Program

Your professors in the Department of English and Creative Writing want you to earn a degree which will enable you to do whatever you want after graduation, whether it be further studies in English literature at graduate school, or preparation for a career in professions like teaching or law, or some other career in an area of your choice. To that end, the department has several degree requirements that aim to ensure that your degree is a quality degree.

Take note that senior-level courses in English and Creative Writing are offered on a cycled basis, usually once every two or three years. So don’t leave fulfilling any of these requirements until your last year, or you might find yourself without any choice in the courses you take. See the department chair at once to discuss the situation if you have a problem meeting a departmental degree requirement. Register early to avoid disappointment. Senior level courses often fill up very quickly.

Students Who Started Their Degree in the 2010-11 Academic Year or later:  All courses are divided into 3 core areas — A. Early Literature; B. Modern Poetry Drama, and Prose Non-Fiction; and C. Modern Fiction – and the non-core “Other Literature Courses.”  Majors must take a certain number of courses from each of the core areas.  Minors must take a certain number of courses from two of the core areas.   The core areas requirement is about widening your horizon to the history of English as a language and as a literary medium.  Consult the present General Calendar to see how many credit hours you will need from the core areas for your degree.

Students Who Started Their Degree in the 2008-09 or 2009-10 Academic Years:  You are encouraged to follow the new degree requirements, but you may follow the requirements listed in the year you were admitted as a student. All courses were divided into 5 core areas and two non-core areas. The core areas were: 1. Pre-modern Literature, 2. Early Modern Literature, 3. Modern Poetry, Drama, and Prose Non-fiction, 4. Modern Fiction, and 5. Theory and Criticism. Depending on the degree sought, you must take a certain number of courses from a specific number of core areas.  Consult the 2008-9 or 2009-10 General Calendar to see how many credit hours you will need from these core areas for your degree.

Students Who Started Their Degree in or prior to the 2007-08 Academic Year: You are encouraged to follow the new degree requirements, but you may follow the requirements listed in the year you were admitted as a student. If you choose to follow the old set of requirements, pay attention particularly to the Historical Breadth Requirement. Consult the 2007-08 General Calendar

Level Requirement: The level of a course — 200, 300, 400 — indicates its difficulty, both the difficulty of the reading material and the work required. If your transcript has too many 200 level courses listed on it, then your degree lacks the necessary weight to be taken seriously by many prospective employers and graduate/professional schools. Take 200 level courses in your second year, and then move on to 300 and 400 level courses in your third and fourth years. A 4-Year Honours Major must have at least 33 credit hours in English at the 300/400 level (of which 12 must be at the 400 level), a 4-Year Major at least 30 credit hours at the 300/400 level (of which 12 must be at the 400 level), a 3-Year Major at least 18 credit hours at the 300/400 level, and a Minor at least 6 credit hours at the 300/400 level.

Restriction on 100 level credit hours: 100 level courses are meant for students in their first year. Majors and minors are limited to 6 credit hours of English literature at the 100 level. Once you have a “C” average in 6 credit hours of first-year literature, it’s time to move on to the more difficult and challenging courses. Your degree will be the stronger for it.

Restriction on Creative Writing credit hours: One way to learn about literature is to try to write some yourself, but the degree we offer is in English literature. You can therefore apply only a limited number of creative writing credit hours toward your degree in English literature. Majors are restricted to 6 credit hours, minors to 3 credit hours. If you wish to focus on creative writing rather than literature, you should consider taking the Creative Arts degree or the minor in Creative Writing.