National Conference 2015

The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America is the title of the ground-breaking 1964 work by the American literary critic Leo Marx that focused on the way in which American writers of the 19th and early 20th century responded to the industrialization of America. Marx also discussed the relationship between culture and technology in American writing and the way the mental landscape of creative people were affected by the advent of technology and technology’s disruptions as well as benefits for writers and artists. After all, the machine had invaded the landscape and the consequences were not only profoundly disruptive but also immensely creative for literature and the arts.
But if industrialism has been a powerful a presence in the western mindscape since the nineteenth century, what about the second half of the twentieth century when digitlization, satellitisation and late capitalism would move the whole world swiftly towards what Ihab Hassan has characterized as “technologism”, where “runaway technology” has led to “new media, new art forms” where the computer, the internet and cellular technology have been playing so decisive a role?
Certainly, there are microchips in the garden now. Technologism’s pervasive impact has transformed contemporary art and literature and has given rise to wide-ranging discussions about the role of technologism in the humanities and the social sciences at this time. Rapid technological advancement has even influenced English Studies remarkably and the English department classroom too has adopted technology for teaching and learning in literature as well as language classes.
With these developments in mind, Daffodil International University is going to host a National Conference on ‘The Machine in the Garden: Literature, Language and Technology in English Studies ’. The intent is to discuss and analyze the way art and culture in general and English Studies in particular is being transformed by the nexus between technology and “globalization”.  

Panelists

Dr. Arifa Rahman Supernumerary Professor, IML, University of Dhaka

Dr. Khaliquzzaman M Elias Professor, Department of English, North South University

Dr. Shireen Huq Professor, Department of English, North South University

Prof. Claire Bradin Siskin English Language Specialist, Daffodil International University

Moderator

Dr. Shamsad Mortuza Professor, Department of English, University of Dhaka

Session Chairs

• Professor Dr. Yousuf Mahbubul Islam, Vice Chancellor, Daffodil International University
• Professor Claire Bradin Siskin, Consultant and English Language Specialist, Daffodil International University
• Professor Shafi Ahmed, Adjunct Faculty, Department of English, University of Dhaka
• Professor Hamidur Rahman, Head, Department of English Studies, State University of Bangladesh
• Professor Dr. Shusil Kumar Das, Department of English, Daffodil International University
• Professor Dr. Rabiul Hasan, Adjunct Faculty, Department of English, Daffodil International University
• Professor Nurul Karim Nasim, Chairman, Department of English, Z.H. Shikder University of Science and Technology, Shariatpur

Conference Committee

Advisory Committee
Professor Dr. M. Lutfar Rahman, Emeritus Professor, DIU
Professor Dr. Md. Golam Rahman, Pro-Vice Chancellor, DIU, and Dean, FHSS
Hamidul Haque Khan, Treasurer, DIU
Professor Dr. Eng. A. K. M. Fazlul Haque, Registrar, DIU

Executive Committee
Umme Kulsum, Head and Assistant Professor, Department of English
Dr. Shusil Kumar Das, Professor, Department of English
Dr. Binoy Barman, Director, DIL, and Associate Professor, Department of English
Mohammed Shamsul Hoque, Associate Professor, Department of English
Mustafizur Rahman, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Shamsi Ara Huda, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Mustafa Rashel, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Nahid Kaiser, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Irina Ishrat, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Tahsina Yasmin, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Md. Rakibul Hasan Khan, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Dr. Bipasha Bintey Haque, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Md. Nuruzzaman Moral, Lecturer, Department of English
Hasan Asik Rahman, Lecturer, Department of English
Tamanna Farahdina, Lecturer, Department of English
Jannatul Ferdouse, Lecturer, Department of English
Md. Zaki Rezwan, Lecturer, Department of English
Md. Nabinur Rahman, Lecturer, Department of English
Rafiz Uddin, Lecturer, Department of English
Ehatasham Ul Hoque Eiten, Research Associate, Department of English
Md. Masud Parvaj, Research Associate, Department of English

Registration

To register, please click here