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English

Contact | Courses | Faculty | Overview | Programs: Collaborative, Degree

Faculty Affiliation

Arts and Science

Degree Programs Offered

English – MA, Combined JD/MA, PhD

  • Fields (MA/PhD):

    American Literature
    Aspects of Theory
    Canadian Literature
    Medieval Literature
    Renaissance Literature
    Restoration & Eighteenth-Century Literature
    Romantic & Victorian Literature
    Twentieth-Century British and Irish Literature
    World Literatures in English

  • Field (MA Only): Creative Writing

Collaborative Programs

The following collaborative programs are available to students in participating degree programs as listed below:

1. Book History and Print Culture

  • English, MA, PhD

2. Editing Medieval Texts

  • English, PhD

3. Health Care, Technology and Place

  • English, PhD

4. Jewish Studies

  • English, MA, PhD

5. Sexual Diversity Studies

  • English, MA, PhD

6. South Asian Studies

  • English, MA, PhD

7. Women and Gender Studies

  • English, MA, PhD

8. Women’s Health

  • English, MA, PhD

Overview

One of the strongest and most diversified graduate English programs in North America, the University of Toronto’s Graduate English Department presents a wide array of approaches to the study of literature that includes both rigorous historical scholarship and the innovations of new theoretical, cultural, and interdisciplinary methods. This rich variety is exemplified in the more than 40 graduate seminars offered every year and in the interdisciplinary conjunctions with other departments and collaborative programs. The MA and PhD programs offer a broad background in British, Canadian, Aboriginal, American, and Postcolonial literatures, a sophisticated command of current theoretical approaches, and exceptional support for significant research projects.

Contact and Address

Web: www.utoronto.ca/english
E-mail: deptofenglish.graduate@utoronto.ca
Telephone: (416) 978-2526
Fax: (416) 978-2836

Department of English
University of Toronto
Jackman Humanities Building
6th Floor, 170 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5R 2M8
Canada

Degree Programs

English

Master of Arts

Fields

The MA in English degree is offered in ten fields:

  • American Literature
  • Aspects of Theory
  • Canadian Literature
  • Creative Writing
  • Medieval Literature
  • Renaissance Literature
  • Restoration & Eighteenth-Century Literature
  • Romantic & Victorian Literature
  • Twentieth-Century British and Irish Literature
  • World Literature in English

Minimum Admission Requirements 
(All fields; see additional requirements for Creative Writing field below)

  • B+ average or better and evidence of first-class work in English. The department favours a broad training in the major genres and all periods of English literary history.
  • Recommendations from two referees.
  • A statement of purpose.
  • Applicants are encouraged to take the Graduate Record Examination and to have a report sent to the department.
  • Applicants whose primary language is not English and who graduated from a university where the language of instruction and examination was not English are required to write the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Minimum scores required on:
  • paper-based test: 600 and 5 on the TWE
  • internet-based test: 100/120 with at least 22/30 on the writing and speaking sections
  • Admissions are selective; possession of minimum qualifications does not guarantee admission.

Program Requirements
(All fields except Creative Writing – see below)

  • Program is usually completed in twelve months by students who are graduates of a four-year program in English or English and another subject at this University, or a similar program elsewhere.
  • Students may elect to take the degree by course work only or, with permission of the Director, by course work and thesis. In either case, students must attain a B standing in each graduate course.
  • MA by course work – this is the preferred option for most students, and especially for those going on to the PhD. Students are required to complete ENG 6954H Bibliography and 3.5 approved, full graduate courses or the equivalent in English.
  • MA by thesis - The thesis option requires ENG 6954H Bibliography, two full graduate courses in English, or the equivalent, and a thesis of approximately 30,000 words on a topic approved by the department.

Field: Creative Writing

Additional Admission Requirements

  • In addition to the above admission requirements for the MA program in fields pertaining to Literature and Theory, applicants wishing to enter the program in the field of Creative Writing must also submit a portfolio consisting of 20-25 pages of prose (drama, fiction, or creative non-fiction), and/or poetry. Details appear on the Department’s Web site.

Program Requirements

  • Program is usually completed in 20 months by students who are graduates of a four-year major program in English.
  • Completion of 2.0 full-course equivalents in English, ENG 8000H Introduction to Bibliography, ENG 6950Y Workshop in Creative Writing, and a supervised Writing Project (the equivalent of a thesis). All students must complete Workshop in Creative Writing in the first year of their program.
  • Upon completion of course work, students undertake a book-length Writing Project in a genre of choice - poetry, drama, fiction, or creative non-fiction. Each student is assigned a faculty member or adjunct faculty member with whom to consult on a regular basis about the Project. All advisors are published writers.

Combined Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in English and Law

The Combined Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in Law and English is designed for students interested in studying the intersections of law and literature. The combined program permits the completion of both degrees in three years rather than the four years it would take to acquire them independently.

Applicants must apply to each program separately; they should indicate on their applications that they wish to be considered for the Combined JD/MA program. Students are registered in the Faculty of Law for all three years of the program and in the Department of English as well for the last two years. The MA in English must be completed by course work, not by thesis.

Minimum Admission Requirements

  • Students are considered for the combined program after they have secured independent admission to the JD and MA programs.

Program Requirements

  • Complete all requirements for the MA in English (course work) during their two years of registration in the Department of English, i.e., ENG 6954H (Bibliography), and 3.5 approved full-course equivalents (FCE) in English, including 1.0 from a set of designated “Law and Literature Program” courses.
  • Complete 44 credits at the Faculty of Law, including “Law and Literature” or a designated alternative, and satisfy all other requirements of the JD program.
  • Complete a Directed Research Project or Independent Study Course on a topic related to Law and Literature that may count toward either the Law or English requirements of the program.

Doctor of Philosophy

At press time, program requirements for the PhD program were pending final approval.

Fields

The PhD in English degree is offered in nine fields:

  • American Literature
  • Aspects of Theory
  • Canadian Literature
  • Medieval Literature
  • Renaissance Literature
  • Restoration & Eighteenth-Century Literature
  • Romantic & Victorian Literature
  • Twentieth-Century British and Irish Literature
  • World Literature in English

Minimum Admission Requirements

  • General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies.
  • Admission by one of two routes:
  • a four-year University of Toronto bachelor’s degree, or its equivalent from a recognized university, that includes at least seven full-course equivalents in English with an average grade of at least an A- in the applicant’s overall program or
  • a University of Toronto master’s degree in English, or its equivalent from a recognized university, with an average grade of at least an A- in the applicant’s overall program.
  • Applicants must satisfy the department that they are capable of independent research in English at an advanced level. Applicants who have taken the Graduate Record Examination are encouraged to have a report sent to the department.
  • Recommendations from two referees.
  • A writing sample of not more than 5,000 words (approximately 15-20 pages).
  • A statement of purpose.
  • Applicants whose primary language is not English and who graduated from a university where the language of instruction and examination was not English are required to write the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Minimum scores required on:
  • paper-based test: 600 and 5 on the TWE
  • internet-based test: 100/120 with at least 22/30 on the writing and speaking sections
  • Admission to the PhD is based on the applicant's undergraduate and graduate record and upon the evidence of the references and statement.
  • Admissions are selective; possession of minimum qualifications does not guarantee admission.

Program Requirements

  • Students pursue a program of study and research approved by the department.
  • Although it is possible for a student admitted on the basis of a master's degree, or a bachelor's degree, to complete the PhD program in English within four years, or five years, respectively, most students will require at least one additional year to complete all the requirements, including the thesis.

Courses 

  • The minimum course requirements for the degree are as follows:
  • Direct admission on basis of a four-year bachelor’s degree – students must take a total of 8.0 FCE: ENG 8000H Introduction to Bibliography, ENG 9500Y Professional Development, ENG 9900H Professing Literature, and six additional full-course equivalents in English, as approved by the department. In order to maintain good academic standing, and to continue in the PhD program, the student must complete each course with a grade of at least B; complete ENG 8000H Introduction to Bibliography plus 3.0 FCE in the first year of the program, with an average grade of at least an A-; and complete all remaining courses, except for ENG 9500Y Professional Development, by the end of the third year of the program, maintaining an average of at least an A-.
  • Admission on basis of master’s degree – students must take ENG 8000H Introduction to Bibliography, unless this or an equivalent course has already been taken; ENG 9500Y Professional Development; ENG 9900H Professing Literature; and three additional full-course equivalents in English, as approved by the department. In order to maintain good academic standing, and to continue in the PhD program, the student must complete each course with a grade of at least a B; and all course work by the end of the second year of the program, maintaining an average of at least an A-.
  • Every student must take at least two full-course equivalents outside the field of specialization. The student is encouraged to combine these courses in a minor field. (Graduate courses taken as part of the master's program and in fulfillment of the English language requirement may be counted in this connection, but not ENG 6954H Bibliography nor courses in the 9000 series.)
  • Course selection must meet the approval of the department.

English Language Requirement

  • Demonstrated knowledge of the history and development of the English language, especially of its early period.
  • Any student who has not completed ENG 240Y, or an equivalent full-year undergraduate course in Old English, with at least a B standing, is required either to take one of the following courses in the English language: ENG 1001H Old English I, ENG 6361H History and Structure of the English Language I, ENG 6362H History and Structure of the English Language – Post-1500, or ENG 6365H Diasporic Englishes. The requirement can also be satisfied by taking a special examination in Old English.

Language Requirement

  • Demonstrated reading knowledge of French by May 31 of the third year of registration, in the case of a student admitted on the basis of a master's degree; otherwise, by May 31 of the fourth year of registration.
  • With the permission of the department, another language (other than English) may be substituted for French provided that this other language is required by the student's research area.
  • The supervisory committee may require the student to qualify in other program-related languages as well.

General and Special Field Examinations

Students are required to pass two separate examinations: the General Examination and the Special Field Examination. 

  • The General Examination is designed to give students a broad knowledge of historical periods, works of literature, and critical concepts. It consists of two three-hour written papers covering the whole range of English literature, divided at 1700. A reading list is provided for this examination on the department Web site, and sample examinations are available in the department. Students entering the PhD program with a master’s degree take both parts of the General Examination in September of their second year. Students entering the program directly from a bachelor’s degree take the examination in September of their third year. A January sitting of the examination is designed to accommodate students with special circumstances. Under normal circumstances, students are given two chances to pass the General Examination before termination from the program is recommended. Under certain circumstances, subject to the determination of a particular student’s academic standing and progress, the department may allow a third attempt.
  • The Special Field Examination consists of a three-hour written examination, followed (approximately two weeks later) by a two-hour oral examination, both based on a reading list related to the student’s thesis area. This special field reading list is drawn up by the student in consultation with the supervisory committee. Once it receives final approval by the supervisory committee, the approved list is filed by the supervisor with the Associate Director, PhD. The Special Field Examination is to be taken approximately three months after the list is approved. Students are advised to consult the departmental guides on Special Field reading lists. Students admitted with a master’s degree should submit a reading list by the end of January of the second year and pass the exam by the end of the following April; students admitted with a bachelor’s degree fulfil the same requirements in their third year. On the recommendation of the examining committee, a second attempt is allowed. 
  • The student must have completed all requirements for the degree, exclusive of thesis research, by the end of the third year (fourth year for students admitted directly from a bachelor's degree) in order to remain in good standing in the program.

Thesis 

  • A candidate is required to submit a thesis on an approved subject embodying the results of original investigation which constitute a significant contribution to the knowledge of the field, and to pass an oral examination on the subject of the thesis. The normal length of a PhD thesis is approximately 75,000 words. The maximum length accepted by the department is 100,000 words. 
  • No later than November 1 of the second year of registration, in the case of a student admitted on the basis of a master's degree; otherwise, by November 1 of the third year of registration, the student must submit to the Associate Director, PhD a preliminary thesis proposal, approved by the prospective supervisor. The proposals are circulated to all graduate faculty in the department for information and comment. The Associate Director, PhD appoints a supervisory committee that includes a supervisor and two other faculty members with expertise in the proposed research area. The student is required to meet with the supervisory committee within three months of submitting the preliminary proposal. An approved thesis proposal signed by all members of the supervisory committee and by the Associate Director, PhD must be submitted by February 15 of the second year of registration, in the case of a student admitted on the basis of a master's degree; otherwise, by February 15 of the third year of registration. The student must submit a statement of thesis development (entailing an outline of chapters as well as a discursive component) no later than April 30 of the third year of registration, in the case of a student admitted on the basis of a master's degree; otherwise, by April 30 of the fourth year of registration.
  • The student and the supervisor should meet regularly. The student is also required to meet at least once a year with the supervisory committee. The supervisory committee should normally approve the completed thesis before it is submitted for examination.
  • The final oral examination is arranged by the department in collaboration with the School of Graduate Studies. The candidate should allow at least eight weeks from submission of the thesis in order for the department to complete the arrangements for the oral examination.

Course List

The following list of courses is subject to revision; further information, including course descriptions, may be obtained from the department before enrolment. Courses offered by the department vary considerably from year to year.

Students in English are eligible to take courses in other graduate units (e.g., Comparative Literature, Medieval Studies, Drama, Information Studies, South Asian Studies, Women’s Studies).

From time to time, the department also offers programs of directed reading in special fields. These “reading courses” are normally available only to students in the PhD program. With the special approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, PhD students may substitute one such course for one (and not more than one) of the required courses.

ENG 1001H Old English I
ENG 1002H Old English II
ENG 1017H Body and Identity in Middle English Literature
ENG 1094H Discourses of Vernacular Spirituality
ENG 1550H Chaucer
ENG 2004H Metaphysical Poetry and the Passions
ENG 2006H Cultural Identity and Early Modern Theatre
ENG 2213H Social Distinction in the Renaissance
ENG 2280H Mimesis and Representation in the Renaissance
ENG 2467H Early Modern Nationalism and Milton's EnglandENG 2485H London Drama, 1180-1590
ENG 2536H Shakespeare
ENG 2727H Staging at the Globe and Blackfriars, 1604-1614
ENG 2983H Paradise Lost
ENG 3043H Drama from 1660-1710
ENG 3338H Satire and the Great Laughter Debate
ENG 3551H Poetical Literary Satire from Dryden to Byron
ENG 3704H Eighteenth-Century Fiction: Politics and Form
ENG 4227H The Romantic Elegiac: The Formalism of Loss
ENG 4666H Romantic Things
ENG 4669H Nineteenth-Century Romance
ENG 4755H The Victorian Novel at Sea
ENG 4881H Victorian Realism and the Victorian Realist Novel
ENG 4960H Print and Politics in English Canada: 1837-1937
ENG 4994H Property and Personhood in American Literature
ENG 5044H Madness and Canadian Literature
ENG 5049H Liberalism, its Critics, and Literature
ENG 5076H Theorizing the Caribbean Diaspora
ENG 5077H The Dialogical Imagination
ENG 5106H Achebe and After
ENG 5112H Writing the South in South Asian Literature
ENG 5253H Simply Divine! The Novels of Waugh and Greene
ENG 5272H Tragedy and Melodrama in the Cold War
ENG 5277H Minimalism in American Poetry
ENG 5522H Modernism and Neomodernism
ENG 5785H Alice Munro and the Short Story
ENG 5793H Theories of Modernist Canadian Fiction
ENG 5901H New World African Literature
ENG 6166H Literary Biography
ENG 6197H Eyes Looking, Lips Moving: Theories of the Viewing/Reading Subject
ENG 6211H Archaeology of the Book
ENG 6365H Diasporic Englishes
ENG 6366H Diasporic Poetics
ENG 6503H Pluralism and American Literature
ENG 6508H The Singularity of Being
ENG 6529H The Animal and the Human
ENG 6552H Law and Literature
ENG 6841H Aesthetics and Politics
ENG 6949H Studies in Contemporary Writing
ENG 6950Y Workshop in Creative Writing
ENG 6954H Bibliography
ENG 8000H Bibliography
ENG 9500H Professional Development
ENG 9900H Professing Literature

Graduate Faculty

Full Members

Ackerman, Alan - MA, PhD
Akbari, Suzanne - BA, MA, MPH, PhD
Astington, John - BA, MA, PhD
Baird, John - PhD
Bewell, Alan - MA, PhD (Chair & Graduate Chair)
Brown, Russell - BA, MA, PhD
Chamberlin, J Edward - BA, PhD
Clarke, George Elliott - PhD
Cobb, Michael - BA, MA, AM, PhD
Corman, Brian - AB, AM, PhD
Cuddy-Keane, Melba - BA, MA, PhD
de Quehen, A Hugh - BA, BA, PhD
Downes, Paul - PhD
Dubois, Andrew - BA, PhD
Esch, Deborah - PhD
Esonwanne, Uzoma - BA, MA, PhD
Fenwick, Gillian - PhD
Galbraith, David - MA, PhD
Goldman, Marlene Beth - BFA, MA, PhD
Greene, Richard - PhD
Harvey, Elisabeth Ruth - PhD
Harvey, Elizabeth - PhD
Healey, Antonette - BA, MA, PhD
Henderson, Greig - BA, MA, PhD
Hutcheon, Linda - BA, MA, PhD
Jackson, Heather - BA, MA, PhD
Jaffe, Audrey - BA, PhD
Justice, Daniel - BA, MA, PhD
Kanaganayakam, Chelvanayakam - PhD
Keymer, Thomas - BA, MA, PhD
Klausner, David - AB, PhD
Lancashire, Anne - BA, AM, PhD
Lancashire, D Ian - BA, MA, PhD
Landon, Richard - BA, BLS
Leonard, Garry - BA, MA, PhD
Levene, Mark - BA, MA, PhD
Levenson, Jill - PhD
Li, Hao - BA, PhD
Li, Victor - BA, MA, PhD
Lynch, Deidre - BA, PhD
Magnusson, Lynne - BA, MA, PhD
Matus, Jill - BA, MA, PhD
Mcleod, Robert - AB, MA, PhD
Morgenstern, Naomi - BA, MA, PhD
Most, Andrea - BA, MA, PhD
Mount, Nick - AM, PhD
Murray, Heather - BA, MA, PhD
Neuman, Shirley - PhD
Nyquist, Mary - BA, MA, PhD
Orchard, Andrew - DPhil, PhD
Patrick, Julian - PhD
Percy, Carol - BA, MA, DPhil
Quayson, Ato - BA, PhD
Redekop, Magdalene - BA, MA, PhD
Reibetanz, John - PhD
Robins, William - BA, MPH, PhD
Salih, Sara - BA, DPhil
Schmitt, Emmett - BA, MA, PhD
Solecki, Samuel - BA, MA, PhD
Stevens, Paul - BA, MA, PhD
Stock, Brian - AB, PhD
Sullivan, Rosemary - BA, MA, PhD
Ten Kortenaar, Neil - PhD
Thomson, H. Leslie - BA, MA, PhD
Townsend, David Robert - BA, MA, PhD
Weisman, Karen - BA, PhD
Woodland, Malcolm - BA, MA, PhD

Members Emeriti

Adamowski, Thomas - PhD
Allen, Peter - BA, MA, PhD
Asals, Frederick - AB, MA, PhD
Auster, Henry - BA, MA, PhD
Bentley (Jr), Gerald - BA, BLitt, DPhil
Bruckmann, Patricia - PhD
Cameron, Elspeth - BA, MA, PhD
Chambers, Douglas - PhD
Cook, Eleanor - PhD
de Groot, Hans - MA, PhD
Domville, Eric William - BA, PhD
Duffy, Dennis - AB, MA, PhD
Dutka, JoAnna - BA, MA, PhD
Flahiff, Frederick - BA, PhD
Graziani, Rene' Ic - BA, MA, PhD
Halewood, William - AB, MA, PhD
Hayne, Barrie - BA, AM, PhD
Howard, William - BA, PhD
Jackson, James - BA, MA, AM, PhD, PhD
Johnston, Alexandra - PhD
Kirkham, Michael - BA, MPH
Leggatt, Alexander - BA, MA, PhD
Maccallum, Hugh - PhD
Macpherson, Jay - PhD
Marker, Frederick - AB, DFA
Millgate, Jane - PhD
Millgate, Michael - BA, MA, PhD
Parker, Brian - PhD
Rigg, Arthur George - BA, MA, DPhil
Saddlemyer, Ann - PhD, DLitt
Sidnell, Michael - BA, MA, PhD
Visser, Colin - BA, BLitt, PhD
Warkentin, Germaine - PhD

Associate Members

Baker, Deirdre - BA, MA, PhD
Blayney, Peter - BA, PhD
Bolus-Reichert, Christine - BPhil, AM, PhD
Campbell, Christian - BA, MPH, PhD
Columpar, Corinn - BA, PhD
DeLombard, Jeannine - AB, AM, DPhil
Dickie, Simon - BA, MA, PhD
Dolan, Neal - BA, PhD
Dooley, Ann - BA, MA, PhD
Gillespie, Alexandra - BA, BSc, PhD
Hill, Colin - BA, MA, PhD
Lamb, Susan - BA, AM, DA
Larson, Katherine - BMus, AB, MPH, PhD
Lopez, Jeremy - BA, MA, DPhil
MacLean, Sarah - BA, MA, PhD
Maurice, Alice - BA, DPhil
Rubright, Marjorie - AB, MA, DLitt
Ruti, Marjut - BA, MA, PhD
Sammond, Nicholas - BA, MA, PhD
Seitler, Dana - BA, MA, PhD
Syme, Holger Schott - PhD
Warley, Christopher - BA, MA, DPhil
White, Daniel - BA, AM, DPhil
Wilson, Sarah - BA, MA, PhD
Xie, Ming - PhD
Yu, Timothy - AB, PhD



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