A two-day national conference on Charles Dickens and Robert Browning, organized by the Department of English, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), was held on 29-30 June 2012. It was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Mr Towhid Samad, Chairman, Board of Trustees of the university. The conference commemorated the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Dickens and Robert Browning - two noted English writers of the Victorian Era. Professor M Omar Rahman, Vice Chancellor of IUB spoke at the inauguration ceremony as the special guest. Professor Nurul Islam, Vice Chancellor, Eastern University, presented the keynote paper entitled “Victorian Ethos: Dickens and Browning”.

Professor Nazrul Islam, Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, welcomed the conference delegates and guests while Professor Niaz Zaman, Advisor, Department of English at IUB delivered her speech as the Convenor of the conference committee. She was followed by Dr Razia Sultana Khan, Professor, Department of English, IUB, who delivered the formal vote of thanks.

Delegates from seven different universities, public and private, participated at the conference. Six papers on Charles Dickens were presented in the academic sessions on the first day. There was dramatized reading from the work of the novelist between the sessions.  Faculty and students of IUB participated in this. On the second day, four papers were presented on Robert Browning, followed by reading from the work of the poet. Dramatic reading of the poet’s work also took place.