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English and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Joint Major

Bachelor of Arts

The Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies and the Department of English have complementary interests in gender, sexuality, and women's issues. This joint major is for those who share these interests. Students are encouraged to plan their program in consultation with advisors in both departments.

Admission Requirements

Students may declare the GSWS portion of this plan upon successful completion of one GSWS course and upon application to the Undergraduate Advisor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies.

Program Requirements

Students complete 120 units, as specified below.

Lower Division English Requirements

Students complete the lower division requirement of the English major program, as follows.

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

ENGL 111W - Literary Classics in English (3) *
ENGL 112W - Literature Now (3) *
ENGL 113W - Literature and Performance (3) *
ENGL 114W - Language and Purpose (3) *
ENGL 115W - Literature and Culture (3) *
ENGL 199W - Writing to Persuade (3) *

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

ENGL 202 - The Environmental Imagination (3) **
ENGL 204 - Reading Sexuality and Gender (3) **
ENGL 209 - Race, Borders, Empire (3) **
ENGL 210 - Reading and Writing Identities (3) **
ENGL 211 - The Place of the Past (3) **
ENGL 213 - Reading Across Media (3) **
ENGL 214 - History and Principles of Rhetoric (3) **
ENGL 216 - History and Principles of Literary Criticism (3) +
ENGL 234 - Metrics and Prosody (3) **
ENGL 272 - Creative Reading (3)

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

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

Lower Division Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Requirements

Students complete 18 lower division GSWS units, including two of

GSWS 100 - Sex Talk: Introduction to Contemporary Issues in Sexuality Studies (3)
GSWS 101 - Gender Talk (3)
GSWS 102 - Feminist Action (3)

Upper Division English Requirements

Students complete 20 units of upper division English courses. A minimum of four 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 Literatures:

ENGL 355 - Canadian Literatures (4)
ENGL 360 - Popular Writing by Indigenous Authors (4)
ENGL 431W - Seminar in Indigenous Literatures (4)
ENGL 432W - Seminar in Canadian Literature (4)

With permission of the department, other English courses of equivalent content may be substituted for those required in this group.

Upper Division Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Requirements

Students complete 20 upper division GSWS units. Courses which have high GSWS content may be considered for credit towards this plan. With the approval of the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, students may use as substitution credit one upper division course offered by another department.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Degree Requirements

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

  • at least 60 units that must be completed at Simon Fraser University
  • at least 45 upper division units, of which at least 30 upper division units must be completed at Simon Fraser University
  • at least 60 units (including 21 upper division units) in Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences courses
  • satisfaction of the writing, quantitative, and breadth requirements
  • an overall cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and upper division overall CGPA of at least 2.0, and program CGPA and upper division program CGPA of at least 2.0 on the course work used to satisfy the minimum program requirements. FASS departments may define additional GPA requirements for their respective programs.

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.