Page 47 - RESEARCHER PROFILE BOOK

YEAR
2024

department of english

About The department

The Department of English has a distinguished history. It is
the oldest Department of English in the country, and can
trace its beginnings to the establishment of the Faculty of
Arts at the Universiti Malaya in Singapore in 1949. The
Department of English subsequently became one of the first
departments of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences set up
on the present campus in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur in
1959.

The department’s identity, which proudly sets it apart from
every other Department of English in Malaysia, lies in its
continued commitment to coverage of traditional British
literature, from Chaucer and Shakespeare to the Victorians
and the Modernists. Through its academic staff’s
specialization and research interests, the Department offers
expertise in a wide range of literary fields, including Medieval
literature, Renaissance literature, Romantic literature,
Victorian literature, Modernist and Postmodernist literature,
Postcolonial literatures (with a strong interest in Malaysian
literature), Travel literature, Ecocriticism, African literature,
Feminist literature, Modern drama, Literary theory and more.

We have hosted distinguished scholars such as Michael
Pearson, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Scott Slovic, Ien Ang,
Yasmine Gooneratne, Benedict Anderson, Harish Trivedi,
Sukanta Chaudhuri and Pheng Cheah. Notable alumni who
have contributed significantly to the development of the
nation include Shirley Geoklin Lim, Razali Ismail, K.S. Maniam,
Chin San Sooi, Rebecca Santa Maria and Leow Puay Tin.

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