Shillong, Sept 30: Prof Nandana Dutta, noted scholar, academician and professor of English at Gauhati University, delivered a special talk on “The Discipline of English and Literary Public Spheres” at NEHU, Shillong on the 28th of September, 2022, organised by the Department of English, in collaboration with Research Scholars’ Forum and Shillong Forum for English Studies (SFES).
In her lecture, Prof Dutta explicated how in a very seminal wayEnglish studies have been instrumental in shaping and directing public spaces for opinion formation and intellectual discourses.
Citing the 19th century intellectual history of Northeast in general and Assam in particular, Prof Dutta said that from Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan, Gunabhiram Barua, S.K. Bhuyan to contemporary intellectuals like Hiren Gohain, Sanjoy Hazarika.
Other stalwarts associated with English studies had played significant roles in the development of inclusive, diverse and critically multi-layered social narratives.
Referring to the German philosopher, Jurgen Habermas, Prof. Dutta argued that public spheres were the spaces for opinion formation, debates and deliberations where English as a discipline had always provided seminal critical vantages.
In his welcome address, Prof. JyotirmoyProdhani,Head of the department, described Prof Nandana Dutta as one of the sharpest minds of the present generation of teachers of English belonging to this part of the country.
Chaired by Prof. Moon Moon Mazumdar, the session drew elaborate interactions and discussions from the teachers, scholars and students present at the venue. Dr Rimi Nath successfully coordinated the programme and Dr Som jyoti Mrid has proposed the vote of thanks.