About Department
Established in 1969, the story of the Dept of English of Utkal University, the oldest University postgraduate department of English in Odisha, is one of continuous expansion and renewal. It has the distinction of being founded by a woman who was not only accomplished in the lore of English literature and language with her A.M degree from the University of Minnesota, USA but was also an early pioneer in the field of women?s higher education in Odisha. Pravat Nalini Das gave academic leadership to the English Department at Utkal since its beginning in 1969 till her retirement in 1987.
Vision
To unlock the speaker, thinker, writer in every student. To give every student a share in the enlightened life of the mind and spirit that it is the prerogative of literature to build and nurture.
Mission
Being an English department, our first mission is to promote excellence in English studies. Being an English Department in India, our additional, but no less important, mission is to render English studies relevant in a richly diverse multilingual and multicultural world. A third important objective is to produce employable and in-demand postgraduates who can make decisions ethically, problem solve effectively and communicate efficiently.
Goal
Objectives We aim to promote a robust cultural literacy and a full-blooded communicative competence of which English language proficiency is a natural byproduct. We teach our students how to weave texts – by way of critiquing, writing and translating – in which we find ourselves already woven. We care, first and foremost, to be – and to produce – ardent readers and interpreters.