The department of English has been part of the tradition of St Berchmans since its inception. It became a full-fledged department when BA English was started in 1964. MA English Language and Literature was started in 1967. The elevation of the Department as a Research Centre in 1986 was a landmark in its history. In 2001, Model II BA English (Vocational) with a specialisation in Copy Editing was granted affiliation. The program was restructured in 2006 as BA English - Model II - Vocational (Journalism). Over these years our students have shown excellent performance, earning a great reputation for the College and the Department. Our alumni have distinguished themselves in all walks of life - Civil Service, Journalism, Academics, Ecclesiastics, and Public life.
The Shakespeare Theatre is one of the unique features of our Department. It was started in 1937 with the performance of Macbeth under the direction of the then Head of the Department and pioneering Malayalam critic Prof M P Paul. Since then the theatre has been presenting full length productions of Shakespeare plays more or less regularly. We have had twenty one productions so far.
| Year | Play | Director(s) |
| 1937 | Macbeth | Prof M P Paul |
| 1947 | Macbeth | Prof M P Paul |
| 1951 | The Merchant of Venice | Prof C A Sheppard |
| 1952 | The Merchant of Venice | Prof K J Francis |
| 1952 | King Lear | Prof C A Sheppard |
| 1953 | Hamlet | Prof C A Sheppard |
| 1961 | King Lear | Prof C A Sheppard |
| 1964 | Othello | Prof A E Augustine |
| 1965 | Othello | Prof A E Augustine |
| 1969 | Macbeth | Prof A E Agustine and Prof K J John |
| 1971 | Macbeth | Prof A E Agustine and Prof K J John |
| 1983 | The Merchant of Venice | Prof A E Agustine |
| 1986 | Macbeth | Prof K V Joseph and Prof C C Thomas |
| 1989 | Julius Caesar | Prof K V Joseph |
| 1991 | Othello | Prof K V Joseph |
| 1994 | Romeo and Juliet | Prof C C Thomas |
| 1997 | Antony and Cleopatra | Prof C C Thomas |
| 1999 | Hamlet | Prof C C Thomas |
| 2007 | Macbeth | Mr Gigy Joseph |
| 2011 | The Tempest | Dr Gigy Joseph |
| 2018 | Henry IV Part I | Dr Vimal Mohan John |
The English Association is active in organizing a variety of programmes intended to develop the talents of the students.
| Year | Speaker | Title |
| 1988 | Dr U R Ananthamoorthy | W B Yeats’ Poetry |
| 1989 | Prof Narayanan Nambiar | The Tempest |
| 1990 | Rev Dr C A Abraham | The Theme of Love in Shakespeare |
| 1991 | Prof G Kumara Pillai | G M Hopkins’ Poetry |
| 1992 | Prof K M Chandy | English Studies in India |
| 1993 | Prof Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri | The Irish Voice of W B Yeats |
| 1994 | Prof A E Augustine | A Sense of English |
| 1995 | Rev Dr Ninan Tharakan | Writing Poetry in English: A Writer’s Perspective |
| 1996 | Dr C P Sivadasan | Trends in Modern Criticism |
| 1997 | Dr R Viswanathan | Modern Trends in American Drama |
| 1998 | Dr James A Brigham | Bringing Home the Ashes: |
| An Introduction to Lawrence Durrell | ||
| 1999 | Prof C Thomas Abraham | T S Eliot’s Social Vision |
| 2000 | Dr Jacob George | Hamlet: Spatial Structure and Theme |
| 2001 | Dr Abraham Karickom | Indian Aesthetics |
| 2002 | Dr K Ayyappa Panicker | Eastern Aesthetics |
| 2003 | Prof T R S Iyer | Word and Meaning: Eastern and Western Perspectives |
| 2004 | Dr K Narayan Chandran | English in India: Its Social Life |
| 2005 | Dr A Joseph Dorairaj | The Death of the Author: |
| Literary and Philosophical Perspectives | ||
| 2006 | Dr M S Nagarajan | Feminist Literary Theories |
| 2007 | Most Rev Dr Yakob Mar Irenaios | English Language Teaching in India: |
| Purposes and Paradoxes | ||
| 2008 | Dr Scaria Zacharia | Literary Studies Today: New Paradigms |
| 2009 | Dr Prafulla C Kar | New Contexts of Modernity |
| 2010 | Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak | Speaking for the Humanities |
| 2011 | Dr P P Raveendran | World Literature: Concept and Concerns |
| 2012 | Akeel Bilgrami | Romanticism, Philosophy and Politics |
| 2013 | Arjun Appadurai | Cinematic Dreams and the Politics of the Real |
| in Contemporary India | ||
| 2014 | David Bromwich | The Romantic Sublime |
| 2015 | Richard Schechner | Deconstructing Texts in the Performance Work of |
| Richard Schechner | ||
| 2016 | Nissim Mannathukkaren | Being Modern in 21st Century in Kerala |
| 2020 | Laura Mulvey | Layering Film and Layering Time: |
| Recovering Women’s Stories of Marginalization and Loss | ||
| 2020 | Toril Moi | Wittgenstein and Literary Criticism: |
| A New Direction in Literary Studies | ||
| 2021 | Prof Homi K Bhabha | Humanities in the Time of the Pandemic |
| 2021 | Prof Stanley Fish | Speaking in Code: Why Textualism is a Non-Starter |
Prof A E Augustine Memorial Lecture
| 2018 | The Role of Investigative Journalism in Malayalam Visual Media |
| Mr Joshy Kurian (Media Professional, Asianet News Network) | |
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| Public Relations and Advertising in Contemporary India | |
| Mr Govindapillai Sreekumar, Former Public Relations Officer, | |
| Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam | |
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| Contemporary Malayalam Print Journalism and Its Political Perspectives | |
| Dr Paul Manalil (Former Director, Kerala State Institute of Children’s Literature | |
| and Former Assistant Editor, Malayala Manorama) | |
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| 2017 | Democratic Values and Mass Media |
| Mr Sunnykutty Abraham (Journalist, Writer, Political Analyst) | |
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| Media Culture in Kerala: Challenges and Opportunities | |
| Mr M G Radhakrishnan (Editor-in-chief, Asianet News) | |
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