International Virtual Conference

Crossing Borders and Boundaries: Contemporary Trends in Literatures and Language Teaching in the Time of COVID-19

10 Jul, 9:30 am IST – 11 Jul, 5:30 pm IST

Organised by: Department of Languages, School of Social Sciences and Languages,Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore Tamil Nadu, India - 632014

Free Registration

SUPPORTED BY

ATHENS CENTER FOR INDIAN & INDO-HELLENIC STUDIES

The Athens Center for Indian and Indo-Hellenic Studies, established in 2016 with the support of the Indo-Hellenic Society for Culture and Development (ELINEPA), aims to promote the study of India’s cultures, languages, and traditions. The first center of its kind in Greece, it provides interdisciplinary study and critical analysis of the Indian subcontinent and its peoples from ancient times to the present. The Center’s curriculum, programs, and activities are designed to build bridges between the Greek and Indian people who through their long-lasting intercultural contacts decisively shaped those universal values that formed the basis of the European and Asian civilizations.

About us

Vellore Institute of Technology

VIT, one of the premier institutes in Tamil Nadu, was established in 1984. It is a major, comprehensive, student-cantered research university dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, and service. VIT today comprises of various schools and interdisciplinary research centres offering undergraduate, postgraduate and research programs in various disciplines. The institute was established to provide quality higher education at par with international standards. The campus has a cosmopolitan atmosphere with students from all corners of the globe. Presently the student’s strength has crossed 25,000. Our Memoranda of Understanding with various international universities are our major strength. The mission of VIT is to educate students from all over India, including those from the local and rural areas, and from other countries, so that they can become enlightened individuals, improving the living standards of their families, industries, and society. VIT provides individual attention, world-class quality education, and takes care of character building. There are student and faculty exchange programs, to encourage joint research projects for the mutual benefit. VIT Vellore obtained grade “A” for all the programs offered by the University during the reaccreditation processes in February 2015. The University was recently ranked No.1 Private Engineering Institution by MHRD, Govt. of India. VIT – Recognized as Institution of Eminence (IoE) by the Government of India.

School of Social Sciences and Languages

School of Social Sciences and Languages was formed, keeping in mind the importance of working knowledge of different languages for learners to cater to the requirements of this globalized world. Knowledge of foreign languages enhances the scientific-technical co-operation and cultural integration with the targeted societies, which, in turn, promotes our growth and development in the modern era. Moreover, it gives a necessary edge and paves the way for career prospects. Several foreign faculties from France, Germany, Spain, Peru, and Italy have been associated with our school. The school offers language courses at basic and intermediate levels for UG and PG programs of both engineering and non-engineering disciplines to enable all learners to avail of opportunities across the globe.

The Department of Languages

Department of Languages was established at VIT in the year 2007 under the School of Social Sciences and Languages, keeping in mind the importance of having a working knowledge of different languages for learners to equip them well in the globalized world. Knowledge of foreign languages enhances the scientific-technical co-operation and cultural integration with the targeted societies, which, in turn, promotes our growth and development in the modern era. Moreover, it gives a necessary edge and paves the way for career prospects. With these objectives, the department offers different levels of courses in the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Modern Greek, Arabic, Hindi, and Tamil. Currently, the department has 13 dedicated members of the faculty with excellent academic, research, and corporate background. Many of them have international exposure. Apart from that, several foreign members of the faculty from countries such as France, Germany, Spain, Peru, and Italy have been associated with our department. The department offers language courses at basic and intermediate levels for UG and PG programs of both engineering and non-engineering disciplines to enable all learners to avail of opportunities across the globe.

Speakers

melissa
DR. MELISSA A. FITCH

Professor, College of Humanities Spanish and Portuguese, The University of Arizona

Dr. Melissa A. Fitch (Ph.D. 1995 ASU) holds the rank of University Distinguished Professor. She is a second-generation Mexican-American. Her research is currently focused on Asian representations of Latin American popular culture.

cristina
DR. CRISTINA MARÍA GÁMEZ FERNÁNDEZ

Associate Professor, Departamento de Filologías Inglesa y Alemana, Universidad de Córdoba, Spain

Cristina has joined the Departamento de Filologías Inglesa y Alemana in 2000. She has spent research periods at Stanford University and Wheaton College (US) and Trinity College Dublin (Ireland). She is one of the Founders of AEEII (Spanish Association for India Studies).

dimitrios
DR. DIMITRIOS VASSILIADIS

Professor of Indian Languages, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Director, Athens Center for Indian & Indo-Hellenic Studies

Professor Dimitrios Vassiliadis initiated the teaching of the Hindi and the Sanskrit languages at the School of Foreign Languages, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2005. He is also the President of the Indo-Hellenic Society for Culture and Development (ELINEPA).

dimitrios
PROF. LEONIDAS G. PARTSANAKIS

Educational Advisor for the Secondary Education in Northern Greece. Teacher Trainer, Writer and Translator

Prof. Leonidas has taught in various Universities in Greece, France, UK, India. Léonidas has written many books for the teaching of French as a foreign language and initiated the CLIL/EMILE method for the Primary and Secondary Schools. He is the recipient of Chevalier dans l’ordre des Palmes Académiques a national order bestowed by the French Republic on distinguished academics and for valuable service to universities and education.

Important Details

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Thrust Areas for Call for Papers

    This Virtual Conference is organized to welcome ideas from foreign languages and Indian languages, namely French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Hindi, and Tamil. The Conference is sure to offer the right platform for participants to engage and enlighten themselves and others in the respective fields.

    Current issues in literature and theory and practice of teaching foreign languages, Hindi and Tamil at universities, are being placed on open tables for discussion.

  • "Borders are set up to define the places that are safe and unsafe, to distinguish "us" from "them" (Anzaldúa, 1987).

    We are living in a time when the world will be divided into two different phases: “pre-corona” and “post-corona.” It will be remembered as a period of crisis as the lockdown imposed on so many different countries has completely stopped human movement on the globe. Bodies that used to be active are now stagnant and are confined within the four walls of a house, for the lucky ones that are not homeless. Cross-border movements have stopped, walls have been created, bodies have been locked, and cities are under curfew. The pandemic has in many cases exacerbated gender-related disparity (seen for instance in a worrying rise of domestic violence cases across the globe), while exacerbating social disparity as well (as many strata of the society are suffering more than others because of the restriction measures imposed by the world leaders). Most societies across the world are experiencing a massive rise in psychological distress due to the uncertainty about the future, the lack of confidence towards the foreign, the unknown, the fear for economic welfare, isolation, and solitude.

    At the same time, digitalization of the world has kept the same bodies at a global platform. This shows that bodies keep crossing the borders despite them being closed. Bodies are living here, under the imposition of social distancing where they are trained, disciplined, and traumatized to live closed and far from each other. On the contrary, the bodies are living outside as well, through different online methods. As Foucault wrote, “A body is docile that may be subjected, used, transformed and improved.” (Foucault, 1977)

    Hence the lockdown and the digitalized world at their binary positions have attracted discussions for all human beings, or maybe the debate goes beyond these two extreme situations. We can currently see that lockdown has given a new turn to academics for research. It has touched many issues, to name a few, nation-state, migration, economy, world politics, gender issues, health, education, and activism. In Academics, narrative and fiction literature, too, have many ideas that can enlighten us in this critical phase, like experiences of past pandemics, movements, social, political, and economic instances.

    For example, it can help in knowing the traumatic experience of quarantine profoundly by providing readers models and chances for the emotional elaboration of such a collective trauma. For instance, the 14th century’s Boccaccio’s Decameron or Mann’s Death in Venice until recent works like Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera.

    Migration is another important topic that cannot be ignored. In the present globalized world, the increased mobility and dissemination of ideas through the internet are perceived by many States as a challenge or even as a threat to their sovereignty. The strong presence of the idea of the “migrant” perceived as a “stranger” in the social fabric and themes of contemporary European literature helps its authors in re-defining their national identity as well as the concepts of acceptance and sovereignty. This has highlighted the issue of domestic and cross-border migration in the most recent social, literary studies. The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic brought attention to the phenomenon of “reverse migration” at national and international levels, which is being referred to as an unprecedented “biblical exodus.”

    That is why a dialogue through various literary writings on different issues in the contemporary crisis becomes very eminent. By inviting scholars and experts from different fields and disciplines, and by applying multiple frameworks, methodological approaches, and critical lenses, “Crossing Borders and Boundaries: Contemporary Trends in Literatures and Language Teaching in the Time of COVID-19” seeks to explore the different facets of our precarious world, while providing insights into the challenges of our possible futures.

  • • Gender issues and border in literature
    • Discussion of collective memories and trauma in literature
    • Perspectives of Identity, Migration, and Displacement in literature
    • Diaspora and hybridity in Literature
    • The literature of exile and border
    • Racism and discrimination in literature
    • Cultural subalternity in literature
    • Quarantine and self-isolation in literature
    • Epidemic and Pandemic in literary History
    • The absurdity of life in literature
    • Ecology/Eco-feminism/Ecocriticism
    • Transgender issues in literature
    • Challenges in the online mode of teaching/learning foreign language
    • Evolving new concepts & methodologies in teaching/learning foreign language
    • Role of technology in teaching/learning foreign language
    • World-readiness standards in teaching/learning foreign language
    • Influence of Indian literature on foreign literature and vice versa
    • Challenges of teaching literature in the foreign language
    • Effectiveness and productivity of e-learning

  • Selected papers from the Conference will be published in peer-reviewed journals or edited book. Further information will be shared in due course of time.

  • • Abstracts in English, Hindi and Tamil are accepted
    • It should not exceed 300 words.
    • Abstracts in English should be submitted as MS-Word Documents, and the font should be Times New Roman (12 sizes), single space.
    • Abstracts in Hindi should be submitted as MS-Word Documents, and the font can be mangal /Arial Devanagari font size 12, single space.
    • The abstract should also include 5 to 6 keyword in it.
    • Please add your brief bio note in 3 to 4 lines at the bottom of the abstract.
    • Accepted abstracts will be given 10 minutes for presentation and 5 minutes for questions and answers.
    • Send your abstracts to conference.vitssl@gmail.com

Important Dates and Instructions

Deadlines

Abstract Submission 25th June 2020
Notification of Abstract acceptance Within seven days after the submission of Abstract
Registration Opens 30th June 2020
Registration Ends: 5th July 2020
Submission of full paper 7th July 2020 in MLA 7th Edition format
Registration link: https://forms.gle/5BoBgZG96v2tsdcg9

• Registered presenters will be provided the link for virtual presentation.
• Details regarding the link to the webinar and password will be communicated to the registered email address by 7th July 2020.
• The conference organizers will issue E-certificates to all the registered participants who attend a minimum of 5 sessions.

Organizing Committee

Chief Patron

Dr. G. Viswanathan, Founder & Chancellor, VIT

Patrons

Mr. Sankar Viswanathan, Vice president
Dr. Sekar Viswanathan, Vice President
Mr. G. V. Selvam, Vice President
Ms. Kadhambari S. Viswanathan, Assistant Vice President
Dr. Sandhya Pentareddy, Executive Director

Co-Patrons

Dr. Anand A Samuel, Vice-Chancellor
Dr. S. Narayanan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Dr. K. Sathiyanarayanan, Registrar

Advisor

Dr. G. Velmurugan, Dean, School of Social Sciences and Languages

Convener

Dr. Gaurav Sushant, Head, Department of Languages

Organizing Team

All faculty members, Department of Languages, SSL, VIT

Get in Touch

Dr. Gaurav Sushant

Head
Department of Languages
School of Social Sciences and Languages
Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT),
Vellore - 632 014, Tamil Nadu
Mobile: +91-9787083763
Email: conference.vitssl@gmail.com; hod.languages@vit.ac.in