English

Location:	Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building 6135 University Avenue Room 1186 P.O. Box 15000 Halifax, NS B3H 4R2
Telephone:	(902) 494-3387
Fax:	(902) 494-2176
Website:	www.dal.ca/english
Email:	englwww@dal.ca

Introduction

The study of English includes both analysis of texts and awareness of contexts. The texts proposed for analysis in various English courses will range from the long-established to the contemporary; English is a discipline which includes writings by such authors as Chinua Achebe, Jane Austen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Olaudah Equiano, Tomson Highway, Alice Munro, John Milton, and Toni Morrison, among others from past and present. The wide range of human experience represented in these texts can provide the student with what Kenneth Burke has called "equipment for living" and Audre Lorde has called “the foundations for a future of change.” In more practical terms, the discipline of English fosters the development of various human skills: it requires the student to think, and to use language with clarity, judgment, and imagination.

But individual works of literature are also related in various ways to their social, cultural, and political contexts. For this reason, curiosity about a particular text often leads to enquiries that touch upon history, philosophy, politics, religion, biography, and the fine arts as well. The written text turns out to be a bridge between an individual sensibility and the rest of the world. The value of English studies, therefore, though difficult to measure, can be discovered both in the large semiologies of the cultures to which we belong, and in the smallest nuances of the language we use.

The calendar descriptions describe all English courses. Not all are offered in any given year. Students should consult the English Department website for updated information about which courses are offered this year, and to get detailed descriptions of courses (with booklists). There is a variety of first-year (1000-level) English courses to suit all inclinations and needs, and all sections with a number ending in -0 or -5 can be used to fulfill the University Writing Requirement. Once the first year is complete, students may register in any course at the 2000 or 3000 level.  Courses at the 2000-level include surveys of national literatures as well as courses focusing on select authors, genres or themes, while the smaller and more historically-focused 3000-level courses are open to both majors and non-majors. More intensive seminars at the 4000 level are mainly intended for students in their third and fourth years of an English Major or Honours program.

Degree Programs

In addition to the departmental requirements listed below, students must satisfy the requirements outlined in the Degree Requirements section.