MISSION OF THE DEPRATMENT OF LITERATURE
In line with the broad mission of the University of Dar es Salaam, the specific mission of the department as a liberal arts department is to enable students to reach their highest potential. To this end the department provides students with opportunities to develop the knowledge and skills to pursue careers. Through its academic programmes the department promotes the sensitivity to and appreciation of values essential for students to become effective citizens in the local, national, and international communities. Above all, the Department seeks to develop within its students a sense of stewardship for the world, the desire and will to serve others, and an underlying curiosity about the meaning and value of life, not only within their own culture, but also in a culturally diverse world.
GOALS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE
FOR STUDENTS:
1. To acquire skills and habits of mind appropriate to liberally educated persons, such as effective communication, foreign languages, analytical and critical thinking, creativity and aesthetic awareness.
2. To become actively engaged with inquiry to develop a sense of responsibility for one’s own learning, and to cultivate the intellectual habits and skills needed for life-long learning.
3. To prepare for all aspects of life beyond University, including work, service, and leadership within local, national, and international communities.
GOALS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE
FOR ACADEMIC MEMBERS OF STAFF
1. To develop a community of scholars in which teaching and learning are the activities with the highest priority.
2. To grow professionally, contributing to the department and the larger academic community through research, creative expression, innovative teaching, and interdisciplinary dialogue.
3. To participate in governing the department, developing its academic programmes, and enriching its cultural environment.
4. To be models and mentors who support the development of students as independent learners, responsible citizens, and morally sensitive persons.
The department of literature promises to open innumerable avenues to a successful life from all conceivable vantage points. The department has a large variety of courses to cater for students’ varied tastes and capabilities. Students are trained and guided to critically appreciate the written word and hopefully, to ultimately try their hand at it themselves. Graduates of this department are making notable contributions to society as teachers, film actors, script writers, publishers, editors, journalists, translators, interpreters, diplomats and writers of fiction and drama. With the mass media growing by leaps and bounds, students’ market seems to be guaranteed. And this Department’s avowed goal is to bring out the best of each students so that she/he can be a worthy beneficiary of this golden age of literary and mass communication in Tanzania and beyond.
HISTORY AND ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT
The Department of Literature is one of the oldest Departments in this University. It was established in 1964. The Department specializes in the study of literature written in English. It offers the widest coverage in the literatures of Africa, Europe, America, Asia, Australia, and Latin America.
The Department has concentrated its activities on three major areas: research, teaching and consultancy. Apart from the above core activities, the department is also involved in seminar presentations, conferences and writing and collecting literary texts. The Department has a strong tradition of field research in and outside the country. Research studies on oral literature and folklore are found in the departmental library. The other main research interests of the Department are in criticism, reviews, translation, and appreciation of novels, plays and poetry.