Department Profile

Two interesting developments led to the establishment of Sardar Patel University in 1955 and the Department of English by it in 1958.

The Mahagujarat Movement was at its peak in the mid-1950s. The bifurcation of the then Bombay Province into Gujarat and Maharashtra had begun to appear to be a distinct possibility. Our leaders had the foresight to envision that the state of Gujarat, as and when it was carved out of the province, would need new institutions of higher learning and new universities to take care of its needs.

Driven by their missionary zeal, they responded to this new felt need by taking the initiative of establishing Sardar Patel University as a rural-based university in 1955. One of the immediate felt needs was an institution of higher education, a Postgraduate Department of English, which would impart instruction and training in English not only as a specialisation but also as an important component of the curricula.

This was based on an indigenous model of education, in anticipation of and in preparation for fulfilling the needs of the region for English Studies as it were before the founding of the state of Gujarat on 1 May 1960.

The department enjoys the honour of having the privilege of being among the first few Departments to be established by this University in its early years of existence. It was our good fortune that the Department was blessed with three scholar-administrators as Heads in the first 50 of its more than 60 years of existence. These men of great vision helped build the Department and brought it to the enviable position it occupies today not only within the state but also in the western region and at the national level.

• Professor R.A.Dave
  • Our founder Head, Professor RA Dave, deserves the credit for laying a strong foundation for the Department.
  • True to his fondness of John Henry Newman’s magnum opus “The Idea of a University”, which would often figure in his interaction with his students, he had a clear vision of what a university was, and what a university department ought to be and be able to do. This enabled him to introduce courses in Shakespeare Studies, Literary Forms, Literary Criticism, English Literature, American Literature, Modern English Usage, and World Classics in Translation.
  • He equipped the Department with a good library in the form of our Emerson Library, which has since been shifted to the Bhaikaka (University) Library. He had a major role to play as a one-man Department in helping equip the Bhaikaka Library with the initial collection of books related to English Language and Literature in his long tenure of 28 years as the Head.
  • He established the Library of Sound, initiated the PhD and MPhil programmes, introduced instructional programmes like study-aids, and directed the first UGC Summer Institute in English Language Teaching in 1985 before superannuating in February 1986.
• Professor K.D.Kurtkoti
  • Our second Head, the late Professor KD Kurtkoti, an eminent scholar-critic, much celebrated in his home state of Karnataka as the TS Eliot of Kannada Literature, had a very short tenure of 2 years and 8 months.
  • However, this revered scholar used his foresight as an academician to update courses in Literary Criticism at the MA and MPhil, introduced Modern English Language and Linguistics, English Language Teaching in Higher Education, Contemporary European Fiction, and Indian English Literature at the MA.
  • He organised and directed two UGC Summer Institutes in English Language Teaching in 1986 and 1987 with the last one being an Advanced Summer Institute. He joined hands with the Heads of other language departments to establish the Language Laboratory in the VII-Plan period as a shared facility up to the beginning of the X-Plan.
  • He used his skills as a scholar-critic to impress upon the VII-Plan UGC Committee to sanction two new teaching positions for the Department. The Department thus increased in strength during his tenure. 
• Professor D.S.Mishra
  • A man with a spiritual orientation, Professor D S Mishra, our third Head, was actively engaged in strengthening the Department. He introduced Canadian Literature; Gender Studies; Indian Literatures in Translation; Literature, Psychology and Psychoanalysis; and Translation Studies at the MA, and Applied Linguistics, Stylistics and Text Linguistics, and Translation Studies at the MPhil.
  • He initiated the MA (Self-finance) Programme in the Department, built a good Departmental Library, upgraded the Library of Sound, and set up a Computer Laboratory in the Department. His tenure saw the induction of three new teachers into the faculty over a period of time, and promotion of three teachers to a higher cadre before his superannuation.
  • Our work under his leadership helped us get the UGC SAP-DRS (Phase-I) and he continued to coordinate the research project of Phase-I until its fourth year.
  • He launched Mimamsa, the Departmental bi-annual journal, could impress upon the X-Plan UGC Visiting Committee on the need to sanction funds for a 40-booth Language Laboratory and Recording Studio exclusively for the Department. It was he who established both these.
  • He was instrumental in getting the university to launch the MA (External) Programme. Much of the growth and development in the Department owes itself to his successful stewardship of the Department for nearly two decades.
• Professor J.H.Khan
  • A renowned linguist and the fourth head of the department, Dr JH Khan has had the honour of serving the department for the longest period (35 years). Even after his superannuation, true to his workaholic nature, he remained connected to the department by guiding students in their doctoral research.
  • Major milestones of his tenure as the Head of the department include:
    • Getting the substantial funding sanctioned during the UGC XI-Plan Visiting Committee
    • Organizing the state and national level seminars and conferences like
      • Fifth UGC SAP-DRS National Seminar under Phase-I in March 2009,
      • State-level Golden Jubilee Seminar in March 2009;
      • the First UGC SAP-DRS National Seminar under Phase-II in February 2010;
      • the Second UGC SAP-DRS National Seminar under Phase-II in January 2011;
      • Literary Theory and Research: Present and Future (exclusively for research scholars) in February 2012; (
      • the Third UGC SAP-DRS National Seminar under Phase-II in January 2012;
      • the Fourth UGC SAP-DRS National Seminar/Roundtable under Phase-II in March 2013,
      • the Fifth UGC SAP-DRS National Seminar/Roundtable under Phase-II in February 2014.
    • Defending the work done by the Department under UGC SAP-DRS (Phase-I) before the UGC Review Committee in September 2009, and winning the award of Phase-II of the Programme, and successfully completing it on 31 March 2014.
    • Getting the funding as seed money for two innovative programmes, i.e. PG Diploma in Teaching of English and PG Diploma in Translation Studies, from the Commissionerate of Higher Education, Government of Gujarat
    • Hosting the 57th All India English Teachers’ Conference between 21 and 23 December 2012 successfully despite a shrunken faculty strength of 05 teachers
    • Assisting the University in (a) organising two workshops on the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) on 22 January 2010 and 22-23 April 2010; (b) coordinating work on the redesigning of the Masters level courses in the Faculty of Arts in the university under the CBCS from January to May 2010 on a mandate from our then Vice-Chancellor; and (c) Conducting a Six-Week CELT Project for Training PhD/MPhil Scholars in Speaking and Writing English (6 May 2013 to14 June 2013)
• Dr R.K.Mandalia
  • A proud alumnus of this department, Dr RK Mandalia completed his PhD under the guidance of Dr KD Kurtkoti on ‘The Metaphysical Poetry’. After working in four different colleges, he joined the department in 1986. More than 51 students have completed MPhil and more than 11 students have done their doctoral research under his supervision.
  • A true humanitarian and teacher, whose all the decisions and efforts are driven by the welfare of the students, its faculty members, department and the university, Dr RK Mandalia has been associated with the department for 33 years. He is an epitome of simple living and high thinking. A highly well-read person, his stature lies in the fact that he never makes the other person feel pygmy nor ever tries to showcase his erudition.
  • A democratic leader, he provides all the freedom to the faculty member to choose the relevant content and appropriate method to deliver it. At present, under his able headship, the department is striving hard for the holistic development of the students by qualitative curricular and co-curricular activities to enable them to achieve their aspirations.
• Dr Parul.S.Popat
  • An alumna of this department, Dr Parul Popat is a staunch promoter of self-learning and a practitioner of blended learning. With almost two decades of experience of teaching she has joined the Department as Associate Professor in 2018. During her tenure at various institutions (Self-financed and Government), she served as the Coordinator NAAC, Training and Placement Cell, Finishing School, SCOPE and Language Lab.
  • Dr Parul Popat has got books, papers and articles to her credit. Her books Communication Skills, Communication Skills for Engineers have been published by Pearson India Publication. Another of her book Practical Techniques to Develop Communication Skills solely focuses on the development of communication skills through learner-centered activities emphasizing participatory learning. She has also edited books for students of FYBCom & TYBCom for Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar.
  • A learner-centric pedagogy enthusiast, she practices participative learning. She loves exploring the impact of integrating inquiry-based learning in developing essential 21st century skills in both slow and fast learners and their emotional perception and engagement in learning activities.
  • She, as the I/C Head, strives to integrate the features of professional courses to literary studies.