The birth of the Department of Malayalam auspiciously coincided with that of St. Michael’s College in 1967, a time when the institution was offering pre-degree courses only. Since then, curricular as well as co-curricular activities have been effectively carried out build knowledge and skills pertaining to language and literature for the students of Core Departments. Art and Literary Competitions too are also organized with the noble end to nurture the creative abilities of students. Lectures by eminent teachers and exhibitions and workshops based on art forms like drama and kadhakali are conducted quite often. The earnest mission of the Malayalam department is to mould young and vibrant minds that have acquired knowledge not only in language and literature, but gifted with a clear insight into the social and cultural realms as well. Based on the domain of Malayalam literature, lectures and one-day seminars are regularly organized and are led by experts in the fields of poetry, story, criticism, drama, novel, visual arts and translation. Literary Fests that include quiz, essay writing, short film making and drama and Training Programmes are conceived and conducted without an undesirable break. Our first Malayalam faculty was the venerable and resourceful Prof. George Thomas. Five permanent teachers and six guest faculty have worked in the department so far. Dr.Mary Reema is the Head Of the Department from 2020. More than two hundred students study Malayalam as an additional language every year under the B.A, B.Sc. and B.Com. categories.
By choosing the mother tongueMalaylam as a subject of study students can analyze their own language,literature,cultureand society in depth and detail.It is noteworthy that nearly seventyfive percent of degree students opt for Malayalam as the second language. The department of Malayalam is proud that its results in the university exams have been constantly brilliant throughout the preceding years.
