International webinar on “Plagues, Pandemics and Literature”
3rd International Webinar held in D.K. College
Mirza,
August 4: On the 3rd of August, the 3rd
International Webinar of Dakshin Kamrup College, organized by the Internal
Quality Assurance Cell, was held via Zoom digital platform. The topic of the
Webinar was “Plagues, Pandemics and Literature”, which was in conformity with
the present pandemic situation. The Keynote Speaker for the session was Dr.
Rakhee Kalita Moral, Head, Centre for Women’s Studies and Associate Professor,
Department of English, Cotton University and the Resource Person was Dr. Amit
R. Baishya, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Oklahoma,
USA.
The
webinar was inaugurated by Dr. Nabajyoti Das, Principal, D.K. College. In his
Inaugural Address, he highlighted the significance of the topic and welcomed
the dignitaries and all the participants from across the globe to the webinar.
The session was moderated by Dr. Gargee Chakraborty, Co-ordinator, IQAC and
Head, Department of English, D.K. College. She also introduced Dr. Rakhee
Kalita Moral who delivered an insightful Keynote Address that dealt with how
plagues and pandemics became a veritable part of life and literature since the
Medieval Ages. In her speech, Dr. Moral gave instances of various literary
texts from different time periods that are replete with references to
pestilences or plagues.
Then
the Resource Person for the session, Dr. Amit R. Baishya was introduced by Dr.
Jilmil Bora, Associate Professor, Department of English, D.K. College. Dr.
Baishya spoke at length of a certain homology in plagues narratives,
highlighting how such narratives treat the idea of plague as being of a foreign
origin, how the narratives always allude to some form of media that is
instrumental in the spread of news and panic, and so on. He also showed video
clips from films and read out portions from texts so that the audience could
arrive at a better understanding of the topic.
After their deliberation, Dr. Moral and Dr. Baishya also interacted with the participants who enriched the session with their reasoned queries. The technical support for the webinar was lent by Ms. Barnali Kalita, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and Manabendra Kalita Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology. The webinar ended with a vote of thanks delivered by Mrs. Aparna Goswami, Assistant Professor, Department of English, D.K. College who expressed her sincere gratitude on behalf of the organizing team, to the dignitaries and participants for the successful conduct of the webinar.
