DU likely to start course on how to write FB posts, blogs for English literature students

Delhi University will soon start offering tutorials for writing blogs and Facebook posts as part of a skill enhancement course on Academic Writing. It is one of the components of the section on Writing for Mass Media Purposes. The Academic Writing paper, on the other hand, is one of 11 optional papers that a college can choose to offer students studying English as honours or pass course.

Apart from writing blogs and Facebook posts, the students will also learn how to write cover letters and the nuances of proof reading. The idea was mooted by the English department’s choice-based credit system core committee.

The department has sent a proposal to all the DU colleges and sought feedback. “The final framework will be decided after receiving feedback from colleges, the deadline for which is May 1. The approved draft will then be placed before the Academic and Executive Council for the final nod,” an official of the English Department told PTI.

Christel R Devadawson, head of the English department at the varsity, defended the new changes. “Skill enhancement courses in general are meant to take the emphasis from just literary centric teaching to broad-based, everyday, contemporary concerns,” she told the Hindustan Times.

However, several teachers have disagreed. Saikat Ghosh, who teaches English at SGTB Khalsa College, welcomed the move to start teaching students how to communicate effectively on social media, but raised questions on the process of introducing these changes. “My problem is with the way these changes have been brought about without any consultations with teachers at large,” he told Hindustan Times.

This comes after the varsity proposed to include author Chetan Bhagat’s debut novel Five Point Someone as a general elective paper for honours students, barring English. The recommendation drew widespread criticism.