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Department of English | Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Simon Fraser University Calendar | Summer 2024

English Honours

Bachelor of Arts

This program is for those with special interest in literature, writing and rhetoric, or creative writing who wish to pursue studies beyond the major program. The honours essay (ENGL 496) allows for independent research and writing on a topic of the student's choice. Students who are planning to enter the honours program are encouraged to consult the Undergraduate Advisor or Undergraduate Chair.

Program Requirements

Students complete 120 units, as specified below. Completion of ENGL 364 is required prior to admission to the honours program.

Lower Division Requirements

Students proposing to enter the honours program will complete the same lower division ENGL courses as English majors (see below). Normally a 3.5 GPA in all Simon Fraser University English courses and a CGPA of 3.0 are required for acceptance and continuance.

Students complete any two 100-division English courses. Such courses may include:

ENGL 111W - Literary Classics in English (3) *

Examines literary “classics”, variously defined, apprehending them both on their own terms and within larger critical conversations. May incorporate the comparative study of work in related artistic fields and engage relevant media trends. Includes attention to writing skills. Students with credit for ENGL 101W may not take this course for further credit. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
D100 Torsten Kehler
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D103 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 8:30–9:20 a.m.
Burnaby
D104 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 12:30–1:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D105 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 12:30–1:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D106 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 1:30–2:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D107 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D108 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D109 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 8:30–9:20 a.m.
Burnaby
D110 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 8:30–9:20 a.m.
Burnaby
D111 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 8:30–9:20 a.m.
Burnaby
D112 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
Burnaby
ENGL 112W - Literature Now (3) *

Introduces students to contemporary works of literature in English and/or contemporary approaches to interpreting literature. May focus on one or multiple genres. Includes attention to writing skills. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
B100 Mary Ann Gillies
TBD
B101 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 8:30–9:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B102 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B103 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B104 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Tue, 8:30–9:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B105 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Tue, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B106 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Tue, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B107 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 8:30–9:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B108 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B109 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B110 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Thu, 8:30–9:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B111 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Thu, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
B112 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Thu, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
ENGL 113W - Literature and Performance (3) *

Introduces students to plays and performance works created and adapted for the stage, and/or the performative dimensions of other literary forms. May be organized historically, generically or thematically. The course may also explore the links between literary and performance theory. Includes attention to writing skills. Students with credit for ENGL 103W may not take this course for further credit. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

ENGL 114W - Language and Purpose (3) *

Introduces students to the relationships between writing and purpose, between the features of texts and their meaning and effects. May focus on one or more literary or non-literary genres, including (but not limited to) essays, oratory, autobiography, poetry, and journalism. Includes attention to writing skills. Students with credit for ENGL 104W may not take this course for further credit. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

ENGL 115W - Literature and Culture (3) *

An Introduction to the study of literature within the wider cultural field, with a focus on contemporary issues across genres and media. Students with credit for ENGL 105W may not take this course for further credit. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.

ENGL 199W - Writing to Persuade (3) *

An introduction to reading and writing from a rhetorical perspective. The course treats reading and writing as activities that take place in particular circumstances and situations, in contrast to the traditional emphasis on decontextualized, formal features of texts. It prepares students for reading and writing challenges they are likely to encounter within and beyond the classroom. Prerequisite: 12 units. Students with credit for ENGL 199 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.

Students also complete any four 200-division English courses. Such courses may include:

ENGL 202 - The Environmental Imagination (3) **

Explores how literature and language imagine the natural world and engage with environmental and ecological crisis. Topics may include ecocriticism: eco-poetics; approaches to the natural world; local, imperial, and Indigenous ecologies. May be further organized by historical period or genre. Prerequisite: 12 units or one 100-division English course. Breadth-Humanities.

ENGL 204 - Reading Sexuality and Gender (3) **

Considers how sexuality and gender are articulated, understood, explored, and negotiated through literature and language. May be further organized by historical period, genre, or critical approach. Prerequisite: 12 units or one 100-division English course. Breadth-Humanities.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
D100 Nicky Didicher
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, Wed, 9:30–10:20 a.m.
Burnaby
D103 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Mon, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D105 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 10:30–11:20 a.m.
Burnaby
D106 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 1:30–2:20 p.m.
Burnaby
D107 May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Wed, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
Burnaby
ENGL 209 - Race, Borders, Empire (3) **

Examines how literature and language work to reflect, perform, complicate, and critique constructions of race, ethnicity, and national and diasporic identities and spaces. May draw from post-colonial approaches, critical race theory, and Indigenous and decolonizing methodologies. May be further organized by historical period, genre, or critical approach. Prerequisite: 12 units or one 100-division English course. Breadth-Humanities.

ENGL 210 - Reading and Writing Identities (3) **

Considers how identity - construed psychologically, culturally, or socially - is performed and interrogated through literature and language. May be further organized by historical period, genre, or critical approach. Prerequisite: 12 units or one 100-division English course. Breadth-Humanities.

ENGL 211 - The Place of the Past (3) **

Examines literature and language within specific social, cultural, geographical, and textual environments to explore the mutually informing relationship between history and text. May be further organized by historical period, genre, or critical approach. Prerequisite: 12 units or one 100-division English course. Breadth-Humanities.

ENGL 213 - Reading Across Media (3) **

Explores texts in relation to their different material forms, including oral, manuscript, print, film, and digital media. May be further organized by methodology (e.g. book history, textual scholarship, media studies, adaptation studies, digital humanities), historical period, or genre. Prerequisite: 12 units or one 100-division English course. Breadth-Humanities.

ENGL 214 - History and Principles of Rhetoric (3) **

Introduction to the history and principles of rhetoric, and their application to the creation and analysis of written, visual, and other forms of persuasion. Prerequisite: 12 units or one 100-division English course.

ENGL 216 - History and Principles of Literary Criticism (3)

The study of selected works in the history of literary criticism, up to and including modern and contemporary movements in criticism. Prerequisite: 12 units or one 100-division English course.

ENGL 234 - Metrics and Prosody (3) **

A study of different historical methods of measuring poetry in English, with practice in scanning and analyzing poems using different methods of quantitative analysis (e.g. Syllabic, rhythmic, alliterative). Prerequisite: 12 units or one 100-division English course. Students with credit for ENGL 212 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.

ENGL 272 - Creative Reading (3)

An introduction to the art of reading for creative writers, focusing on the linguistic, literary, and conceptual tools writers use to manipulate language to create different experiences for those encountering it, and exposing new writers to innovative literature. Prerequisite: ENGL 111W, 112W, 113W, 114W, or 115W; or WL 105W; or PUB 101. Breadth-Humanities.

Students wishing to major in English are strongly advised to submit a formal declaration to this effect to the undergraduate advisor upon completing all lower division requirements.

* any one, but not more than one of these courses may be replaced by any three unspecified transfer units in English or in ENGL-Writing

** any one, but not more than one, of these courses may be replaced by any three unspecified 200 division transfer units in English

† strongly recommended for honours students

Upper Division Requirements

English honours students must obtain 48 upper division ENGL units. A minimum of 20 of these units must be at the 400-level, excluding Directed Studies Courses (ENGL 490, 491).

A minimum of four units must be from the following group of courses, focused on Canadian and/or Indigenous Literature:

ENGL 355 - Canadian Literatures (4)

Study of selected works of Canadian literature, including Indigenous, diasporic, and settler texts. May draw from a variety of methods, critical debates, regions, and historical periods. This course may be repeated for credit if a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 30 units or two 200-division English courses.

ENGL 360 - Popular Writing by Indigenous Authors (4)

Examines works of popular fiction by Indigenous authors, and their use of specific genres (e.g. the mystery novel, vampire thriller, sci fi, comic book). This course may be repeated for credit if a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 30 units or two 200-division English courses. Students who have taken FNST 322 under this topic, or FNST 360 may not take this course for further credit.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
D100 Alexa Manuel
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Tue, 12:30–4:20 p.m.
Burnaby
ENGL 431W - Seminar in Indigenous Literatures (4)

Advanced seminar on selected works by Indigenous writers. May be organized by author, genre, or critical approach. This course may be repeated for credit if a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units or two 300-division English courses. Strongly recommended: At least one Indigenous studies course. Writing.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
D100 Alexa Manuel
May 6 – Aug 2, 2024: Thu, 12:30–4:20 p.m.
Burnaby
ENGL 432W - Seminar in Canadian Literature (4)

Advanced seminar in Canadian literature. May be organized by author, genre, or critical approach. This course may be repeated for credit if a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units or two 300-division English courses. Writing.

Students must complete all of the following courses:

ENGL 364 - Literary Criticism: History, Theory, and Practice (4) ††

The study and application of select literary theories. Prerequisite: 30 units or two 200-division English courses. Recommended: ENGL 216.

ENGL 494 - Honours Research and Methods Seminar (4)

Introduces students enrolled in the English honours program to the basic methodological issues and procedures that define the field, and provides them with the opportunity to work with a faculty supervisor in researching a specific topic for their honours graduating essay. Prerequisite: Permission of the department, plus normally a minimum of 90 units, including credit or standing in two 100-division English courses, two 200-division English courses, and four 300 or 400-division English courses, one of which must be ENGL 364.

ENGL 496 - Honours Graduating Essay (4)

Prerequisite: Lower division requirements for the English major. Open only to students who have been accepted into the English honours program, and who have completed ENGL 494.

Section Instructor Day/Time Location
D100 TBD
D200 TBD
D300 TBD

†† Courses may be taken in advance of (preferred) or concurrent with ENGL 494.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Honours Degree Requirements

For all bachelor of arts (BA) honours programs, students complete at least 120 units, which includes

  • at least 60 units that must be completed at Simon Fraser University
  • satisfaction of the writing, quantitative, and breadth requirements
  • students complete at least 60 upper division units, which must include at least 48 units in upper division courses in a Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences honours program; no more than 15 upper division units that have been transferred from another institution can be used toward this requirement
  • at least 60 units (including 21 upper division units) in Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences courses
  • students complete lower division requirements for at least one Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences honours program
  • students are required to achieve an overall cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and upper division CGPA of at least 3.0, and an honours program CGPA and upper division CGPA of at least 3.0

Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements

Students admitted to Simon Fraser University beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements for university-wide information.

WQB Graduation Requirements

A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit

Requirement

Units

Notes
W - Writing

6

Must include at least one upper division course, taken at Simon Fraser University within the student's major subject; two courses (minimum three units each)

Q - Quantitative

6

Q courses may be lower or upper division; two courses (total six units or more)
B - Breadth

18

Designated Breadth

Must be outside the student's major subject, and may be lower or upper division:

Two courses (total six units or more) Social Sciences: B-Soc
Two courses (total six units or more) Humanities: B-Hum
Two courses (total six units or more) Sciences: B-Sci

6

Additional Breadth

Two courses (total six units or more) outside the student's major subject (may or may not be B-designated courses, and will likely help fulfil individual degree program requirements).

Students choosing to complete a joint major, joint honours, double major, two extended minors, an extended minor and a minor, or two minors may satisfy the breadth requirements (designated or not designated) with courses completed in either one or both program areas.

Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit

  • At least half of the program's total units must be earned through Simon Fraser University study.
  • At least two thirds of the program's total upper division units must be earned through Simon Fraser University study.

Elective Courses

In addition to the courses listed above, students should consult an academic advisor to plan the remaining required elective courses.