National seminar on ‘Reviving Linguistics, Literature & Cultural Studies’ held in SJU

Chümoukedima, October 9 (MExN): The Department of English, St Joseph University conducted its second two-day national seminar on the theme, “Reviving Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies.” on October 7 and 8.

During the inauguration ceremony, the abstract book that contains the abstracts of all the papers that were to be presented at the two-day seminar was released, and there was also a surprise inauguration of Digital Archive: DRONIK, which is an acronym of Digital Repository of Naga Indigenous Knowledge. 

Dr Alemmenla Walling, Asst. Professor and Chief Co-Ordinator of the Digital Archive prepared a Special Introductory Video and explained that the aim of DRONIK is “to preserve, protect, promote, support and conserve the authentic indigenous knowledge, and to revitalize the rich cultural heritage of the Nagas of St Joseph University by establishing the Digital Repository on Naga Indigenous Knowledge (DRONIK) as a storage system to record and preserve possible ancestral and existing knowledge for the benefit of the Naga people, researchers and communities at large.”

Special Lectures were delivered by Dr Zothanchhingi Khiangte and Dr Manab Medhi, Assistant Professors of Department of English, Bodoland University on the topic, “Women as Weavers of Cultures: Textiles and Texts” and “Eco-Consciousness in Assamese Literature” respectively. 

The day-one concluded with three paper presentations by Research Scholars of SJU moderated by Dr Watinaro Longkumer, HOD, Department of Psychology and Counselling.

On day-two, the resource person Prof Gambhir Singh, Head, Department of English, Manipur University gave a lecture on “Introduction to COPE and Publication Ethics.” It emphasised the need to be aware of the dangers of committing plagiarism and the need to publish genuine articles in authentic journals. 

Twenty five papers, authored and co-authored by 37 teachers, scholars and students on various topics, were presented. Each paper was based on the central theme of Reviving Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies. The topics included, Reclaiming Narratives, Interplay of Tradition and Modernity, Uncovering Poetry hidden in Songs, The Postmodernist Phase of Liberalism in the Light of Experiments, The Context of Language Change among the Gen Z, Defying Gender Norms etc. 

The seminar concluded with the valediction program that included distribution of certificates.