SUB, TESOL Society of Bangladesh organises Distinguished Lecture Series-8
The Department of English Studies, State University of Bangladesh (SUB) in collaboration with TESOL Society of Bangladesh organised the Distinguished Lecture Series-8 titled “Globalectics and Ngugi wa Thiong’o” on Wednesday virtually.
The Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS) is an initiative taken by the Department of English Studies to ensure the dissemination of knowledge in the diversifying field of English language and literature.
This series also aims at fostering philosophical ideas and critical thinking necessary for the academic and professional development of both the faculty members and the students, as it exposes them to the latest theories, research findings, pedagogical innovation, and the best teaching and learning practices in their relevant fields of study.
Professor Simi Malhotra, head, Department of English and director, Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India joined the event as the speaker.
She spoke about Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s contributions to the world literature and the different dimensions of Globalectics which she emphasises, embraces wholeness and interconnectedness and is a way of thinking and relating to the world, particularly in the era of globalism and globalisation.
She mentioned one major challenge for Globalectics which is linguistic feudalism, i.e. the hierarchy of languages with the notion of aristocracy. She also raised a concern which is the rise of cyborature as we have already entered the age of ebooks and audiobooks in the age of the internet and artificial intelligence.
Mashrur Shahid Hossain, professor, Department of English, Jahangirnagar University shared his thoughts at the discussion through his knowledge of African literary figures.
The event started with a welcome speech by Touhida Easmin Humaira, acting head, DES, SUB.
Professor Sayeedur Rahman, president, TESOL Society of Bangladesh and professor, Institute of Modern Languages (IML), University of Dhaka, Hamidul Haque, head and senior assistant professor, Department of English, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) along with faculty members from various universities in Bangladesh attended the programme.
Nusrat Ara, Lecturer DES, SUB, anchored the event.