Cultural interactions

Cultural interactions are an essential part of academic life. However, such occasions and opportunities are rare. Hence, it's my personal opinion, that students must grab such opportunities whenever possible. Fortunately, the Department of English of Bhavnagar University, offers such opportunities. Recently, students engaged in two such cultural interactions wherein they got to know about the social, political and linguistic status of two countries, i.e France and Argentina.

The first interaction was with  professor Saeed Paivandi and Professor Fontanini Christine of the University of Lorraine, France. The students got to know about the system of higher education in France. The professors discussed how the social conditions affect the education system and also  the status of literacy rate in France, in the context of higher education. As English literature students, we also inquired about the status of the English language in France. Professor Fontanini also talked about the condition of women in and their contribution to the literacy rate.

The second interaction was with the Argentinian teacher of language and literature, Mariana Dominguez. The students got to know a lot about Spanish language, literature as well as culture at large. Argentina was a Spanish colony, and therefore there was a discussion on the change in culture before and after colonisation. At a time when Spanish songs, particularly rap songs, are gaining worldwide popularity, Miss Mariana informed the students about how it affects the language in use. According to her, the current trend in Spanish literature is to reinterpret Spanish myths and classics.

The status of English language and literature is somewhat similar in both the countries; that of being secondary in usage and popularity than the national or local language, i.e French in France and Spanish in Argentina respectively.

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