Teaching
Students enrolled in English courses benefit from small class sizes and award-winning teachers. Courses are designed with discussion and participation in mind, to ensure the fullest engagement with the literature. First-year courses mix both large- and small-format learning opportunities, through both lectures and more intimate tutorial groups, while the vast majority of our honors-level courses, which constitute the "heart" of the programme, are capped at 36 or 45 students each. Students enrolled in Specialist or Honors programmes can also take upper-year seminar courses, which feature even smaller class sizes, and focus upon full participation by students.
The Department of English is fortunate in having many outstanding teachers and a departmental climate that encourages and recognizes good teaching. We are particularly proud of our tradition of outstanding teachers who have been recognized through a variety of awards, including the 3M Award, the Bank of Nova Scotia - University Students' Council Award, the Marilyn Robinson Award, and the highest teaching award that Western confers, the Edward G. Pleva award, which has twice been won by faculty from this department.
Courses offered in collaboration with the Stratford Festival and in conjunction with the universities of Brock, Guelph, Toronto, Waterloo, and Windsor allow students to explore the intersections between drama and performance to present theatre arts as a second teachable subject to faculties of education. These courses are taught on Western's main campus and at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ont. They are directed towards students who wish to explore theatre production, the history of theatre, and performance, and will be of particular interest to those who intend to pursue a postgraduate degree in education.
Undergraduates can additionally take advantage of a vibrant social and intellectual community that features student-run literary journals, drama productions, and numerous other events, many sponsored by the Undergraduate English Society ("The Coterie").
Students may also have the opportunity to serve as research assistants, engaged under the supervision of world-class researchers in new and leading-edge scholarship.
Also from this web page:
