teaching.” She explained the remembering strategies used to strengthen memory in ELT and how there might be certain biases towards normality in recollection, understanding both of which leads to effective ELT.
The tenth presenter was Fabiha Haider (Batch 222), and her paper “Theoretical Orientation and Teaching-learning Methods in the National Curriculum of Bangladesh” discussed the National Curriculum of 2012 and how it encouraged the implementation of the Constructivist theory. Fabiha emphasized the significance of this theory and how to utilize it in regard to the methods of establishing an effective learner-based classroom.
The following presenter was Md. Mushfiqur Rahman (Batch 231) and his paper was titled “Cultural Construction through Literature and Media.” He analyzed the connection between literature, media, and culture, highlighting the concepts of media literacy and the dynamic influence of literature; all of which contributed to one’s cultural understanding.
The twelfth presenter, Fariha Mahfuz (Batch 221), presented her paper, “ELT Methods in the 21st Century,” which brought forth the distinction between traditional ELT methods and those of the current century. She prioritized on the issues of ELT methods in Bangladesh and how these methods could be made more relevant and effective.
The final presenter was Rashmona Akther Rime (Batch 222), whose paper was titled “Agency, Development, and Displacement: A Postcolonial Ecocritical Study of Gun Island.” She accentuated the three fundamental concepts of the Postcolonial Ecocritical theoretical framework, and how these were represented and depicted in the novel Gun Island.
After the students successfully completed their presentations, Ms. Arifa Ghani Rahman, Head and Associate Professor, DEH, and Professor Kaiser Haq, Dean, School of Arts and Humanities, DEH were invited to comment on the presentations. They commended the participants on their excellent research papers and presentations, pointing out the broad range of specialties and knowledge exchange that had been illustrated. The seminar was brought to a close by Ms. Nadia Rahman thanking the presenters, the respective course teachers, and audience for their participation.
Report by Marifa Khan (211013012)