The English Department is one of the oldest departments in St. Josephs College which has been functioning since the inception of the institution. The Department has had many stalwarts like professors TRH Peck, T Balasubramaniam, Fr. Julian Fernandez SJ, Fr. Hedwig D’Costa, Fr. Devasagayam SJ, PS Balasubramaniam, and Barbra Naidu. The Department has over the years conceived many innovations in English teaching and was the first to adopt the certificate course model. The streamed syllabus model was introduced in 2005 to ensure that equal attention is given to students from all backgrounds while assisting them to improve their language skills. A ‘lived experience’ model is employed for General English teaching for professional courses like BCA and BVC.

In 2005 the department instituted the MA English program. In 2013 the EJP course was started in St. Josephs College and the Department offered the Journalism course in the combination. A Communicative English program, CPE, was started in 2016. The Department also runs several co-curricular and extra-curricular initiatives like the College Literary Society, Causerie - a series of interactions with outside experts, Meta – the annual festival of literature, Meta Schools, and Metonym – an in-house festival. The Performing Arts Society under the Department also offers entry-level training in theatre and performance. The Department also runs the College Quiz Club and hosts an annual nationwide quiz competition called Magister. Tie Grab is the annual quiz festival by the quiz club. The Department also brings out a bi-annual magazine of student writing called EngSter.

Engendering a New Humanities through interdisciplinary collaboration and research; Promoting intellectual curiosity through the rigorous examination of a diverse range of textualities; and Providing through these acts a basis for students to return to their changing worlds as active citizens and critical readers. .