Major Research Paper
A research project on a selected topic involving independent work and original research and thought.
MA Thesis
An extended research project involving the preparation and defence of a thesis which shall demonstrate capacity for independent work and original research and thought.
Theoretical Foundations
Survey and critical analysis of a broad range of theories bearing on the relation of literary texts to cultural formations.
Graduate Seminar in Research and Professional Development
Topics such as the nature and requirements of academic work, research methodologies, research resources, the nature and requirements of the graduate thesis and research paper, the development of the research proposal, focused discussion of research and design strategies for the work proposed, the development of and adherence to a schedule, preparation of conference proposals and public presentations.
Graduate Tutorial
Research course with directed study and regular meetings with a faculty member, covering topics not offered in a designated course. Requires permission of the Graduate Program Director.
Medieval and Early Modern Literature and Culture
English literature, literary culture, and discourses on community from the 14th century to the late 17th century.
2009-2010: Putting English Literature into Print
Exploration of the first printed manifestations of selected sixteenth- and seventeenth-century texts and matters illuminated by them, such as the nature of early modern literary culture, the relations between script and print, and the creation of an English canon.
The Long Eighteenth Century Literature and Culture
Studies in literature and culture from the Restoration of Charles II to the ascension of Victoria, 1660-1837.
Nineteenth Century British and American Literature and Culture
Literature and literary culture in relation to the political, social and intellectual movements of the 19th century. May include transatlantic or nationally located studies.
2009-2010: Communal Romanticisms
Consideration of a variety of Romantic "communities" as sites of cultural production and critique. Emphasis on the phenomenon of "The Cockney School," from its inception as a media phenomenon to its treatment in contemporary scholarship.
Twentieth Century Literature and Culture
Literature and cultural identity, location and change in established and developing literatures in the 20th century.
Canadian Literature and Culture
Studies in Canadian literature with an emphasis on texts and their relation to intersecting notions of community.
2009-2010: Into the Vortex of Canadian Futurism
Examination of Wyndham Lewis, the avant-garde Canadian co-founder of Vorticism in England, and his influence in Canadian writing; especially on writers such as Sheila Watson, Wilfred Watson, and Marshall McLuhan, alongside other examples of futurist writings in Canada by authors such as William Gibson, P.K. Page, Christopher Dewdney, Margaret Atwood, and Christian Bök.
Contemporary Literature and Culture
The role of literature in the creation and maintenance of located and imagined communities in the contemporary world.
Special Topics in Literature and Culture
Literature, culture and community in areas such as genre studies, specialized theoretical studies and comparative historical studies.
2009-2010: Animal Subjects and Literary Representation
Examination of the place of animals in contemporary society as reflected in recent literature, situated within Human-Animal Studies. Emphasis will be placed on the role of the species boundary in constituting what it means to be human and the significant changes in our social and material relations with animals that have prompted recent reassessments of this boundary.
Rhetoric and Discourse Studies
Study of rhetoric, genre, discourse and language. Topics may include rhetorical instatiations of textual communities, ideologies of language as they operate in conceptualizations of nation and self, and discourse analytic methods for examining texts and their contexts.