The study of English prepares students for professional success. Through the discussion and engagement with literary text, students develop their cultural competence and acquire the constructive communication skills necessary to enter the workforce with confidence, distinguish themselves in a number of fields and build a meaningful career.

Our students have advanced to MA and PhD programs and have excelled in careers in a wide range of fields such as: Law, Business, Medicine, Politics, Government, Librarianship, Teaching, Publishing, Advertising, Television, Politics, Performing Arts, Arts Management.

Learn more about our Alumni >

October 26, 2023 | The Gazette
I didn’t go to school for this: The connection between degrees and careers
While human capital management and reading Paradise Lost may not seem correlated at first, Turner explained she uses many of the skills developed from her English degree in her career.

December 20, 2021 | Western News
Renowned playwright and concert pianist releases new memoir, Permanent Astonishment
Tomson Highway came to Western to study piano performance and English. He then became a social worker before going on to write and produce Canadian theatre classics The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, and his bestselling novel Kiss of the Fur Queen.

November 27, 2020 | Maclean's
Studying to be a better citizen: The true value of an arts degree
Yes, there are plenty of job prospects for arts graduates. But the degree’s true value is more profound than practical.

February 17, 2020 | Montreal Gazette
Evidence shows that humanities graduates go on to all kinds of interesting careers
More and more evidence shows that studying the humanities trains you in what we now call 'transferable skills' of analysis and communication, abilities useful in any field, and which in fact may be even more necessary in the coming years.

October 30, 2019 | Norton Critical Editions
What can't you do with an English degree?

October 19, 2019 | Washington Post
The world’s top economists just made the case for why we still need English majors
As humanities majors slump to the lowest level in decades, calls are coming from surprising places for a revival. Some prominent economists are making the case for why it still makes a lot of sense to major (or at least take classes) in humanities alongside more technical fields.

Fall 2019 | Alumni Gazette/strong>
A new model of learning
Western alum David McKay, MBA’92, LLD’19, President and CEO of RBC, speaks at the Times Higher Education (THE) Teaching Excellence Summit hosted at Western about the value of a liberal arts education and how to prepare graduates for long-term success.

September 20, 2019 | The New York Times
In the Salary Race, Engineers Sprint but English Majors Endure
For students chasing lasting wealth, the best choice of a college major is less obvious than you might think.

July 31, 2019 | The Chronicle of Higher Education
Relax, English Majors. You’re Still Plenty Employable.
By following the actual career paths of real people, EMSI found that “the outcome of the English major looks pretty similar to the outcome of the business major,” as Rob Sentz, the company’s chief innovation officer, told me. In other words, said Sentz, your major “doesn’t doom you to a fixed path.”

April 18, 2019 | Maclean's
Yes, you will get a job with that arts degree
After years of dire warnings about the limited value of their degree, liberal arts students are making a surprising discovery: Employers want them. It turns out their skills—including the ability to communicate, solve problems, think critically and collaborate—are in demand for many sectors, including finance and technology.

October 18, 2018 | The Hill
A humanities degree is worth much more than you realize
While majors such as psychology, sociology and business offer many classes that help students acquire social skills, humanistic disciplines such as history, philosophy and literature, to name but a few, also offer an inexhaustible supply of practical and useful insights.

August 31, 2017 | OZY.com
Because critical thinking is key to success in any field
There are many excellent reasons to take English even if your focus is upon science, engineering, medicine, or business: it provides the kinds of thinking and communication skills that all employers are looking for! "Three out of four employers want schools to place more emphasis on the skills that the humanities and social sciences teach."

March 11, 2017 | Corrigan Literary Review
Majoring in English gives you the opportunity to develop a wide range of important, complex, adaptable skills
Vocational degrees prepare you for a specific job. Majoring in English prepares you, broadly speaking, for life, including a wide range of possible careers. There are trade-offs with either choice. If you do major in English, you will want to know what the job and career opportunities and obstacles are and how to prepare for them. That’s what this essay is about.

October 2, 2016 | The Chronicle of Higher Education
How Humanities Can Help Fix the World
Interested in helping to build a more humane world? Perhaps you should be taking English.

July 26, 2016 | MacLean’s
Revenge of the arts: Why a liberal arts education pays off
Research out of the University of Ottawa’s Education Policy Research Initiative (EPRI) proves that a degree or diploma in the social sciences or humanities pays off in the long run.

June 28, 2016 | The Atlantic
Why America's Business Majors Are in Desperate Need of a Liberal-Arts Education
Liberal arts majors … are the students who have the active minds, who are asking the big questions,' said Erika Walker, an assistant dean at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

June 1, 2016 | The Wall Street Journal
Why I Was Wrong About Liberal-Arts Majors
Looking back at the tech teams that I’ve built at my companies, it’s evident that individuals with liberal arts degrees are by far the sharpest, best­-performing software developers and technology leaders. Often these modern techies have degrees in philosophy, history, and music – even political science, which was my degree.

May 21, 2016 | New York Times
To Write Better Code, Read Virginia Woolf
“Technology alone is not enough — it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing.” – Steve Jobs

September 15, 2015 | The Western Gazette
Arts education is important
To study the arts and humanities is to learn to be discerning, to be articulate, to be reflective and to exercise freedom of thought rather than to accept, follow and, in essence, endorse the received wisdom, the expected pattern, the accepted explanation. In other words, it is to become a better citizen — an individual on the road less travelled rather than part of a herd that can too easily be led in a disastrous direction.

• Choose from an inspiring variety of courses ranging from the classics to popular culture.
• Small classes and engaging lectures.
• World-class professors whose knowledge and enthusiasm create a stimulating environment for the study of literature, writing, theory and culture.
• Access to historical manuscripts and rare first-edition books.
• Develop important skills in critical comprehension, reasoning, and the capacity for expression and communication in a range of media.
• Excellent preparation for entry into graduate school or professional programs like Audiology, Journalism, Law, Teaching and Medicine.

No. English is not direct entry. Apply for the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, and then make sure you take English 1020E or 1022E or 1024E or 1035E or 1036E or both English 1027F/G and 1028F/G, because at least 60% in 1.0 of these courses are the prerequisite for our second year courses. Then, declare English going into year two during Intent to Register in February.

Yes! We have over 35 scholarships and awards that recognize both creative and academic achievements.

> Learn more about our Scholarships & Awards.

Yes! You can choose to do an Honours Specialization in Creative Writing and English Language and Literature.

Yes! You can enjoy small lectures and seminars which will introduce you to a host of topical social and cultural issues in theatre and performance. You may also combine your English module with a Major, Minor or Certificate in Theatre Studies.

We also have a theatre production course English 2041F, and offer two courses at Stratford Festival, where you can learn on site with renowned theatre coaches, attend Shakespeare productions, gain practical tools to analyze, personalize and perform a piece of classical text and develop techniques and exercises to prepare your body, breath and voice for acting and rehearsing.

In second or third year, you can also opt for our amazing study abroad course, Theatre Studies 3900G - Destination Theatre. You will have the opportunity to develop your drama education more deeply through the experience of theatre abroad in cities such as London, England or New York. Attendance at live performance will be complemented with daily lectures, and tours of theatres, archives, and relevant historical sites.

> Learn more about our Theatre Studies program.

Yes! Our Fall Theatre Production course (English 2041F) is really popular. Students on that course take up all the roles on the show, from acting and props and costumes to marketing and outreach.

There are also lots of opportunities to make theatre with Theatre Western, our campus’s vibrant student theatre club, and the Arts & Humanities Student Council, which puts on a major show every winter term.

The Coterie seeks to foster a positive and exciting learning environment for English students at Western through a wide range of activities and services, including:

• Social events for English undergraduates.
• Seminars given by Western alumni and other Canadian writers or poets.
• Academic information about and assistance with English courses.

> Join them on Facebook!

Created by the USC and co-sponsored by the Department of English and Writing Studies, the Student Writer-in-Residence (SWIR) is a program that provides a unique opportunity for students to take a leading role in promoting creativity. The SWIR is expected to provide mentorship for student writers, participate in a variety of literary and cultural events on campus, and develop and present his or her own writing to the greater Western community.

The position is open to all fourth-year students in any discipline, full or part-time, and provides a total stipend of $1000. The SWIR will serve from September to April. 

> Learn more about our current Student Writer-in-Residence.

• You will be expected to use deep critical thinking skills in university courses.
• In university you are expected to be able to take away your interpretation of main themes or symbols from independent reading beforehand so that the class time can be spent on digging deeper into a text and unpacking specific lines or sections.
• The reading is more complex in university courses.

> Learn more about our grading criteria.

• When writing university essays, you should stay away from the five-paragraph essay.
• University writing requires greater integrative and interpretative skills.
• You must establish a strong argument when writing university essays.
• You may be wrong but your ideas and opinions are always welcome along with your ability to argue your position respectfully!
• View the MLA Handbook here to learn how to document sources and improve your writing.  

> More essay tips and information about plagiarism.

• Never leave any of the readings for any of your classes until the last minute.
• Get into the habit of finding deeper meaning in the text.
• Make sure you attend class.
• Make sure to buy the proper books/editions for class.
• Ask for help! Use the resources available and reach out to your professor or teaching assistant during office hours.
• Keep an open mind and enjoy this great opportunity.

> Learn more about course policies and resources available for students.