The Department of English was established in 1964, the same year of inception as the Sibsagar Girls’ College. It is one of the oldest departments in the Sibsagar Girls’ College and the cornerstone of both the Arts and science streams at the college. The pioneer faculty of English was an eclectic group of writers and literary scholars. Today, the faculty continues to reflect the innovation and creativity in teaching across the traditions of British, American, Indian and World English literature. Since its inception, the Department has played an important role in enriching the knowledge of the English language and English literature among the students. The faculty members have served as resource persons to many educational institutions. The Department provides intensive mentoring to the students both in and beyond the classroom in a wide variety of forums. The department has strong bonds with the Alumnae and often invited them to interact with the department students. Ongoing lectures, film screenings, symposia, conferences, and colloquia on interdisciplinary themes make up the department’s calendar.
The diligent faculty members of the department consistently enrich themselves through other academic activities such as conducting seminars, symposiums, conferences, workshops, presenting papers and publishing articles. Since 2002 onwards, under the aegis of ‘The English Department Society’, the students, as well as teachers of the department, have been extending their inimitable service through a different interdisciplinary and creative program. To enhance and hone the creative instinct of the students, the department often invites distinguished authors and experienced academicians to different Talks and programmes. The faculty members of the department attempt to enhance the knowledge of students on the contemporary view of English literature in the context of the syllabus prescribed by conducting student seminars, project works, drama competitions, film appreciation sessions, group discussions, peer teaching etc. The current CBCS syllabus for English Honours prescribed by Dibrugarh University is set with the objective of catering to the students of all the boards. The syllabus is equally balanced with Literature and Language. One of the core aspects of the department is the Six Month Certificate Course in Spoken English conducted since 2012. The department also has the privilege of having a functional MoU with the English Language Teachers’ Association of India (Upper Assam Chapter) and all the present faculty members are also active members of this academic body. The department also takes pride in adopting one Senior Secondary School and one High School in Dichangmukh, a rural and underdeveloped area of the Sivasagar district of Assam.
The department is known for the excellent rate of placement and engagement of its alumnae in different fields like – administrative jobs, teaching, Banking, MNCs, Creative writing, Mass Communication and Journalism, Law as well as free launching jobs and entrepreneurial ventures.