What courses will you take?

This guide is designed to help you make course selections for 2023-24. While the Mount’s University Calendar gives descriptions for all English and Writing courses, not all of those courses are offered each year. In the drop-down menus below, you’ll see more detailed information about the courses offered, program options, an introduction to English at the Mount, information on courses for next year, and checklists to help you plan. Please consult the University Calendar for official information on admissions and program requirements.

  • Program Options — Students can take a 20-unit Bachelor of Arts degree with an Honours or a Major in English literature (typically four years). English can also be taken as an Combined Major with another subject in the Arts or Science offerings. A 15-unit Bachelor of Arts (General Studies) degree is also available with a Concentration in English (typically three years). These and other options (such as a Minor in Literature or Writing) are explored below in the drop-down menu.
  • ENGL or WRIT — Courses offered by our department are designated as English (ENGL) or Writing (WRIT) or both (ENGL/WRIT). Courses with the WRIT designation can count towards the Writing Minor or they can be taken as an elective. ENGL/WRIT courses let you decide if you want the course to count towards an English program option, towards the Writing Minor, or as an English or Writing elective.
  • Pre-requisites — Please consult the University Calendar to ensure you are adequately prepared for the courses you want to take. Generally, taking a 1000-level course is recommended to help you prepare for 2000-level and 3000-level courses.

    Looking for Academic Advising?

    At the Mount, we want to ensure you’re on the right track from registration straight through to graduation. Our academic advisors are here to make sure your course choices work for your degree requirements and timeline. Download our advising checklists and contact your academic advisor – we encourage you to meet in person. A list of academic advisors is posted on the English Department bulletin board on the 5th floor of the Seton Academic Centre (between Room 510 and Room 511), or if you need to be assigned to an advisor, ask our administrative assistant, Tracy McDonald, in Seton 561 (902-457-6346; tracy.mcdonald@msvu.ca).

English/Writing Course Booklet 2023-2024

Download the English Course Booklet-2023-24

An introduction to English at the Mount

 

Left: Victorian Literature students after a public recitation of 19th-century poetry.

 

An introduction to English at the Mount

In the English Department you can select courses that cover a wide range of subjects from traditional and historical literatures to contemporary theory and cultural studies. As part of your course work, you may find yourself memorizing lines for a performance project, researching eighteenth-century women writers, examining art responding to 9/11, or analyzing what makes a monster in different cultures. You will craft persuasive essays about books, authors, and issues that excite you. Some of your course work might deal with authors and subjects that you already know you love, and other courses will introduce you to exciting new challenges and approaches.

Even as you may be involved in analyzing how a book is made into a film, or translating lines of medieval poetry, or debating concepts of gender and sexuality in contemporary media, you will also be improving your oral and written communication skills, your research abilities, and your own creativity as a writer while developing the theoretical tools that will lead you to a greater literary and cultural understanding.

We know that you’re more likely to succeed in university if you study what you love.

Gain skills in communication and critical analysis

University English teaches you both clear, articulate writing and critical analysis of the ways that language and literature work. These skills are acquired by prolonged experience and practice, rather like high-diving or ballet or piano-playing. Regular attendance at classes is consequently essential, along with active participation.

To maximize participation, English classes at the Mount are usually run in a discussion format. Your instructors will sometimes transmit information necessary to understand the background of literary works or certain critical approaches — but on the whole, our teaching of English will not be simple transmission, any more than your learning will be simple memorization. Rather, we try to raise thought-provoking questions about literary texts, so that students can try out various solutions. Through weighing one solution against another, and checking all these solutions against the text, you should acquire a good sense of literary judgment. This will, over time, make your responses more convincing, more sophisticated, and more able to take account of the full complexity of literature.

These skills are carried over into the formulation of written arguments. English Department faculty make an effort to give full, careful comments on each student’s written work. If taken to heart, these comments should prevent the repetition of errors, and year by year the writing of English students increases in precision and authority.

While all of our English courses will enable you to become a better writer, our Writing courses are for those who are especially interested in exploring the theory and practice of writing in different situations and in different types of writing. Writing courses will introduce writing as a rhetorical practice: a highly intentional exercise of choices to achieve a particular goal. Their topics range from an introduction to the field of writing studies, through creative writing and persuasion, editing and publishing, to theory and research in the field. Our Writing classes are run as small workshops of no more than 20 to 25 students in which you and your instructor and other students work closely on your writing, research, and editing.

The skills gained by these teaching practices — the ability to think through problems and then to communicate the results convincingly — will be useful not only in English classes but in any number of different fields and professions. In fact, excellent communication skills are among the top three priorities of most employers today. Read more about our students’ career paths.

Enjoy innovative teaching in a creative community

At the Mount, you will get to know your professors and classmates as you read, discuss, write, and work together in small classes of no more than 20 to 35 students. And your professors will get to know you as well, guiding you through your assignments and advising you on your program of study. Your work is graded by your professor, not by student teaching assistants.

While your professors are all active researchers in their fields, they also look for creative new ways to bring their knowledge into the classroom to share with you. All of our faculty are committed to high standards of teaching, and many of them have won or have been nominated for university, regional, and national teaching awards. Read more about our professors’ teaching and research interests and their recent activities.

It’s this personal level of attention that allows us to offer a full-year honours thesis course in which a student works with one professor on a substantial research project, a unique opportunity among Halifax universities. Other research and teaching opportunities are also available to our senior students, such as working as a research assistant or writing tutor.

1000-level courses (Introductory)

ENGLISH

If you are considering a major in English or if you are looking to sharpen your critical faculties, then choose ENGL 1170/1171 or ENGL 1155. These are introductions to English studies at the university level, but they take different approaches. Read the descriptions that follow carefully.

If this is your first experience of English study at university, please note that it will differ from high school, and students sometimes report a drop in their English grades. You will need a GPA of 2.0 (equivalent to a C average) in English to become and to remain a major. The Calendar has a full description of the meaning of the various grades used in the university, and your English professors will most likely distribute in class the English Department Marking Scheme handout which describes how the department applies the university’s grading system. Copies of this handout are available from the department administrative assistant, Tracy McDonald, in Seton 533.

WRITING

WRIT 1120 is a course in writing theory and practice; it is the foundation of the minor in Writing, but it is valuable for any student. Those who enjoy writing and its challenges will find more enjoyable challenges, and will acquire a deeper understanding of how writing is accomplished, from first glimmering of idea to final edit. English majors and minors can take this course as an elective.

If you are considering a major in English or if you are looking to sharpen your critical faculties, then choose ENGL 1170/1171 or ENGL 1155. These are introductions to English studies at the university level, but they take different approaches. Read the descriptions that follow carefully.

If this is your first experience of English study at university, please note that it will differ from high school, and students sometimes report a drop in their English grades. You will need a GPA of 2.0 (equivalent to a C average) in English to become and to remain a major. The Calendar has a full description of the meaning of the various grades used in the university, and your English professors will most likely distribute in class the English Department Marking Scheme handout which describes how the department applies the university’s grading system. Copies of this handout are available from the department administrative assistant, Tracy McDonald, in Seton 533.

WRIT 1120 The Writing Process: Theory and Practice

0.5 unit–Fall or Winter

NOTE: In WRIT 1120, you will be challenged and assisted to develop new strengths, whether or not you consider yourself to be a “good writer” already. This course is not “remedial”; it will challenge you to improve your writing skills by slowly and recursively engaging rich, rewarding, and often difficult ideas, texts, and problems. You will practice your writing as a process, done in your own time and in conjunction with your classmates and your instructor.

In this course, you will approach writing from a rhetorical perspective: that is, writing is not just a matter of following a series of rules or applying a set of templates. Instead, writing involves making choices that are appropriate to the situation. You will get practice in drafting and substantial revision as well as editing and polishing.

This course is the foundation of the Writing minor; it is recommended that you take 1120 before you attempt any other WRIT or WRIT/ENGL courses.

FALL

01F   MW 9:00 – 10:15   Professor Lesley Newhook

02F   MW 1:30 – 2:45   Dr. Stephen Cloutier

03F   MW 4:30 – 5:45  Professor Lesley Newhook

04F   TTh 10:30 – 11:45    Dr. Adrian Knapp

05F   TTh 4:30 – 5:45   Professor Clare Goulet

18F   Synchronous Online: TTH 6:00 – 7:15  Dr. Stephen Cloutier

WINTER

06W   MW 9:00 – 10:15  Dr. Adrian Knapp

07W   MW 4:30 – 5:45   TBA

08W   TTh 9:00 – 10:15   TBA

09W   TTh 10:30 – 11:45  Dr. Stephen Cloutier

10W   TTh 4:30 – 5:45   TBA

19W   Synchronous Online: MW 6:00 – 7:15   Professor Clare Goulet

ENGL 1155 Introduction to Literature: Gender and Form

1.0 unit–Fall and Winter

01FW   MW 12:00 – 1:15   Dr. Rhoda Zuk

An introduction to the critical study of the major forms of fiction, poetry, and drama, using examples from the time of Chaucer to the present day. Readings will include a balance of female and male writers, and a special focus for discussion will be representations of gender.

Note: Students may not take both ENGL 1155 and ENGL 1170/1171 for credit.

(This course is also listed as a women-emphasis course in the Women’s Studies Department.)

ENGL 1170 Introduction to Literature: Literary Genres

0.5 unit–Fall or Winter

An introduction to the terms and methods of literary analysis. Through critical study of a range of literary works, including short fiction, poetry, drama, and a novel, students will acquire the skills needed to write about them effectively.

Note: Students who have received credit for ENGL 1155 may not take this course for credit.

FALL

01F   MW 10:30 – 11:45   Professor Lesley Newhook

02F   MW 3:00 – 4:15   Professor Lesley Newhook

03F   TTh 9:00 – 10:15   Dr. Lynne Evans

04   TTh 12:00 – 1:15   Dr. Sandi Orser

05   TTh 3:00 – 4:15   Dr. Karen Macfarlane

18F Synchronous Online: M 6:00 – 7:15   Professor David Wilson

WINTER

06W   MW 10:30 – 11:45   Dr. Bernadette Russo

07W   TTh 12:00 – 1:15   Dr. Adrian Knapp

ENGL 1171 Introduction to Literature: Literary Transformations

0.5 unit–Fall or Winter

An introduction to the critical study of literature from different historical periods. By following a particular theme or genre from the Middle Ages to the present day, students assess how writers are influenced by, respond to, and transform previous texts. It is recommended that students take ENGL 1170 before ENGL 1171.

Note: Students who have received credit for ENGL 1155 may not take this course for credit.

FALL

01F   TTh 1:30 -2:45   Dr. Matthew Roby

WINTER

02W   MW 1:30 – 2:45   Professor Krista Collier-Jarvis

03W   MW 3:00 – 4:15   TBA

04W   TTh 1:30 – 2:45  Dr. Matthew Roby

05W   TTh 3:00 – 4:15   Dr. Bernadette Russo

18W   Synchronous Online: T 6:00 – 7:15   Professor David Wilson

2000-level courses

You may take a 2000-level ENGL course once you have completed 1.0 unit of literature at the 1000 level or five units of any university study. Completion of at least one unit of ENGL at the 2000 level is recommended for English courses at the 3000 and 4000 level. WRIT and ENGL/WRIT courses may have particular pre-requisites.

ENGL 2201 Shakespeare / 1.0 unit

1.0 unit – Fall and Winter
MW 10:30 – 11:45
Instructors: Dr. Reina Green (Fall term) and Dr. Diane Piccitto (Winter term)

In this course, we will examine a range of plays by William Shakespeare from across his career (1590s-1610s), covering the genres of comedy, history, tragedy, and romance. We will study these works in their historical, socio-political, theatrical, and contemporary cinematic contexts and reflect on the implications these contexts can have for an understanding of his plays. Key themes that will frame our discussions are power, authority, rebellion, and revenge in connection to gender, race, sexuality, and family ties. In addition, we will consider how Shakespeare explores these topics from genre to genre.

This course is required for English majors.

ENGL 2202 Introduction to Critical Methods / 0.5 unit

Fall term
TTh 10:30-11:45
Instructor: Dr. Karen Macfarlane

Literary theory explores how we do what we do as readers and literary critics. It explores the issues around how language works, how we define and work with literary and cultural texts, how we work through the series of complex codes and meanings that make up our culture, how our material position (our social position, our race, gender, ability, sexuality etc.) affects the use of language, the production of literature, the structures and forms of narrative, our position as readers and a variety of other issues related to our relationship with the texts around us.

This course is structured as an introduction to critical theory as a field of study with the aim of providing students with a strong grounding in the methods, terms, and strategies that underpin English studies. You will be introduced to the major schools and approaches that shape contemporary theory (such as psychoanalysis, Marxist theory, structuralism, poststructuralism, feminist theory and postcolonialism). In addition to reading texts about theory, we will read selected primary theoretical works and we will read selected literary texts through a variety of critical lenses.

This course is required for English majors and strongly recommended for all English students at all levels of the programme, and for all students interested in thinking about language, literature and culture.

ENGL 2209 Introduction to Indigenous Literatures and Cultures / 0.5 unit

Fall term
MW 12:00 – 1:15
Instructor: Professor Brenda Duperron

This course is an introductory, interdisciplinary course to a range of Indigenous literatures and cultures of the Northern Hemisphere. Indigenous identity, kinship, and survivance will be explored as well as Indigenous experience of settler colonialism, institutionally sanctioned violence, forced assimilation, and other relevant concerns.

ENGL 2213 Contemporary Film / 0.5 unit

Fall term
TTh 12:00 – 1:15
Instructor: Professor Krista Collier-Jarvis

This course has received a bit of a makeover. In prior semesters, the analyses done in this course have centered around issues of social justice; however, this semester, we will be a bit broader and focus more on conventions of genre as our guiding theme. While this course will focus primarily on the nuanced language used in film to convey meaning to audiences, including but not limited to elements of cinematography, mis-en-scène, editing, and sound, it will be a bit more inclusive of narrative content. We will initially consider a brief history of film to provide a context and understanding of the various components of film evolution. We will also explore film forms and genres. Through our discussions, you will develop an understanding of the manner in which film conveys meaning beyond the narrative. Films used for this course will cover a broad range; however, contemporary films will be most often selected.

This course may also count as a 0.5 elective in the Cultural Studies program.

___________________________________________________________________________

ENGL/WRIT 2220 Writing to Influence: Introduction to Rhetorical Persuasion / 0.5 unit

Fall term
18F  Synchronous Online
T 6:00 – 7:15
Instructor: Professor David Wilson

Winter term
01W TTh 1:30 – 2:45
Instructor: Dr. Adrian Knapp

Pre-requisite: WRIT 1120 or 5.0 units of university study. If you are taking this course in the Writing minor, you are recommended to complete WRIT 1120 first.

This class takes Aristotle’s definition of rhetoric as “an ability, in each case, to see the available means of persuasion” as a starting point for theorizing and practicing the persuasive power of writing. We will study classical rhetorical concepts and techniques – invention, kairos, ethos, stasis, topoi – for discovering, creating, and analyzing rhetorical argument. Students will do this by learning the theory and history of these concepts, practice using them to analyze the rhetorical power of example texts, and mobilizing them in their own writing. This work will culminate in a semester-long research project written for a popular audience in the spirit of essays written for publications like The Walrus, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker.

ENGL/WRIT 2221 Introduction to Creative Writing / 0.5 unit

Winter term
TTh 10:30 – 11:45
Instructor: Professor Clare Goulet

Pre-requisite: 0.5 unit of English at the 1000 level or permission of the instructor. If you are taking this course in the Writing minor, you are recommended to complete WRIT 1120 first.

A study and practice of creative writing, including poetry, fiction, and/or creative nonfiction, in a workshop environment driven by writing exercise and peer review. Instruction will be grounded in contemporary creative writing from peer reviewed journals. Additionally, the course may be supplemented by visits from or to creative writers.

WRIT 2222 Introduction to Editing / 0.5 unit

Fall term
TTh 9:00 – 10:15
Instructor: Professor Clare Goulet

Pre-requisite: WRIT 1120 and ENGL/WRIT 2220 or permission of the instructor.

A practical and historical study of text editing. Particular attention will be paid to practices of manuscript analysis, substantive editing, copy editing, and proofreading, using standard practices set by the Editors’ Association of Canada. Students will practice editing texts from a range of genres: literature, scientific and humanist scholarship, and popular writing. Students will have access to a number of professional resources, including processional editors.

ENGL 2260 Poetry / 0.5 unit

Fall term
MW 1:30 – 2:45
Instructor:  Dr. Matthew Roby

A study of poetic techniques and genres from different periods of literary history, with an opportunity to examine the development of one poet’s work. The course will explore the ways poets employ a variety of poetic forms, as well as the ways they both work within and challenge specific traditions.

ENGL 2261 Short Fiction / 0.5 unit

Winter term
TTh 9:00 – 10:15
Instructor: Dr. Sandi Orser

An exploration of the nature of fiction based on the study of a wide range of short stories and novellas.

ENGL 2263 Detective Fiction / 0.5 unit

Winter term
TTh 3:00 – 4:15
Instructor: Dr. Rhoda Zuk

A study of detective fiction as it has developed from its genteel English and hard-boiled American origins into a form able to embrace serious social analysis, feminist perspectives, and post-modernist poetics.

This course may also count as a 0.5 elective in the Cultural Studies program.

 

3000-/4000-level courses (senior/advanced seminars)

Courses at the 3000 or 4000 level require successful completion of at least one unit of literature at the 1000 level. At least one unit at the 2000 level is recommended.

 

English Department seminar. Photo: Krista Hill

 

ENGL 3211 Special Topic: Climate Fiction 0.5 unit

Winter term
MW 10:30 – 11:45
Instructor:  Professor Krista Collier-Jarvis

Floods, wildfires, fungal epidemics…it is no question that the environment in the twenty-first century is increasingly unpredictable, which is exactly why many writers are taking up Climate Fiction, or “Cli-Fi.” This course will focus on a selection of cli-fi from one of the oldest known literary texts, The Epic of Gilgamesh (2600 B.C.E.), to the Indigenous post-apocalyptic novel, The Marrow Thieves (2017), with particular attention to how humanity’s relationship to the environment is often figured in Gothic terms. Although literature will comprise most of the texts in this course, attention will also be given to art, film, videogames, and even museum exhibits. Some key themes that will be explored include the Anthropocene, eco-anxieties, Petro culture, environmental racism, the New Weird, Indigenous stewardship, and queer ecologies.

ENGL/WRIT 3221 Creative Nonfiction Writing / 0.5 unit

Fall term
MW 12:00 – 1:15
Instructor:  J. Miller

A practical study of creative nonfiction writing. This course explores creative nonfiction through its subgenres (e.g., collage, memoir, and/or literary journalism) and rhetorical techniques and practices (e.g., style, arrangement, tropes, schemes, and/or progymnasmata). The course is driven by workshops, wherein students will share, refine, and generally practice their craft.

ENGL 3300 Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Literature / 1.0 unit

1.0 unit – Fall and Winter
MW 3:00 – 4:15
Instructor:  Dr. Rhoda Zuk

The rise of capitalism and imperialism in the eighteenth century precipitated the formation of a much-expanded readership. New genres, including journalism, the novel, and distinctive forms of life-writing emerged. For the first time, women writers were common; some even made their living from the literary marketplace. By the end of the eighteenth century, Black and Indigenous writers took their part in shaping the literary landscape. We will explore the ways in which the period’s plays, poetry, fiction, essays, news reports, letters, and journals represent and reimagine gender, sexuality, and the relationship between class and race.

ENGL 3310 Indigenous Literatures / 0.5 unit

Winter term
MW 1:30 – 3:00
Instructor:  Dr. Bernadette Russo

Previously this course focused on Indigenous Futurisms. This semester we will focus on Indigenous film and graphic novels, and through these texts we will explore issues of social justice that affect Indigenous peoples, including the construction of indianness, colonization, decolonization, and apocalypse. Examples of our filmic texts include the late Jeff Barnaby’s (Mi’kmaq) works Blood Quantum (2019) (an Indigenous contemporary vampire film) and Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013) (focuses on residential school horrors). The use of documentary as both a colonizing agent and a subversion of colonizing texts will be considered through the film We Were Children (2012) by Tim Wolochatiuk and other documentaries. We will also consider a range of Indigenous comics and graphic novels including those from Arigon Starr and those from the Marvel Universe as well as other artists. Come, let’s explore!

ENGL 3313 Modern and Contemporary Drama / 0.5 unit

Winter term
TTh 12:00 – 1:15
Instructor:  Dr. Stephen Cloutier

A study of theatre from the end of the nineteenth century to the present. Plays from a variety of countries will be examined in the context of theoretical debates about the nature of theatre, as well as new production techniques.

ENGL 3342 Modern Fiction / 0.5 unit

Fall term
TTh 3:00 – 4:15
Instructor:  Dr. Stephen Cloutier

A study of the main developments in British and American fiction during the Modernist period (1900-1945).

ENGL 3356 Seventeenth-Century Literature / 0.5 unit

Fall term
MW 4:30 – 5:45
Instructor:  Dr. Reina Green

In this course, we will examine English poetry and prose written in the seventeenth century, from the end of Elizabeth I’s reign in 1603 through the English civil wars and interregnum into the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. This period includes some of England’s most turbulent political history and there were equally seismic shifts in the literature of the time. A number of literary genres mark their development in the seventeenth century, including the essay and novel, metaphysical and concrete poetry, just to name a few. We will explore these new and changing literary forms through the work of a number of authors, including several women writers. Texts will be considered for the way they engage with the major issues of the period, including the relationship between the individual, family, and society, art and nature, religion and politics, with particular attention to the treatment of gender, race, and sexuality.

ENGL 3376 Medieval Literature / 0.5 unit

Winter term
MW 12:00 – 1:15
Instructor:  Dr. Matthew Roby

A study of a particular theme or genre in Middle English literature. Possible topics may include romances, mystical writings, saints’ lives, or epics and legends in authors such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, the Gawain-poet, or Margery Kempe.

WRIT/COMM 3512 Writing about Science / 0.5 unit

Winter term
MW 3:00 – 4:15
Instructor:  TBA

Explores strategies for meeting the needs of diverse academic and general audiences of scientific information. Assignments reflect typical professional genres: research posters, grant applications, news releases, and feature articles. The class is rooted in contemporary scholarship on rhetoric, science communication, and writing.

ENGL 44o8 Critical Theory / 0.5 unit

Winter term
TTh 10:30 – 11:45
Instructor:  Dr. Karen Macfarlane

This course continues where ENGL 2202 Critical Methods left off. We will focus on the major theorists and theoretical works that have shaped the ways we read and think about literature and culture in the twenty-first century. Our focus will be on the “posts” in contemporary theory (with selected readings from foundational texts from earlier periods): poststructuralism, postcolonialism, post-queer, post-feminist and so on… Our discussions will be based on primary theoretical texts, but we will also be discussing selected works from popular culture as a way of thinking about the ways in which theory becomes methodology.

This course may also count as a 0.5 elective in the Cultural Studies program.

ENGL 4427 Studies in Victorian Culture / 0.5 unit

Fall term
TTh 1:30 – 2:45
Instructor:  Dr. Karen Macfarlane

This course will focus on the Gothic in Victorian literature and culture. This is a huge topic (the Gothic is everywhere in Victorian culture!) so our focus will be narrowed down to an exploration of the Gothic and the monster with an emphasis on their connections with empire and technology. While we will cover a wide range of texts, images, and cultural practices from throughout the Victorian Period, we will spend most of our time on the works of the fin de siècle (roughly the 1870s to 1914). We will also be reading selected theoretical and contextual works to provide us with a framework for our discussions. Emphasis will be on active discussion and ongoing engagement with the material.

Tentative text list: Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Bram Stoker Dracula, Richard Marsh The Beetle, and selected short stories, images, and primary textual material.

This course may also count as a 0.5 elective in the Cultural Studies program.