BA in English
The building blocks of literature: Language, form and text
Literature in the English language is a whole world, full of craft and aesthetic and forms that tell us stories. These stories speak of the worlds in which we live: different places and experiences, and many perspectives. In this programme, we take you through an exploration of literature in the English language — written in English, translated into English, from different times, in different forms and via different media. Through this exploration of the written word and oral expression we hope you learn to love literature as a way of reflecting on our lives.
Who should join us?
- If you are considering a career as a writer or an editor
- If you aim to polish your English as a broad foundation for success
- If you love escaping into novels and short stories
- If you find it satisfying to express yourself in poetry
- If you are intrigued by the way literature reflects history and society
Why study with us?
We offer Interdisciplinary Openness
Our programmes encourage you to explore and follow your interests. We design our courses to ensure that you can specialise in a subject of your choice while learning various subjects across disciplines.
A Common Curriculum for all students
You will meet all your classmates at the beginning of your course to build all the tools you need for your four years of study. This includes foundational courses, an understanding of India, interdisciplinary studies, and courses in creative expressions.
We provide Academic Assistance
Our consistent academic assistance through language support, peer tutoring, faculty mentorship, etc., ensures that you meet the programme’s academic requirements.
We ensure Financial Support
We extend need-based financial assistance to students that cover tuition and accommodation expenses.
Programme Structure
Our programme is centred on you. We hope you will bring your experiences, languages and cultures into the classroom.
Our classes will include discussions, close reading and analysis, group and pair work, presentation and peer review. We will do field trips, reflection and writing, and we encourage you to create your own reading lists and writing portfolios.
Please visit this page to learn more about our four-year undergraduate programmes.
The Common Curriculum will introduce students to the study of the themes and areas that emphasise and build critical and analytical abilities, and sensibilities for dialogue, reflection and cooperative learning. The Common Curriculum has three sub-components organised as below:
Foundations: Build capacity for critical thinking, reasoning and communication.
Understanding India: India’s history, society and possible future.
Creative Expressions: Explore music, visual art, theatre, dance, martial arts, yoga, pottery, sport, and other creative areas.
In the core courses, we help you build all the tools you need for an appreciation of literature. We explore rigorous writing, language training and an exploration of theory, cultural studies and translation. We include quantitative reasoning into our course work.
An Introduction to Literature
Disciplinary Major
This is a gateway course that conveys the excitement of doing close reading and literary analysis. It also looks at different genres and the interaction between the student and literary text, and the inevitability of multiple meanings and perspectives.
An Introduction to Creative Writing: Poetry and the Short Story
Disciplinary Major
Using poetry and short stories to explore creative writing.
Poetry and the Short Story from Across the World
Disciplinary Major
In focusing on questions of form and context, this course will start by examining the ritual origins of poetry, the circumstances that led to the development of more quotidian and secular modes, the relationship between poetry and narrative, and the development of non-narrative poetic genres.
Contemporary India Through Literary and Cultural Texts
Disciplinary Major
Texts ranging from the years before and after Independence to the India of the 21st century.
Statistics and Society
Disciplinary Major
How do numbers and data represent our world?
Romantic Literature: Nature, Self and Society
Disciplinary Major
Writing for the Public
Disciplinary Major
Learning how to write professionally for public audiences.
Drama as Text and Performance
Disciplinary Major
Students learn about the origins and categories of drama through ancient and contemporary texts and the conditions of production and reception of dramatic texts and performance.
Approaches to Literature
Disciplinary Major
Exploring critical reflection through other disciplinary areas.
Bangalore: Language, Media, Culture
Disciplinary Major
Exploring the texts that make up the city of Bangalore.
Students must be prepared for the world of work at the end of the programme should they choose to enter it. We aim to provide the required skills and competencies for this through a Minor featuring courses in an Occupational or Interdisciplinary theme. These sets of courses are aimed to provide both conceptual understanding and skills and tools that will allow students to contribute through work and further study.
Students can opt for a minor in any one of the indicative areas listed below:
- Education
- Media and Journalism
- Data and Democracy
- Sports and Fitness
- Climate Studies
- Arts
The selection of these indicative areas is based on the availability of courses and our evaluation of the student’s interests and academic needs. For each cohort, a final list of available courses will be announced at the end of their second semester.
Students can craft their own educational experience by selecting courses in the following ways:
- Students will have the option to take additional courses in their Disciplinary Major.
- Interdisciplinary Minor that will enable them for their further higher studies or career pathways.
These courses could also be selected to enhance and broaden their
- Language skills and Quantitative reasoning capacities/programming skills.
- Understanding of themes outside their Major subject.
Classroom Practices
Discussion-based learning, guidance in creative writing, grassroots interviews, comparative textual analysis, digital lab work and phonetic simulations. Students also investigate cultural texts and practices, and critically examine issues such as race, gender, class, post-colonialism, globalisation and identity.
Honours Projects
2022
- Kabir Kala Manch and Ambedkarite Aesthetics: A history of Dalit Bahujan Resitance in India’s Cultural Resistance Movements, Tara Brahme, mentored by Bindu Menon & Asim Siddiqui
- The Lavender Menace: Lesbians and the Sexual Revolution,Meghana Rupakula, mentored by Nithya Vasudevan
- Media and Mobilisation During the Telangana Movement (2009−2014), Nandita Ponugoti, mentored by Srinivas SV
- Covid Poetry: The Role of Poetry in Building Affective Communities, Shrishti Sinha, mentored by Sonali Barua
2021
- Participation and Value of Art on Instagram, Divij Ingale, mentored by Srinivas SV
- Caste and Violence in Tamil Cinema, Vishnubhala Kailasam, mentored by Srinivas SV
2020
- Consumption, Culture, Commemoration — The Irani Cafes of Hyderabad, Ramsha Farhan, mentored by Srinivas SV
- Masculinities and Their Cultures In Contemporary Pakistani Fiction, Varun Andhare, mentored by Sonali Barua
2019
- Tracing the interconnections between contemporary Indian English and India’s recent and current socio-political and historical landscape, Anandi, mentored by Sonali Barua
- Facebook Meme Cultures: Evaluation, Convention, Collaboration, Neeta Subhiah, mentored by Neeraja Sundaram
- The Created Being in Contemporary Science Fiction, Nirica Srinivasan, mentored by Neeraja Sundaram
2018
- Media Representations of Conflict and Politics: The Case of Irom Sharmila, Adit Dzouza, mentored by Neeraja Sundaram
- The Crisis Narrative in the Humanities: Examining the question of relevance, Sabyasachi Saikia, mentored by Srinivas SV & Asim Siddiqui
Partnerships and Workshops
We invite collaborations between hungry young writers, illustrators, and scientists. Workshops are aimed to help introduce students to creative possibilities — science communication, design and illustration, and speculative fiction.
The workshops and resource persons will foster in students a solid grounding in science, communication, creativity, and the many ways in which these can intersect, both here and in the students’ futures.
Here are some of the recent workshops:
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