English Courses
English MA and PhD Courses
Topic Areas
English graduate courses are offered in the following topic areas:
Special Topics in English Literature
Studies in Early English Literature and Medieval Literature
Studies in Renaissance Literature
Studies in Restoration and Eighteenth Century Literature
Studies in Nineteenth Century Literature
Studies in Twentieth Century Literature
Studies in Poetry
Studies in Drama
Studies in Fiction
Studies in the History of Ideas
Studies in Shakespeare
Studies in American Literature
Studies in Canadian Literature
Studies in Post-Colonial Literature
Studies in Literary Criticism
Seminars in Creative Writing: Prose Fiction, Poetry and Drama
Studies in Selected Areas
Please note that in courses where a Special Subject is listed, this Special Subject is a subtitle, and may change from year to year.
Consequently, when students repeat a course number in subsequent years, but with a different subtitle, they are in fact engaged in a course with completely different content. The credit value attached to a course number may likewise change from year to year.
Note: Courses in Creative Writing are normally available only to students admitted into the Creative Writing option. Occasional exceptions in special circumstances are made for entry by students in the academic options. Such entrants require the prior approval of the Graduate Program Director. Independent (non-degree) students require the permission of the Graduate Program Director to take a course and they must possess the same kind and quality of academic background and preparation as required of students admitted to the MA program.
Special Topics in English Literature
Studies in Early English Literature and Medieval Literature
Studies in Renaissance Literature
Studies in Restoration and Eighteenth Century Literature
Studies in Nineteenth Century Literature
Studies in Twentieth Century Literature
Studies in Poetry
Studies in Drama
Studies in Fiction
Studies in the History of Ideas
Studies in Shakespeare
Studies in American Literature
Studies in Canadian Literature
Studies in Post-Colonial Literature
Studies in Literary Criticism
Seminars in Creative Writing: Prose Fiction, Poetry and Drama
Studies in Selected Areas
Description:
Creative Writing Tutorial. The Creative Writing tutorials may be elected only by students in Option C. They are designed to accommodate candidates whose genre (e.g., poetry or drama) is not offered during a given academic year. Candidates wishing to enrol in ENGL 678 or 679 must submit a request to the Graduate Committee. Approval will in part depend upon the availability of resources and whether the Graduate Committee deems it beneficial for the student to undertake a tutorial course rather than a regularly scheduled course. Tutorial courses will be considered only exceptionally and for very able students.Component(s):
Tutorial; Independent StudyDescription:
Bibliography and Research Methods in English. An introduction to scholarly research in English.Description:
Reading Course. After completing at least a third of the course credits (transfer credits excluded), a student may submit a request to the Graduate Committee for permission to take up to 6 credits in a reading course to be provided through a tutorial arrangement. A reading course will be permitted only when the proposed general subject area has not been available during the span of the student’s program and where the Graduate Committee is satisfied that it is beneficial for the student to take a reading course rather than a regularly scheduled graduate course. Reading courses are approved only exceptionally and only students who have demonstrated a capacity for independent work and a very high calibre of academic performance will be considered.Component(s):
Independent StudyDescription:
Reading Course. After completing at least a third of the course credits (transfer credits excluded), a student may submit a request to the Graduate Committee for permission to take up to 6 credits in a reading course to be provided through a tutorial arrangement. A reading course will be permitted only when the proposed general subject area has not been available during the span of the student’s program and where the Graduate Committee is satisfied that it is beneficial for the student to take a reading course rather than a regularly scheduled graduate course. Reading courses are approved only exceptionally and only students who have demonstrated a capacity for independent work and a very high calibre of academic performance will be considered.Component(s):
Independent StudyEnglish MA Thesis, Bibliography and Research Essay Courses
Description:
A candidate electing the thesis option must satisfy the Graduate Committee of the viability of the topic and secure a member of the department to supervise the thesis. The candidate's thesis is orally defended. For specific information concerning thesis proposals a student should consult the departmental guidelines.Component(s):
Thesis ResearchNotes:
The English Department cannot guarantee the availability of a supervisor on every possible topic.
University regulations regarding the thesis may be found in the thesis section of this calendar.
Description:
The Graduate Committee must approve a proposal for a creative writing thesis of book length.Component(s):
Thesis ResearchNotes:
- Assessed on a pass/fail basis
Prerequisite/Corequisite:
The following course must be completed previously: ENGL 693.
Description:
A research thesis of approximately 10,000 words is supervised by a member of the department and assessed by another faculty member acting as reader.Component(s):
Thesis ResearchNotes:
- Assessed on a pass/fail basis
English PhD Core Courses
Description:
This course surveys theoretical and methodological approaches to literary studies. Students read and discuss texts modeling different approaches to textual interpretation, historical inquiry, interdisciplinary study, and theoretical questioning, drawn from influential work in the development of the discipline and from the work of contemporary critics and theorists.
Component(s):
SeminarDescription:
The Department holds a series of workshops with the aim of introducing doctoral candidates to pertinent research, teaching, and professional expectations and enhancing career development. In order to graduate, all doctoral candidates must attend these workshops before the end of the sixth term. Master's students are also strongly encouraged to attend the relevant sessions since they are a constitutive component of graduate formation. If a student has attended a given workshop during his/her master's degree, he/she is exempted from that workshop.Component(s):
WorkshopNotes:
- The course is graded on a pass/fail basis.
Workshops are led by faculty members and organized by the Graduate Program Director on a monthly basis in anticipation both of key dates during the PhD program (e.g. external grant application due dates) and the future professional life of the doctoral candidate (e.g. academic job interviews).
English PhD Thesis and Field Examination Courses
Description:
This course is designed to cultivate expertise in a particular methodological or theoretical approach as preparation for the Sub-Field Exam ( ENGL 892). Preparation for the exam is undertaken as a tutorial with the prospective doctoral supervisor, supported by biweekly meetings with other students enrolled in this class. Reading consists of texts on the Sub-Field examination list. In addition to methodological and theoretical texts, the list studied may also include literary texts, but no text that appeared on the Major Field list may be included. The lists studied are not intended to be exhaustive, but are meant to provide the student with the necessary initiation to sub-fields that help to clarify the direction and goals of the dissertation.Component(s):
Tutorial; In Person (P)Notes:
- This course is assessed on a pass/fail basis.
Description:
Students are admitted to candidacy for the PhD upon acceptance by their advisory committee of the written thesis proposal and its successful defence. Students typically complete one Major Field Examination in an area related to the thesis topic. The oral examination of the written thesis proposal normally takes place in the term following the writing of the second Field Examination. The written proposal is normally 4,500 words in length with an additional five pages for a bibliography.Component(s):
Thesis ResearchNotes:
- Assessed on a pass/fail basis
Description:
This course cultivates expertise in a specific field of literary studies, covering major authors, genres, and canonical texts in the field, in order to consolidate the necessary background knowledge for advanced literary research and teaching at the university level. In the examination, candidates are expected to demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the designated field as well as an original, critical approach to questions and texts in the field of individual candidates, in consultation with the supervisor.Component(s):
Thesis ResearchNotes:
- The exams are assessed by the supervisor on a pass/fail basis in consultation with at least one other faculty member in the Department with related expertise in the area. In the event of a failed exam, students may retake the exam in either an oral or written format. The student has until the end of the tenth term to obtain a "pass".
Prerequisite/Corequisite:
The following course must be completed previously: ENGL 805.Description:
This course cultivates expertise in methodological and theoretical approaches relevant to preparation of the doctoral thesis proposal and the doctoral thesis itself. The Sub-Field Examination list may include critical, theoretical, and literary texts. In the examination, candidates are expected to demonstrate competence in addressing conceptual and methodological questions relevant to their research and in addressing major debates and key issues in their chosen sub-fields.
Component(s):
Thesis ResearchNotes:
- The exams are assessed by the supervisor on a pass/fail basis in consultation with at least one other faculty member in the Department with related expertise in the area. In the event of a failed exam, the student has until the end of the tenth term to obtain a "pass," whether in the initial or another Major Field or configuration of the Sub-Fields exam.