Students in any English major academic plan may elect one or more of our specializations to add additional qualifications to their degree (for more information on our majors, see our Undergraduate Programs page).
Please note that students enrolled in the Arts and Business - Digital Arts Communication (DAC) specialization may not enrol in the Digital Media Studies specialization. Admission to any specialization is by consent of the Department of English Language and Literature upon the student's completion of the first year of studies.
Communication Design Specialization
Develop design skills that will allow you to create a wide range of print and digital documents that are clear and visually compelling. This specialization will give you tools from areas such as information design, visual rhetoric, and digital design so that at the end of your degree you'll be able not only to produce solid content but to present it effectively in a range of media. Students should follow the checklist for course requirements for the Communication Design Specialization.
Creative Writing Specialization
Whether you're interested in writing fiction, poetry, drama, or literary non-fiction, our Creative Writing Specialization will help you develop your talents and deepen your skills. You'll get instruction from faculty members who are experienced writers, discuss your work with peers, and learn about the publishing industry. Students should follow the checklist for course requirements for the Creative Writing Specialization.
Digital Media Studies Specialization
Explore new digital media from a lab-based and hands-on approach to digital technology. Your courses in this specialization can include such topics as Information Design, Visual Rhetoric, Designing Digital Images and Hypertext, and History and Theory of Media. Students should follow the checklist for course requirements for the Digital Media Studies specialization.
Think you might be interested in further exploring digital media at the graduate level after your undergraduate degree? See our Experimental Digital Media MA.
Global Literatures Specialization
Learn about the presence of "the global" in English literature from its beginnings. This specialization includes courses such as Postcolonial Literatures, Race and English Literature, Canadian Multicultural Literature, Global Shakespeare, and American Literature in a Global Context. Students should follow the checklist for course requirements for the Global Literatures specialization.
Technical Writing Specialization
Want to learn how innovative companies and organizations communicate with one another and with the public? Your courses in this specialization can include such topics as Information Design, Editing, Designing Digital Images and Hypertext, Grant Writing, and the Rhetoric of Advertising. Students should follow the checklist for course requirements for the Technical Writing specialization.
Think you might be interested in further exploring digital media at the graduate level after your undergraduate degree? See our Rhetoric and Communication Design MA. Graduates of our program work doing technical writing for Google, international non-profit organizations, and the Canadian government.
Please note: Students completing an English honours degree require 16 ENGL courses. These requirements are not changed by this specialization, but students may need to take more ENGL courses to complete the specialization. All ENGL course grades count in the required ENGL GPA of 70% for an Honours English degree.