By Dhiya Zuhairul
GOMBAK, 19 May 2023: The English Language and Literature (BENL) students take the IIUM community on a journey of discovering the history of English Literature through their exhibition entitled œThe History of English Literature on Thursday (18 May).
“Initially, the exhibition was the assessment for the course ENGL2090 English Literature Beowulf to Johnson, but I thought if this exhibition were for the public, then it is great because the exhibition can benefit all, not just the BENL community, said Dhiya Damia Zuhairul, one of the those who participated in the exhibition.
The exhibition aimed to enhance the audiences interest in literature, as well as gained some insights to the development of literature from great scholars.
The exposure was on the Old English and Middle English period, the Tudor period, the Stuart period, the Enlightenment period to the Romantic period.
Dr. Homam Al-Tabaa, the lecturer of the ENGL2090 course mentioned that the exhibition œcan be useful in inspiring the students to read and broaden their knowledge, plus, knowing other cultures can increase our appreciation of our own culture and increase our tolerance and understanding of others.
The exhibition that was held in Human Sciences Square managed to get the attention of students and lecturers of different courses. In addition, lecturers from the Department of English Language and Literature (DELL) managed to lend some of their time by coming to the exhibition and showing their support to the presenters. The lecturers were Dr. Homam Al-Taaba, a Literature lecturer; Dr. Maimunah Abdul Kadir, Dr. Nora Mohd Nasir, Dr. Ainul Azmin Md. Zamin, and Dr. Nor Elena A.Rahim who are Linguistics lecturers.
The exhibitors managed to provide fun activities, such as crossword puzzles, making animal masks such as William Blakes famous tiger in his poem œThe Tyger, and coloring pictures related to the world of English history to increasing engagement with audiences besides bringing to them educational insights.
“This is one of the early stepstones for the IIUM community to gain insights to the BENL world because, after this, we will launch our website called The BENL Chronicle (TBC) on 25th May comprising interesting creative writings of BENL students on everything that happens in the community.
It will be a fun and informative website and you will find more interesting things besides English literature heritage there,” said Nik Liyana Nik Ahmad Zahid, the Chief Operating Officer of TBC. ***
Dr. Nora Mohd. Nasir listening to the presenters 
Dr. Nora Mohd. Nasir engaging with fellow comittees 
Presentation on the Stuart Period 
Presentation on the Old and Middle English periods 
Dr. Maimunah Abdul Kadir with the students 
Dr. Ainul Azmin with the presenters 
Presentation on the Romantic period 
Dr. Homam Al-Taaba visiting the exhibition