Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, Feb 28: Two-Day National conference on “Literature, Culture, and Society: Humanities in the 21st Century”, organized by the School of Languages and Literature, began today at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University.
Prof Pragati Kumar, Vice Chancellor, SMVDU, addressed the participants and highlighted the unquestionable role of humanities departments in education institutions and the importance given to humanities in NEP, 2020.
The guest of honour, Dr A K Das, Dean FoHSS, foregrounded the relevance of the conference and remarked that conferences like this are extremely significant in propagating the academic discourse.
The key-note address was delivered by, Prof Nagendra Kumar, Professor in the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, on the title “Humanities in the 21st Century”. He threw light on the exceptional importance that humanities hold even amidst the technological advancement.
The inaugural session began with a welcome address by Dr. Anurag Kumar, Head, School of Languages and Literature, SMVDU. This was followed by an address by Dr Isha Malhotra, Assistant Professor and Convener of the conference from the timeless classics to the latest avant-garde works, literature serves as a mirror to society, reflecting its values, aspirations, and conflicts.
Neeraj Gupta, FO, SMVDU; Dr Vineet Tyagi, Dean R&D; Dr Anurag Kumar, Head SoLL; Dr Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi, Assistant Professor, SoLL and Dr Isha Malhotra, Assistant Professor SoLL were present on the occasion.
The inaugural session ended with a vote of thanks by Dr Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi, Assistant Professor and coordinator of the conference.
This was followed by a session titled “Memory, History and Collective Identity” including paper presentations by presenters from different institutions.
Eminent plenary speakers included Prof Ajit Kumar Mishra, Associate Professor from Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi; Dr Veerendra Kumar Mishra, Associate Professor Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan and Dr Sayantan Mandal, Senior Assistant Professor, IIT Jammu
This followed another session of presentations on gender studies. Lastly, Dr Isha Malhotra, Assistant Professor and the convener of the conference proposed a formal vote of thanks.
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