ABOUT US

The Department of Tamil was established at Madurai in 1965 as a part of the Extension Centre of Madras University. The Madurai Kamaraj University was started in 1966 and the Department of Tamil got independent status. A programme to teach Tamil Language and Culture to Foreign Students was started in 1968. A full time M.A. Degree course in Linguistics is offered by the School of Tamil Studies. The School is engaged in research activities in Tamil Language and Literature, Comparative Literature, Folklore, Journalism, Dramatics, Temple Studies, Place Names Studies, Dialect Survey, Social Cultural Survey and Studies in Functional Tamil.
The Tirukkural Chair, Saiva Siddhantha Philosophy, and Chair of Islamic Tamil Literature, Chair of Guru Nanak Studies and Department of Christian Literature were also functioned under the Department. Many of these chairs have been elevated as independent Departments now. The Department of Tamil is recognized by the University Grants Commission at various levels since 1971. It has been upgraded by the UGC with Special Assistance Programme (SAP-III).
Many researchers are pursuing their Ph.D. research as Full & Part Time from Singapore and Malaysia with much enthusiasm in Tamil.The School of Tamil Studies is also conducting classes for the competitive examinations like TNPSC, UPSC, SSC, Railway and Bank Exam. Many students have passed NET, SET, TET and TRB exams.

Vision

1. To enhance the understanding of the language and its rich literature.

2. To inculcate the right pronunciation of Tamil language.

3. To enrich Research Activities

4. To give value based education and social awareness through literature

5. To bring awareness among our students about Tamil as one of the Classical Language.

Mission

The School of Tamil Studies aims to provide socially conscious, intellectually competent, critically analyzing ability while promoting the values of justice, equality, liberty and development through its educational programme.

The School of Tamil Studies endeavor to empower the economically underprivileged students & to uplift the first generations learners.

The School Consists of the following Six Departments

1. Department of Comparative Literature 
2. Department of Grammar
3. Department of Literature and Anthropology
4. Department of Literary Criticism
5. Department of Modern Literature
6. Department of Tamilology

Future Plans

• To Introduce M.A. Classical Tamil Course.
a.Certificate in Competitive Examination
b.Diploma in Tamil Literature and Environment studies
• New Optional papers.
a. Literature and Ecology
b. Human Resource Development in Literature
c. Computational Tamil – Core Paper
• Creation of Computer and Language Labs.
• Rare Books to be created as E-books.
• Digitalize the Manuscripts.
• Teaching Tamil for Foreign Students & Other Language Students.

Teaching Innovations :

1. Visualization : Teaching students visualization skills help them to understand, recall and think critically about the subjects they study.

2.Faculty members of the School of Tamil Studies are concentrating on learner-oriented methods of teaching language and literature.

3.Active learning: Peer - Team Teaching, Group Discussion, and collaborative problem solving