English BA
Undergraduate Studies in English
Our Honors and BA programs are specifically designed so students can explore English literature in greater depth and detail as they progress throughout the course of their degree. As a department we have various strengths in the following areas:
- Colonial, Postcolonial, and Diasporic Studies
- Canadian Literature
- Early Modern Studies
- Media, Technology, and Literacy in the Humanities
- Studies in Performance and Politics
- Sexuality and Gender Studies
- Transnational Nineteenth-Century Studies'
- Critical and Cultural Theory
- Environmental Writing and Topics in Social Justice
The areas above are taught in a variety of lecture and seminar based courses. In order to familiarize students with both modes of learning, The School of Theatre, English, and Creative Writing offers a first-year core course that provides students with the opportunity to attend weekly seminars in order to discuss material covered in the week's preceding lectures. As students proceed in their respective programs they can expect to take classes that incorporate and build on both models of delivery.
Lectures
Students majoring or minoring in English will have the opportunity to enroll in a variety of lecture-based courses that provide them with an overview of a specific literary period or culture. In recent years, faculty have made a concerted effort to include a wide assortment of texts in their course offerings -- particularly those that reflect the diversity of contemporary global life. For example, ENGL*2080 ("Finding a Critical Voice") often features lectures that cover prose, poetry, and drama from North America, Great Britain, and the Caribbean. This unique scope gives students a chance to become familiar with an assortment of genres or styles from around the world in order to provide an opportunity to develop an understanding of a culture or place that might be different from their own.
Seminars
To help students continually build their critical skills we offer small, focused, discussion-based seminar courses in years 2-4. These classes are a unique hallmark of our program and provide students the ideal opportunity and space to hone their analytical skills through dynamic conversation-based learning. In their second year, students are expected to take ENGL*2120 (“Critical Practices”) and ENGL*2130 (“Literature and Social Change”). The former focuses on theories of cultural analysis while the latter introduces students to the wider politics of cultural critique. In their third year, students explore the issues raised in their earlier seminars by taking part in ENGL *3940 (“Form, Genre, and Literary Value”) and ENGL*3960 (“Literature and History”). The focus of these third year seminars vary, but students are often expected to use particular case studies that are related to literature in order to explore how certain textual conventions and specific histories might inform or shape ways to read a given text or genre. In their senior year, honors students are required to enroll in a specially designed fourth-year seminar. Generally, fourth-year students are given a choice to choose from several classes that center around a specific topic related to literature, critical theory, or an interdisciplinary form of media. These fourth year seminars are similar to graduate ones offered at the MA and PhD level and require students to write a long-form research paper in order to help them prepare for either advanced study or professional roles related to the field of English.
At the end of the program, students leave with highly developed communication skills and with an appreciation for contemporary developments in English studies, the arts, and the humanities.
Prospective students, for more information please click here .
Current students, for information including downloadable files, please click here .
To contact an English Advisor, please click here .
For information about TESS -- The English Students' Society, please click here .
Our students go on to a variety of careers—in teaching, law, publishing, journalism, public service, business, and many other fields.