Undergraduate Program

Welcome to the Department of English, where students enjoy a diverse and dynamic learning environment. They choose from an inspiring variety of courses, and study with internationally-renowned professors and researchers. In English you can discover just why the classics have stood the test of time, taking courses that range from Shakespeare and Jane Austen to Toni Morrison and Michael Ondaatje. Or you can pursue your passion for popular culture, with classes in Fantasy, Science Fiction, Detective Fiction, and Children’s Literature. Our courses will find you debating literature with other students in small group tutorials. They will let you dig in the archives, investigating historical manuscripts, personal letters, dairies, and rare first-edition books at D.B. Weldon Library, one of the top-ranked research libraries in Canada. Or you can propose your own independent research project, working one-on-one with a faculty member to develop your insights and ideas to their fullest.

But English is more than the study of great books. Our students can receive credit for their part as an actor, stage manager, or set designer in our annual fall theatrical production. They can takes courses at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, honing their understanding of Renaissance stage craft with the most accomplished teachers in the field. They can become authors in their own right, working on poems, short-stories, and plays in our highly-regarded Creative Writing workshops. And they can visit with our Writer-in-Residence, gaining valuable feedback and advice from an expert.

English is a community, a close-knit and supportive group of teachers, teaching assistants, librarians, and staff who want every student to get the most from his or her undergraduate experience. Sarah Richmond, a fourth-year Honors student, says that “the sense of community within the English Department” has given her “an invaluable appreciation for the joy of learning among peers who share a passion for literature.” And Bonita Mok agrees. “I honestly feel that the Department of English is my home away from home.” Through The Coterie, the Undergraduate English Student Society, students take an active role in their studies. They publish their own magazines and journals, offer tutorials on essay writing, and sponsor poetry jams where aspiring writers trade their best lines before an enthusiastic audience.

With their exceptional communications skills, their talent for critical analysis, and creative approach to problem solving, our students are much in demand with employers. Graduates from the Department of English have gone on to careers as teachers, journalists, reporters, archivists, diplomats, doctors, and lawyers.

From love sonnets and revenge tragedies to graphic novels, from courses at the Stratford Festival to poetry readings at a local coffee shop, English at Western has something for every reader. Come study with us.