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English Language and Literature Department

Programs of Study – Undergraduate Studies

 

Programs of Study – M.A. Studies

 

History

One of the most significant events in the history of English language studies in this country was the establishment of the English Language and Literature Department in 1929. The founders of the Department were Mary Stansfield–Popović, an English language lecturer, and Vladeta Popović, who had successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled Shakespeare in Serbia in London in 1928, and became the first Head of this Department. At the beginning, there were only fourteen students who studied English language and literature. It was not easy to work in the difficult conditions – there were no course books and the libraries offered but a few dozen books. However, within several years, a beginner’s, intermediate and advanced courses were introduced, while Mary Stansfield–Popović wrote the very first course books for English language students. When the Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia in 1941, Professor Popović and Mary Stansfield–Popović were among the first who were sent to concentration camps in Germany, as prominent figures with strong ties to the British culture. Luckily, they both survived the horrors of their captivity and were able to return to their faculty-related duties after the war. The following phase in the history of this Department may be called the phase of fast development. It started in 1945, along with a sudden and rapid increase in interest in English as a language. During that period, English language graduates had no problem finding jobs upon graduation as English was, right after the war, introduced in many secondary and some primary schools. Today, the curricula of the Department of English language, literature and culture are designed to follow the general trends in English language studies in Europe. What is more, the Department nurtures various forms of international cooperation and publishes Bells, its own journal (http://www.belgrade.bells.fil.bg.ac.rs/). Numerous writers, poets, critics and professors from English-speaking countries were guests of this Department, some of them being Lawrence Durrell, Saul Bellow, Mary McCarthy, Angus Wilson, Tony Parsons, Lawrence Buell, Charles Bernstein, Judith Butler, Fredric Jameson, Charles Simić, Vesna Goldsworthy.

Library

Library of the Department of English Language, Literature and culture boasts 41,406 books and 2,140 issues (7,679 volumes) of journals, as well as 468 cassettes and CDs. A special collection comprises 1,049 books obtained from Professor Ljubomir Mihailovic and the legacy of Professor Svetozar Ignjačević (733 copies of books and journals).

Most of the available books are in English, covering a range of topics from the English language, English and American literature and general linguistics to literary history, theory of literature and literary criticism. There are also a number of publications from other relevant areas of study. The library increases its number of books through donations and a regular purchase of new volumes.

The library is organised in accordance with Dewey’s Decimal System. It has two catalogues: author-title based and subject-based. Since 1995, the librarians have been working on the process of library automatization in a programme called PERGAM, while since 2004 they have been simultaneously using PERGAM and COBISS. To date, the librarians have registered over 17,670 monographs and 23,434 books. All journal titles have also been registered electronically.

The library can be used by all students and teachers of the Faculty of Philology. The library staff currently include one senior librarian and two librarians (all three librarians are certified to work in a library and use COBISS).

The library offers reading space for 20 students. There are also two computers available for public use.

Access to the electronic catalog of the library:COBISS

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