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Major Concentration English - Cultural Studies (36 credits)

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Offered by: English     Degree: Bachelor of Arts

Program Requirements

The Cultural Studies option concentrates on analysis of forms of cultural expression and symbolic interaction, and of the various media through which these may be disseminated and transformed. Such study concerns symbolic form, aesthetically based forms of analysis, and the various modes of criticism and theory relevant to media which contain both verbal and non-verbal elements. The aim is above all to hone students' analytical and interpretive skills while introducing them to specific critical approaches to cultural studies. This is not a major in journalism or communications; and while many of our graduates go on to do creative work in a variety of media, instruction in film and video production is not part of the curriculum.

For the most up-to-date information on Department requirements and detailed course descriptions, please see the English Department Handbook at .

Required Courses (12 credits)

These courses should be taken in the first two terms of the program.

  • ENGL 275 Introduction to Cultural Studies (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : A survey of cultural studies, its history and subject matter, presenting key interpretive and analytic concepts, the aesthetic and political issues involved in the construction of sign systems, definitions of culture and cultural values conceptualized both as a way of life and as a set of actual practices and products.

    Terms: Fall 2010

    Instructors: Ponech, Trevor (Fall)

    • Fall
    • Required of all U1 Cultural Studies students
  • ENGL 276 Methods of Cultural Analysis (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : A study of basic methodologies found in cultural studies, such as forms of historicism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, philosophical materialism, feminism, gender theory. Topics such as aesthetics and film theory, authorship and spectatorship, modernism and postmodernism will be considered. Examples to be drawn from film, television, popular culture, and traditional literature.

    Terms: Winter 2011

    Instructors: Kaite, Berkeley (Winter)

    • Winter
    • Prerequisite: ENGL 275
  • ENGL 277 Introduction to Film Studies (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : An introduction to key concepts in film studies. Exemplary works from the history of film will be studied to introduce students to such topics as the aesthetics of film; sound's production of meaning; film as narrative; film and genre; period and national cinemas; film's role in culture.

    Terms: Fall 2010

    Instructors: Nystrom, Derek (Fall)

    • Fall
    • Restriction: Cultural Studies Major and Honours program students.
  • ENGL 359 The Poetics of the Image (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : This course, normally taken in tandem with ENGL 276, examines contemporary debates about the aesthetic dimensions as well as social roles of pictorial, theatrical, cinematic, and other representations, the meanings, effects, and aesthetic significance of which depend on their having visually recognizable features.

    Terms: Winter 2011

    Instructors: Osterweil, Ara (Winter)

    • Winter
    • Restriction: Limited to students in the English Major Concentration, Cultural Studies Option

Complementary Courses (24 credits)

24 credits selected as described below.

Note on Topics Courses: The Department of English offers courses which change topic from academic year to academic year. Depending on the topic in a specific year, these courses may count toward different program requirements. At the time they register for a topics course, students should confirm with their program adviser the program requirement it fulfils for that academic year.

Major Figures

3 credits from a list of courses on Major Figures in Cultural Studies:

Canadian Component

3 credits from a list of courses in Cultural Studies with a Canadian component:

  • ENGL 341 Canadian Radio and Television (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Histories of Canadian radio and television, with attention to the aesthetic, semiotic and generic developments of public and private broadcasting and cable channels, as well as aboriginal and multi-ethnic broadcasting.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 393 Canadian Cinema (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : An examination of major developments in the history of cinema in Canada.

    Terms: Fall 2010

    Instructors: Thain, Alanna Michael (Fall)

    • Fall
  • ENGL 440 First Nations and Inuit Literature and Media (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : An introduction to Inuit and First Nations literature and media in Canada, including oral literature and the development of aboriginal television and film.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Winter
    • Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken ENGL 415 or ENGL 419 as "Native Canadian Literature" or as "Inuit Literature".
  • ENGL 441 Special Topics in Canadian Cultural Studies (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Advanced study of a specific area of Canadian culture or Canadian cultural theory.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Theory or Criticism

3 credits from a list of courses on Theory or Criticism:

  • ENGL 317 Theory of English Studies 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Philosophical approaches.

    Terms: Fall 2010

    Instructors: Hensley, David C (Fall)

    • Fall
    • Restriction: Limited to students in English Major and Honours Programs
  • ENGL 318 Theory of English Studies 2 (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Socio-Historical approaches.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Fall
    • Restriction: Limited to students in English Major and Honours Programs
  • ENGL 319 Theory of English Studies 3 (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Issues in interpretation: authorship, performance, reception.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Restriction: Limited to students in English Major and Honours Programs
  • ENGL 322 Theories of the Text (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : A course focusing on textuality (as opposed to, say, intentionality and interpretation) and on how specific effects are made - how texts work and produce meaning, including rhetoric and form.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Fall
    • Restriction: Limited to students in English Major and Honours Programs.
  • ENGL 346 Materiality and Sociology of Text (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Writing, printing, distribution, marketing, and placement within canon-making institutions; the influence of material forms of production and transmission on the creation and reception of literature, film, and theatre.

    Terms: Winter 2011

    Instructors: Mole, Thomas (Winter)

    • Winter
    • Restriction: Limited to students in English Major and Honours Programs.
  • ENGL 352 Theories of Difference (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Introduction to a selection of theories that have influenced thinking about difference across the humanities and social sciences, including gender, sexuality, race, class and hierarchical structures, language, religion, ethnicity, and personal identity.

    Terms: Winter 2011

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Winter
    • Restriction: Limited to students in English Major and Honours Programs.

Historical Dimension

6 credits from a list of courses in Cultural Studies with an historical dimension:

Additional Cultural Studies

9 additional credits from the option's offerings which includes all the courses specifically listed in the Cultural Studies categories above and the courses listed below. Any ENGL course not on these Cultural Studies lists, such as courses in Literature, may not count toward the Major Concentration English - Cultural Studies.

  • ENGL 280 Introduction to Film as Mass Medium (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : An introduction to film's social, historical, and technological contexts, including its relationships to other mass media.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Students will be required to pay a screening fee.
  • ENGL 354 Sexuality and Representation (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Topics on representations of sexuality with reference to its cultural contexts.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Winter
    • Priority will be given to English Major/Honours students in second year of program
  • ENGL 366 Film Genre (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : A discussion of an individual genre of cinema; concept of genre.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 378 Media and Culture (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : An introduction to the study of television and its distinctive aesthetic, generic, and discursive features.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Fall
    • Prerequisite: ENGL 275
  • ENGL 379 Film Theory (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Introduction to major schools in the historical development and current practice of film theory.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Fall
  • ENGL 380 Non-Fic Media: Cinema, Television, Radio (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Historical, formal, and thematic analysis of non-fictional and documentary works within cinema, television, and radio.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 382 International Cinema 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : A study of a significant national cinema, or a thematic, formal, and/or historical study of film in an international context.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 383 Studies in Communications 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Studies in the relationships between the media and culture.

    Terms: Fall 2010

    Instructors: Kaite, Berkeley (Fall)

    • Fall
    • Restriction: Permission of instructor required
  • ENGL 384 Semiotics of Advertising (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Semiotic analysis of the ways in which advertisements mean and work. Relevant theories include those of de Saussure, Peirce, Eco, Barthes, and Freud.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 385 Topics in Literature and Film (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : .

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Winter
  • ENGL 386 Fans, Celebrities, Audiences (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : A study of celebrity, audience behaviour, and fan culture, including the symbolic function of the celebrity, the celebrity as 'text', and the interaction of fandom with the production of conventions and meaning in popular cultural forms.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Fall
  • ENGL 388 Studies in Popular Culture (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : History and development of important forms of popular culture. Topics may include traditional ballads; fairs; carnivals and popular festivity; material culture; popular fiction; mainstream television.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Winter
  • ENGL 389 Studies in Popular Culture (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : History and development of important forms of popular culture.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    • Winter
  • ENGL 390 Political and Cultural Theory (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : The intersection between theories of culture and theories of society.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 391 Special Topics: Cultural Studies 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Current issues in cultural studies. Topics will include contemporary debates on high culture and the literary canon, and the question of aesthetic value and aesthetic judgment.

    Terms: Fall 2010

    Instructors: Thain, Alanna Michael (Fall)

    • Fall
  • ENGL 395 Cultural and Theatre Studies (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : The relationships between theatre and forms of popular culture, including but not limited to cinematic and televisual adaptations of theatrical works.

    Terms: Fall 2010

    Instructors: Chevrier, Micheline (Fall)

    • Prerequisite: ENGL 275
  • ENGL 397 Feminist Approaches to Cultural Studies (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Primarily European and North American feminist cultural theories and their application to the study of different textual and cultural practices; feminist critiques which investigate questions of voice, authorship, discourse, power, language, and the media.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 398 Psychoanalytic Approaches to Cultural Studies (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Various psychoanalytic approaches to cultural production and reception.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 476 Alternative Approaches to Media 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Study of alternative uses of contemporary media with particular emphasis on the forms of independent video and community television and their relationship to mainstream television and film.

    Terms: Winter 2011

    Instructors: Thain, Alanna Michael (Winter)

    • Fall
    • Workshop course. Departmental permission required
  • ENGL 482 International Cinema 2 (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Intensive study of a particular tradition or movement in international cinema.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 585 Cultural Studies: Film (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Advanced study of a specific topic in film.

    Terms: Winter 2011

    Instructors: Osterweil, Ara (Winter)

    • Winter
  • ENGL 586 Cultural Studies: Other Media (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Advanced study of a specific topic in a medium or media other than film, such as television, advertising, radio, or the internet.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2010-2011 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2010-2011 academic year.

  • ENGL 587 Theoretical Approaches to Cultural Studies (3 credits)

    Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)

    Overview

    English (Arts) : Advanced study of theoretical issues in and approaches to cultural studies.

    Terms: Fall 2010

    Instructors: Kaite, Berkeley (Fall)

    • Fall

Other Departments

Students are normally permitted to count 6 credits from other departments toward their English programs. In exceptional circumstances an adviser, approached by a student with strong academic grounds for including a third such course, may grant permission, to a maximum of 9 extra-departmental credits, and must so indicate in advance by signing the departmental program Audit Sheet.

Faculty of Arts—2010-2011 (last updated Jan. 19, 2011) (disclaimer)
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