A four-day workshop on Academic Writing started at the University of Kashmir on Monday, May 15.  

Organised by the Department of English in collaboration with the Centre for Writing and Communication (CWC), Ashoka University, the inaugural session was chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Nilofer Khan, while Registrar, Dr Nisar Ahmad Mir was the Guest of Honour. 

In her presidential address, Prof Nilofer complimented the Department of English for holding the workshop, while underlining the need for organising such academic events in the campus. She expressed her satisfaction at the student-centric nature of the workshop and remarked that academic writing is a specialised linguistic competence integral to all formal degrees.  

Speaking on this occasion, the Registrar congratulated the department for its contribution in enriching the academic capacities of the faculty and students, and also assured the department of continued support from the administration. 

In her welcome address, Prof Iffat Maqbool, Head, Department of English, spoke about the importance and relevance of the workshop. She highlighted the fact that writing is an indispensible aspect of language learning and especially crucial in literature courses. She emphasised that the workshop is aimed at encouraging critical writing in an environment where technology is fast replacing human creativity and skills. 

The resource persons for the workshop included Ms Senjuti Chakraborti and Mr Archisman Sarker, Senior Writing Tutors at Ashoka University. 

In his introductory remarks, Mr Archishman Sarker provided a synoptic overview of CWC while detailing the structure of the sessions. He threw light on the recent collaborations and activities of the Centre and expressed his pleasure at the new collaboration with the University of Kashmir.

Dr Tasleem War, Associate Professor, Department of English, conducted the proceedings of the session and offered the vote of thanks. The session was attended by the Dean, School of Arts, Languages and Literature, Prof Adil Amin Kak, Prof Sabeha Mufti , Head MERC and other faculty members from various departments of the University. 

Apart from students and research scholars from the Department of English, those who have enrolled for the workshop include research scholars from NIT Srinagar, IUST, BGSBU, Rajouri, and Sharda University.