BA English Major
The discipline of English has changed and so has your Major.
The new Major is designed to offer students a grounding in English studies while opening space for individual interests. Students can develop their own distinct path through the discipline's increasingly rich and diverse fields of study.
As of September 2019, our program requirements are greatly simplified. All students enrolled in the English Major must take a minimum of ★30 to a maximum of ★48 English courses at the 200-level or above, including:
★9 at the 200-level*
★9 at the 300-level
★6 at the 400-level.
Note:The prerequisite for all 200 and 300-level ENGL courses is ★6 of junior English, or ★3 of junior English plus WRS 101 or 102.
Plan your Major
As you choose your courses, consider these three recommended components.
1. Strong Recommendations
Three areas of study are strongly recommended (consider taking ★3 or more from each of the following):2025-26
- ENGL 250: Introduction to Canadian Literatures
- ENGL 372: Publishing Canadian Literatures
- ENGL 378: Contemporary Canadian Literatures
2025-26
- ENGL 125: Indigenous Literatures
- ENGL 216: Introduction to Indigenous Literary Methods
- ENGL 308 B1: City as Indigenous Story
- ENGL 308 A1: Indigenous Horror
- ENGL 308 A2: Indigenous Speculative Fiction
- ENGL 308 A3: nêhiyawêwin in Indigenous Literary Genres
2025-26
- ENGL 215: Reading Literature across Time
- ENGL 327 A1: Erotic and Divine Love in Medieval Literature
- ENGL 336 A1: The Invention of English Literature
- ENGL 341: Eighteenth-Century Literature
- ENGL 352: Nineteenth-Century British Literature
- ENGL 339 B1: Shakespeare’s Class Politics
- ENGL 343 B1: Women's Writing in the Eighteenth-Century
- ENGL 409 B1: Victorian Conceptions of the Self
- ENGL 426 B2: The Many Faces of Hamlet
- ENGL 465 B1: Sex and Courtship in Eighteenth-Century Britain
2. Breadth Recommendations
We suggest that your Major cover the breadth of areas within English Studies and encourage you to take at least one course in each of the following areas:
2025-26
- ENGL 206: How to Poems Work: Introduction to Poetry
- ENGL 207: How Stories Work: Introduction to Narrative
- ENGL 308 A1: Indigenous Horror
- ENGL 308 A2: Indigenous Speculative Fiction
- ENGL 308 A3: nêhiyawêwin in Indigenous Literary Genres
- ENGL 388 A1: Studies in Fantasy Literature for Children
- ENGL 402 A1: The Short Story
- ENGL 402 B1: Diaries and Journals
- ENGL 425 B1: Readers, Reading, and Mass Media
- ENGL 409 A1: “Between World and Toy”: Sociopolitical Analyses of Literary Representations of Toys
- ENGL 482 A1: Real Dancers in Fictional Narratives
- All WRITE courses
2025-26
- ENGL 327 A1: Erotic and Divine Love in Medieval Literature
- ENGL 336 A1: The Invention of English Literature
- ENGL 409 B1: Victorian Conceptions of Self
- ENGL 426 B2: The Many Faces of Hamlet
- ENGL 300: Social and Cultural History of the English Language
- ENGL 310: Postcolonial Literature
- ENGL 339 B1: Shakespeare’s Class Politics
- ENGL 341: Eighteenth-Century Literature
- ENGL 343 B1: Women's Writing in the Eighteenth-Century
- ENGL 352: Nineteenth-Century British Literature
- ENGL 357 A1: Politics of Mobility
- ENGL 363: Modernist Literature
- ENGL 372: Publishing Canadian Literatures
- ENGL 378: Contemporary Canadian Literatures
- ENGL 398: Histories of Reading
- ENGL 409 B1: Victorian Conceptions of the Self
- ENGL 426 B2: The Many Faces of Hamlet
- ENGL 465 B1: Sex and Courtship in Eighteenth-Century Britain
2025-26
- ENGL 125: Indigenous Literatures
- ENGL 250: Introduction to Canadian Literatures
- ENGL 308 A3: nêhiyawêwin in Indigenous Literary Genres
- ENGL 310: Postcolonial Literature
- ENGL 314: Irish Writing in English
- ENGL 339 B1: Shakespeare’s Class Politics
- ENGL 341: Eighteenth-Century Literature
- ENGL 343 B1: Women's Writing in the Eighteenth-Century
- ENGL 352: Nineteenth-Century British Literature
- ENGL 357 A1: Politics of Mobility
- ENGL 363: Modernist Literature
- ENGL 372: Publishing Canadian Literatures
- ENGL 378: Contemporary Canadian Literatures
- ENGL 409 B1: Victorian Conceptions of the Self
- ENGL 426 B2: The Many Faces of Hamlet
- ENGL 465 B1: Sex and Courtship in Eighteenth-Century Britain
2025-26
- ENGL 215 A1: Reading Literature across Time: Inequality
- ENGL 215 B1: Reading Literature across Time: Women Behaving Boldly
- ENGL 216: Introduction to Indigenous Literary Methods
- ENGL 220: Reading Gender and Sexuality
- ENGL 221: Reading Class and Ideology
- ENGL 222: Reading Race and Ethnicity
- ENGL 223: Reading Empire and the Postcolonial
- ENGL 305: Blasphemy
- ENGL 339 B1: Shakespeare’s Class Politics
- ENGL 357 A1: Politics of Mobility
- ENGL 367 B1: The Surveillance Society
- ENGL 385 LEC 700: Catastrophe and Memory Politics
- ENGL 391 A1: Reading Women’s Writing through the Lens of the Medical Humanities
- ENGL 407 A1: Sex in Public, or American Pornocracy
- ENGL 430 A1: After Humanism
- ENGL 467 A1: Being Black: Theories of Presence
2025-26
- ENGL 216: Introduction to Indigenous Literary Methods
- ENGL 217: Introduction to Literary and Critical Theory
- ENGL 220: Reading Gender and Sexuality
- ENGL 221: Reading Class and Ideology
- ENGL 222: Reading Race and Ethnicity
- ENGL 223: Reading Empire and the Postcolonial
- ENGL 367 LEC 800: The Literary Event
- ENGL 430 A1: After Humanism
- ENGL 467 A1: Being Black: Theories of Presence
3. Going to Graduate School?
Many graduate programs emphasize historical and national breadth in entrance requirements and thus if you are thinking about graduate school, you may wish to take courses in the following areas:
2025-26
Medieval: ENGL 327
Early Modern: ENGL 336, ENGL 339, ENGL 426 B2,
Restoration and Eighteenth Century: ENGL 341, ENGL 343, ENGL 465 B1
Nineteenth Century: ENGL 352, ENGL 409 B1
Canadian: ENGL 250, ENGL 372, ENGL 378
American: ENGL 357, ENGL 407 A1
Postcolonial: ENGL 223, ENGL 305, ENGL 310, ENGL 314, ENGL 402 A1, ENGL 467 A1,
Indigenous: ENGL 125, ENGL 216, ENGL 308
Literary Theory: ENGL 206, ENGL 207, ENGL 216, ENGL 217, ENGL 367 LEC 800, ENGL 430 A1
To help guide you to specific areas of interest, see our course listing and/or our English Major Worksheet page. You can also make an appointment with the undergraduate advisor.
The major in English is not designed to meet specific requirements for entrance into graduate programs in the Department of English and Film Studies; if you are looking for such preparation, you should consult the Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) before enrolling in the third year of the BA program.
- As of September 2019: Students who entered the program before September 2019 are allowed to graduate with *6 credits. All students entering the program since September 2019 need *9 at the 200-level.
Interested in the BA in English program? Learn more here.
BA in English Degree Program Guide
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