The Department of English, St. Agnes College (Autonomous) Mangalore, held a seminar on the 5 April, 2024 to spread awareness on the topic Gender Sensitization: Fostering Inclusiveness. This auspicious event was presided over by delegates who are part of the transgender community, and attended by students and teachers of both UG and PG.

The program commenced at 10 a.m. with the inaugural. The principal, Sr Dr M. Venissa A.C. welcomed the Chief Guest Ms. Sameeksha Kunder, an avid activist and the guest of honour Ms. Sanjeev alias Sanjana, the president of Asare Trust who is also an activist, and said that she had always wanted to have a seminar of this kind and she was happy that the Department of English made it happen. The conveners of this remarkable event were Mrs. Sandhya Nayak, Assistant Professor of English and Asha Albuquerque, Head, Department of English. A dance and a skit portraying the issues and challenges faced by the transgender community, which shed light on the agonies and oppressions which people of the transgender community face on a daily basis. were a part of the inaugural.

The Chief Guest Ms. Sameeksha expressed her thoughts on how this specific community has always been denied education and job opportunities, describing how that became a major obstacle in their lives. Ms. Sanjana gave an insightful account of her own life as well as of others like her. Both of them said that they hoped that people would try to understand their plight and accept them as they are and advised the youth to help spread awareness amongst all people about the third gender. The event continued with a live interaction session and students participated with great enthusiasm by asking a lot of questions regarding gender. This was followed by a Paper presentation session by students of English at both UG and PG levels, on essential topics such as ‘Gender and Violence’, ‘Gender Diversity in the Workplace’ and many more.

Dr . Zubaida Hanif, associate professor of English moderated the session. Mrs. Geetanjali, Assistant Professor, Department of English handed over memorable mementos to Ms. Sameeksha and Ms. Sanjana, respectively. The session concluded with a feedback session. A total of 85 students and six staff members attended the session.