My passion for filmmaking was encouraged by the Department, through inputs from professors.Their persuasion to enter competitions helped me sharpen my skills.

I would really like to emphasise on how encouraging the Department and the teachers are. They ve always provided me with ample resources for my academics and also support for my extra curricular endeavours

Overwhelmed is one of the many words to express my feelings when I think about my college. Five years back, I joined Christ (Deemed to be University) as a student with splendid dreams yet uncertain about the possibilities that I have. Today, I could see the transformation that I have undergone—erudite and sophisticated.The selfless and dedicated efforts of the faculty are worth mentioning that makes me count myself into a better professional. With an attitude of being ever ready to facilitate besides the classroom lecture, they have always been pillars of both life and learning.

The English Honours programme helped me to better engage with my own thoughts and beliefs as well as empathise with other people’s thoughts and beliefs. The courses offered under the programme engage with all aspects of our being such as gender, disability, caste, class, nature, environment and so on. This wholesome orientation of the programme enabled me to understand different ways of the society by engaging me in a process of learning and unlearning.

Education is about learning to unlearn', this is exactly what the Media studies department taught me during the course of my study there. The highlight of the department is the vivid and well equipped team of professors, who taught me to develop a critical mind set on every issue. The togetherness amongst the diverse members of the department is especially visible during the variety of fests the department conducts. Altogether, the Media studies department is an educational treat which helped me utilize my talents and become a better person academically and personally.

It's a matter of pride when I say - hands down - I was a part of the coolest department on campus! Three years of my life spent here shook up potentials within me I never knew existed! And this was possible because I had these amazing bunch of talented and creative individuals that I call my teachers, the ones who made learning so dynamic, the knowledge they shared broadened so many perspectives, and the best part, it was down right fun. Everyday in our department was a challenge - spent on educating, and empowering students to be the best, most quirkiest version of themselves. The media department will have your creative juices flowing, helping you tackle one thought provoking problem after another, bringing out your originality to the maximum

This department has (and always will have) a very special place in my heart. It served as a collaborative learning space, and functioned as a foster ground for not only ideas but also people. With its emphasis on shared creativity and participation, the department through its myriad academic as well as non-academic activities has facilitated my personal growth. It was here that I began to lay the foundation for my future, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the incessant support and mentorship provided by the faculty. I take great pride in saying that my present and future traces back to this wonderful place, in how it has shaped and inspired me!

My experience of pursuing Journalism Honours at CHRIST, has truly been a memorable one. What this program has done for me extends beyond the classroom; I believe I have grown as an individual, which is an ode to my learning, interaction and the opportunities that this course presented me with. Journalism Honours is a course that makes you think, reflect, ideate and execute which in itself is a phenomenal process of learning. 

I am extremely grateful for the Faculty members who taught concepts which I am still actively applying in professional and educational spheres of my life. Be it comprehending marketing strategies through understanding symbols, seeking reliable sources of news, blending in with new media tools, articulating my research and thought and looking for context and greater understanding of things- I have learnt how to learn all thanks to my course and the team that carries it forward. I am grateful for having been a part of the Media Studies Cluster at CHRIST.

Greetings
This is Thomas George (Rev) an ordained priest in the Mar Thoma Syrian Church. I was fortunate to be a student of the MA in English with Communication Studies first batch 2008-2010. The MA programme offered to us a wide variety of disciplines. The international mixture of students from diverse backgrounds made the class a unique ground for us to battle with ideas, concepts, stylistics and the like. From grammar to phonetics to social theory to different era and ages the program provided us with enough and more challenges to not settle down with. The exploration continues while the programme gave us a good base. As a priest and a student of theology hermeneutics was greatly shaped through MA years. As a musician and dramatist, the programme let us wild into experimenting with different art forms. Interactions with guests from various fields also broadened our outlook. Thanks to our guides, mentors and teachers we take pride with heads held high and hearts so strong to March on as Christites.

When I came to Christ University in 2010, I had a very vague sense of purpose. I was fascinated with the form of cinema, and that led me to imagine that I should work in the area of media and arts. Apart from that, I had little to no understanding of art and aesthetics be it literary, visual or cinematic. It was in my literature classes at Christ, that I developed an understanding of looking at art or 'reading' critically. I realised that the act of reading into works of literature and art was more than a mere academic exercise for me, it was a pursuit of pleasure. This understanding would've escaped me without the training I received in the art of reading by the teachers of the English Department.

My undergraduate literature classes thrilled me so much that I shifted gears away from a career in Media, and decided to come back to Christ for a Masters degree in English. Our master's course was unique because it placed equal emphasis on creative practice as on theoretical research. I immensely enjoyed papers like Creative Writing and Theatre in Practice, along with activities like Srujana (service learning) and film clubs, while also learning to appreciate the rigorous process of academic research in Research Methods classes.

I am happy that today, I am involved in research and teaching with The Kabir Project at Srishti Institute of Art where we are archiving the oral traditions of spiritual poetry in India, and also simultaneously involved in the practice of creative writing independently. I hope I can keep finding ways for a co-existence of academic and creative pursuits in my life, and let each approach inform the other. I hope to finish my doctoral studies soon and teach actively (a passion I picked up during my days in Christ), while also continuing to write poetry and fiction.

One of my favourite memories at Christ was when the English Department got our class to put up a production of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. Not only was it extremely fun to play Blanche DuBois, but it was also illuminating to find new kinds of writing in what I think is one of the most diverse curricula in my college experience.

My time at Christ studying English instilled in me a deep knowledge and love of a wide range of literatures, and a flair for theatre (and theatrics) that has followed me since.

I was committed to Jabberwocky-the annual Literary carnival, hosted by the English Department as part of my Bachelors program between 2011 - 2014. The facilitators always helped us to find the questions within our personal spaces, and expand them to the Universe out there. I was so inspired after reading 'Leaves of Grass' by Walt Whitman, that I decided to take my bicycle on a solo trip from Bangalore to Jaipur, and then Jaipur to Vietnam. I cycled through 7 countries in a span of 8 months, and relived all that I had learned in my classes on this journey. Studying English Literature at Christ University helped me to get in touch with my own voice, and be able to express it to the world.

I have plenty of wonderful memories at Christ University, be it the friends I made or the faculty that taught me, 2009-2012 were some of the best years of my life. As a student of Journalism, English Literature and Psychology, I had the pleasure of being under the tutelage of some of the finest teachers from the English Department.

Literature has been of great help to me as it helped me shape my views and understand the daily events in the context of the past, present, and future implications. Be it British, American, or Indian Literature: each text has empowered me as a reporter to go beyond the news, helped me to understand the rich social, economic,  and cultural legacy which continues to dominate every sphere of current events.

I didn't have a taste for Literature, but it was because of my teachers that I developed one. It opened a new world to me, enabled me to get access a worldview which transcends geography, and language; Literature classes helped me to evolve as an individual and become more diverse and inclusive in nature.

I was fortunate to have been taught by a motivated, enthusiastic and academically driven pool of faculty members who have helped me find my grounding in Academics. The CEP course provided me with an opportunity to explore advertising, Journalism and other such allied ventures and introduced several professional areas that helped broaden my horizon. I presented a paper in the final year of my Under Graduate program which made me realize that my true passion lies with the Academia. As a research Scholar on the verge of submitting her doctoral thesis, it would be quite apt to attribute my love for literature to my Alma matter, the Department of English at Christ. Much like the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales I have now embarked on my own journey to seek and explore the world of narratives.

The teachers inducted us into the arcane world of English literature in unique ways. The teachers also had a unique way of reeling in the motley crew of seemingly recalcitrant high school graduates disguised as freshmen. Needless to say, it worked. To be honest I had no great expectations of literature altering my life in any significant way. I knew I liked the written word, but I hadn’t experienced its’ full impact until I was taught how to navigate my way to the right ones. That’s where the English Department came in. To teach me, through an understanding of rhyme scheme, that there was a science behind creating and understanding prose. An understanding I try and utilise in my professional life till day. I was also taught that the right text needed the right tools, like literary theory, for dissection etc. To quote Anias Nin, “we write so we can taste life twice”. And as a corollary, I’d say we read so we can lead many lives.

Life is meant to be lived without regrets. Performing Arts at Christ chiselled not just some of the most beautiful moments of life also values and life skills that are empowering me to keep living without regrets and creating more beautiful moments for all around me”

“I joined Performing Arts at Christ as a half baked pot of clay. I came out sculpted and beautified. The objects of art are to give life shape and PEP gave me renewed purpose and vision”

“Performing Arts at Christ blended imagination, beauty and love. It was not just a course. It was more of a family finding each other and in the process I discovered myself”

“I believe I learnt the most and took the most creative risks in performing arts. Every other subject made better sense to me after taking up the arts. After the completion of my course, I realised that my University days in performing Arts was the most vibrant days of my life

“I have never felt so comfortable exploring the vast realm of Performing Arts. My department has always set the right tone for our holistic, productive and social development. I think my teachers for teaching me so much in just three years and had an amazing time doing so!”

The Department of Media Studies at Christ University is one of the most proactive and enthusiastic departments I have ever been part of. Its learned faculty compliment each other’s expertise and academic interests very well.

As a student of the JPEng Programme, I admired how the coursework and teaching was always designed to stimulate interdisciplinary learning, drawing insights from disciplines such as cultural studies, gender studies and film studies. I’m also part of the department’s thriving alumni network that allows for resourceful exchange of information.

In my capacity as a doctoral scholar, I have observed there is growing impetus within the department to encourage rigourous research involving student-teacher collaborations. From my prolonged engagement with the department, as a curious student to a guest faculty who has taught modules to postgraduate students, I vouch for the members of staff to be approachable and committed to train future media practitioners in a professional manner.