Course Descriptions 200-Level

This page gives fuller descriptions of 200-level courses based on past syllabi. Note that the specific details of syllabi can vary from term to term, so there may be some variation in course content. See the Undergraduate Calendar for official catalogue descriptions.

English Literatures 1 (ENGL 200A): An introduction to the diverse forms and voices of literature written in English from the Middle Ages to the late 18th century, focussing on key writers and works, including works by women and people of colour. Students will explore literary techniques, historical and cultural contexts, and the question of the canon.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.
Also offered online.

English Literatures 2 (ENGL 200B): An introduction to the diverse forms and voices of literature written in English from the late 18th century to the present, focussing on key writers and works from Britain and North America, and including works by women and people of colour. Students will explore literary techniques, historical and cultural contexts, and the question of the canon.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.
Also offered online.

English Literatures 3 (ENGL 200C): An introduction to literature written by people of colour and Indigenous and Black authors. Using a postcolonial and anti-racist framework, this course examines historical and contemporary issues of race, racism, and colonialism in a variety of literary texts.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

The Short Story (ENGL 201): This course is designed as an overview of the short story in English. We will read stories from a variety of geographies, histories, and narrative traditions, from Ireland to India, from the Southern Gothic to the autobiographical. We will examine the history and theory of the short story as a distinct narrative form. We will incorporate earlier stories that challenge the history of the short story as a twentieth-century form, later stories that challenge its generic norms, and stories in translation that have influenced the tradition in English. 

The Bible and Literature 1 (ENGL 202A): In this course you will become familiar with the major stories and themes of the Old Testament. You will also be introduced to the Old Testament's major genres, symbols, and poetic structures. At the end of the course you will be able to anticipate New Testament elements in the Old Testament and to recognize allusions to the Old Testament in a variety of literary works.

Also offered online.

The Bible and Literature 2 (ENGL 202B): A study of the major stories, themes and literary characteristics of the New Testament of the King James Bible and of its influence on English literature. More information coming soon.

Designing Digital Media (ENGL 203): This course draws on multiple theoretical perspectives to introduce students to the fundamental principles of multi-modal communication design in its social context. Students will analyze, design, and produce digital media for use in a variety of platforms.

Prereq: Honours English students only.

Designing Digital Video (ENGL 204): This course introduces students to the principles of designing time-based multi-modal communication in a social context. Students will analyze, design, and produce video for use in a variety of digital platforms.

The Canadian Short Story (ENGL 205R): Exploration of the Canadian short story, from its beginnings - in the bush, in the north, on the land, in the small towns - through the struggles of an urbanizing society to the present. Students will be expected to work in some depth with individual authors.

Writing Lives (ENGL 206): This course studies the ways the self is constructed through text by examining a variety of life-writing approaches, organized from youth to old age, along with theories of identity, memory, gender, narrative, cultural studies, and autobiography as a genre. More information coming soon.

Forms of Fantasy (ENGL 208A): This course deals with contemporary fantasy narratives, in literature and other media, and the myths and legends that inspire them. The main objective of this course is to examine how fantasy worlds are built, and how those fantasy worlds engage (or fail to engage) with social and political issues in the real world. We will begin by learning different ways of defining the genre and learning a few different political frameworks (feminism, critical race theory, disability studies) we can use to evaluate the genre. Then, students in this class will answer questions such as: How do fantasy narratives shape our understanding of world history? How are social or political issues represented in fantasy narratives? Whose fantasy is represented? How do traditionally underrepresented groups create their own fantasy worlds?

Science Fiction (ENGL 208B): The course examines works that generally fall under the generic heading "science fiction." Texts will include examples of various science fiction sub-genres, including Utopian and anti-Utopian science fiction, social science fiction, "gadget" science fiction, parapsychology, and alternate worlds fiction. The course will examine the literary, social, and political significance of individual texts and explore the nature of science fiction as a genre.

Studies in Children's Literature (ENGL 208C): This course will develop a critical understanding of the genre of children's literature. Throughout the course we wil explore the historical construction of children's literature as well as the internal structure of the specific texts we will be reading. By exploring the recurring themes of these texts and how these themes shift between texts, we will also begin to understand what "child" means and has meant at various points in western history over the past four hundred years.

Also offered online.

Women's Writing (ENGL 208E): This course explores a range of women's writing and the social and cultural contexts in which they made their voices heard.

Gothic Monsters (ENGL 208G): A study of monstrosity, fear, terror, and horror in the gothic mode from its origins to the present, with attention to the ways various genres (from the novel to new media) represent gothic sexualities, genders, politics, and aesthetics. More information coming soon.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

Arthurian Legend (ENGL 208H): In this course, we will examine Arthurian romances of the Medieval period, notably those of Chrétien de Troyes, the father of Arthurian romance, alongside more contemporary works of Arthurian legend such as Arthur Philips’ postmodern novel The Tragedy of Arthur. We will also explore Arthurian works in a diversity of other genres and mediums including documentary, drama, films, and music. The course will introduce major Arthurian characters including King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Guenevere, Lancelot, and Mordred while exploring themes such as courtly love, magic, chivalry, the grail quest, adultery, religion, imperial conquest, father-son relationships, and the supernatural. These texts will also be read formally, historically, and theoretically. 

Detective Fiction (ENGL 208K): This course is designed to introduce you to the expansive and generative genre of detective stories or crime fiction, and to some of the critical thought that surrounds it. We will read a variety of detective texts from Canada, the United States, and Britain, both to see how the genre has changed across time, and to analyse how detective fiction has adapted to and responded to changes in cultural contexts. Because the field of detective stories, novels, television shows, and films is enormous, we will focus on novels and short stories in our main reading list, but you will have the opportunity to explore other mediums and genres.

Race and the Literary Tradition (ENGL 208L): How have ideas of race been represented, transmitted, and resisted in the canon of literature in English over the centuries? Topics may include the invention of race, Eurocentrism and imaginative geography, racial beauty myths, internalized racism, and issues of gender, sexuality, and colonialism.

Travel Literature (ENGL 208M): The course examines the forms and functions of travel literature as a genre. Topics will include the representation of travel as adventure, discovery, pilgrimage, and escape; travel and tourism; travel and gender; travel and colonialism.

Sex in Literature (ENGL 208N): This course examines how varieties of sexual desire, sexual activity, and cultural attitudes to sex are represented in a selection of literary works from the middle ages to the present.

Advanced Academic Writing (ENGL 209): This course will explore relationships between audience, situation, purpose, and form in academic writing in the disciplines. One of the best ways to learn to write is by writing, and for that reason students in this course will be asked to do a lot of inventing, drafting, and revising. Sharing work with others, either in peer-response sessions or in collaborative writing groups, promotes learning about writing by widening the response writers get to their work. Finally, reading constitutes another importrant component of learning to write and guidance from texts will help you answer questions you may have or suggest ways to go about the business of writing.

Prereq: Level at least 1B.

Genres of Creative Writing (ENGL 210C): This course introduces students to both contemporary and historical forms of creative writing. Students will explore genres of poetry, prose, and/or drama through their own writing. Students will also investigate the culture of publishing, learn key revision strategies, and workshop the writing of their peers to develop their critical abilities.

Genres of Technical Communication (ENGL 210E): This course explores writing, presentation, and design across various genres of technical communication, with a primary focus on printed and/or online computer documentation. We will be primarily concerned with the theory and application of rhetoric in document analysis and design; that is, what makes a “good” (or bad) technical document? How can we improve upon existing industry practices? Although we will be drawing from the text throughout the term, much of the course will be focused on practical applications of analysis and design.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

Genres of Business Communication (ENGL 210F): Assignments in English 210F will introduce you to the major genres of business writing, and help you develop the critical thinking skills necessary to define your purpose and audience—why and for whom you are writing. You will also develop your ability to write persuasively using key rhetorical principles and appeals to ethos, logic, and emotion. You will learn how to present an argument for common real world scenarios such as recommending a course of action or maintaining trust and goodwill with your clientele. But most importantly, English 210F will help develop your ability to communicate in a professional, concise, and appropriate style for the business world.

Prereq: Level at least 1B.
Offered only online.

Grant Writing (ENGL 210G): The course covers researching, organizing, drafting, and editing proposals and applications for government grants for organizations. Topics may include interviews with domain experts, working with proposal guidelines and checklists, establishing milestones and expectations, using past proposals as models, treating individual sections as separate sub-genres, and creating coherence and flow in the final draft.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

Arts Writing (ENGL 210H): A study of the various forms, processes, and modes of publication of professional writing in the arts. The course will consider both freelance writing and writing within institutional contexts. Pracice in research, writing, and editing will be emphasized.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

Legal Writing (ENGL 210I): A study of the principles, processes, and various forms of writing used in the practice of law and drafting of legislation. The history and structure of legal writing, including current debates about plain language, will be examined.

Technical Editing (ENGL 210J): This course will introduce students to practices and tools of technical editing, such as language and format editing, verification and fact-checking, style guide consistency, discourse appropriateness, and the use of profession-specific software. 

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Literatures (ENGL 211): This course is an introduction to indigenous literatures in Canada. We will read works in several genres—novels, poetry, drama, essay, oratory, autobiography, and more. We will study texts that date back to the 19^th century or earlier, as well as more recent texts, with an eye to connecting them, thereby creating an awareness of how the past continues to shape the present. Our analyses will be informed by indigeneous literary criticism, which draws our attention to how indigenous literatures affirm indigenous knowledge, world views, and values.

Literature and the Law (ENGL 213): A study of literary works that involve legal matters and/or have led to litigation on such grounds as obscenity, treason, heresy, libel, and plagiarism. More information coming soon.

Canadian Children's Literature (ENGL 217): A study of 19th- and 20th-century Canadian literature for children.

Introduction to Anti-Racist Communication (ENGL 225): This course surveys the rhetorical strategies of both more recent and historical civil rights and anti-racist activists. Students will use Black rhetorical theory and will examine work by international historical figures such as Franz Fanon, Aime Cesaire, Edouard Glissant, Albert Memmi, and Mohandas Gandhi, Frederick Douglas, WEB Dubois, Martin Luther King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, Fred Hampton, Robert Hill, and Walter Rodney and such recent figures as Kimberle Crenshaw, Robyn Maynard, Brittney Cooper, Desmond Cole, Feminista Jones, Rinaldo Walcott, and Idil Abdillahi. The objective for students is to understand the evolution of liberatory, anti-racist rhetoric and the rhetorical successes and failures of key anti-racist activists.

Prereq: One of BLKST 101, 102, 103; Level at least 2A or students pursuing the Diploma in Black Studies or the Diploma in Fundamentals of Anti-Racist Communication

The Pleasure of Poetry (ENGL 230): This course is an introduction to the enjoyment of poetry: what we like about it, what makes it fun, and how we can enjoy it more. Students will have an opportunity to expand their understanding of poetry. A range of poems will be sampled, and students will have opportunities to share poems that they like.

Graphic Narrative (ENGL 232): A study of graphic narrative (such as comics, graphic novels, and alternative modes) from the eighteenth century to the present. This course addresses issues such as the history and formal conventions of the medium as well as the unique rhetoric of comics-based storytelling. Topics of interest may include graphic memoir, multimodality, cross-cultural influence, and the comics-as-literature movement.

Migration, Diaspora, and Exile in Muslim Narratives (ENGL 240R): This course examines Muslim narratives written in the diaspora, such as from North America or the United Kingdom. It investigates the diversity of Islamic culture and expression in diasporic contexts, exploring an array of experiences and issues written from various sociocultural locations.

Sacred Spaces and Human Geographies in Muslim Literary Expressions (ENGL 241R): Using the Muslim dimension as a central theme, this course explores the social, cultural, and political implications to be found in a range of postcolonial literatures from Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. Students investigate issues such as identities, nationalism and politics, cultural memory, and sacred space and place.

Literature, Rhetoric, and the Visual Arts (ENGL 242): This course will study literature and rhetoric in dialogue with the visual arts, including potential materials such as paintings, photography, illustrations, sculpture, monuments and memorials, installation art, multimedia and digital media. Course material will draw on a variety of literary and rhetorical genres, historical periods, and forms of visual art.

Literature, Rhetoric, and Music (ENGL 243): This course explores the cultural, historical, and aesthetic relationships between literature, rhetoric, and music. Course materials may draw on a range of historical periods and themes, as well as a variety of literary, lyrical, and musical genres. Attention will be paid to ways that literary, rhetorical, and musical arts exist in artistic dialogue.

American Literature and Popular Culture (ENGL 247): The subject of this course is the vast, lively field defined by the relationship between literature (usually considered "high") and popular culture (usually considered "low"), and by the history of their interaction in the United States. Media covered may include books, movies, and television shows.

Literature for an Ailing Planet (ENGL 248): Can the humanities change how cultures relate to environments and the natural world? This course surveys environmental thought in works of literature and in popular culture.

Literary Theory and Criticism (ENGL 251): What exactly are we doing when we study literature? By examining a selection of critical methods and theoretical approaches, this course will enhance understanding of the many different emphases, values, and priorities critics bring to literature, and the many available perspectives on what constitutes literature's significance.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.
Also offered online.

Irish Literature (ENGL 260): A study of modern and contemporary Irish literature in English. This course will introduce students to a range of Irish writing in its often turbulent historical and cultural context. The international dimensions of Irish writers and their work will be explored.

Manga (ENGL 262): Manga is graphic narrative from Japan that draws on complex historical contexts, global influences, and stylistic conventions in order to create a unique storytelling medium. By studying manga texts such as Dororo, Akira, and Deathnote, students in this course will be encouraged to think critically about visual narrative, cultural values in a global marketplace, and literature as a concept.

Fiction and Film (ENGL 275): A study of the relationships between written and cinematic narrative, focussing on adaptations of fiction to film and the different narrative techniques of each medium. Students will examine a range of works in both fiction and film, explore technical, theoretical, and contextual matters relating to narrative representation in fiction and in film, and develop an increased capacity to write effectively about narrative representation.

Literatures of Migration (ENGL 280): This course explores the literatures and cultures of diasporic and immigrant communities in North America, such as African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, and Latin American. Topics to be covered may include memory, race, hybridity, home, and belonging.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

Global Shakespeare (ENGL 290): An introduction to Shakespeare's continuing influence, focusing on adaptations and appropriations of his works in various media by contemporary writers, artists, and directors around the globe.

Prereq: Level at least 2A. 

Global Literatures (ENGL 291): An examination of literature from around the world that explores such themes as colonialism, migration, transnationalism, and the global. More information coming soon.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

Rhetorical Theory and Criticism (ENGL 292): This course provides a survey of the multidisciplinary field of rhetorical studies. In addition to introducing key concepts, theoretical frameworks, and critical debates, this course examines the role of rhetoric in a range of academic disciplines and social contexts.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

Introduction to Digital Media Studies (ENGL 293): This course aims to introduce students to the ways in which new media of all types is examined and studied in the humanities. My hope is that by surveying many different types of new media and new media cultures students can determine what types of media they would like to examine for the final project and in their future studies. The connecting theme in this class is “media changing culture and culture changing media”, most of our discussions will revolve around how people and their culture(s) change technology by using it, and by portraying it in art, and how technology has then changed the way we live and the way we make art. By focusing on this reciprocal relationship between art culture and technology we will be able to see the connections between how technology is created, adopted, and made obsolete and how we portray and use that technology in our lives and art.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

Introduction to Critical Game Studies (ENGL 294): This course introduces students to the field of humanities-based game studies. Topics may include the debate between ludological (rules-based) and narratological (story-based) approaches, procedural studies, platform and software studies, gamification, games and adaptation studies, and games as rhetorical objects.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.

Social Media (ENGL 295): This course surveys the popular social media landscape and charts scholarly approaches, both methodological and theoretical, to understanding and analyzing social media texts. Potential topics include memes, social networks, fan communities, digital identity, labour, sociality, trolling, ownership, and regulation. This course will enable you to critically analyze social media texts; evaluate the source, content, audience, and effects of social media; identify organizational and regulatory constraints in the social media system; understand and reproduce the codes of media texts such as memes and viral content; and assess key issues in social media such as regulation, labour and privacy.

Prereq: Level at least 2A.