“I don’t see how the study of language and literature can be separated from the question of free speech...you’re not free to move unless you’ve learned to walk, and not free to play the piano unless you practise. Nobody is capable of free speech unless he knows how to use language, and such knowledge is not a gift: it has to be learned and worked at.”
— Northrop Frye, The Educated Imagination

English courses at UCFV are designed to give you a great deal of practice in writing, reading, and speaking the language. Writing courses aim to improve your clarity of thought and expression, and to increase the speed and accuracy with which you write and understand prose.

Other English courses present imaginative literature (poetry, fiction, drama) with a threefold objective: learning to read literature with an eye sensitive to underlying themes and structures, learning to analyze literature in genuinely constructive and critical ways, and learning to write about literature with clarity and insight.

As part of our mission to offer a degree that is responsive to our students’ needs, we in the English department allow students to choose an English major from one of four options: the more traditional English major, an English major with a North American concentration, English major drama concentration, or an English major with a writing and rhetoric concentration. For those students who prefer a greater challenge, we also offer an Honours program. We also offer a minor, an extended minor, and an extended studies in Arts certificate. Any one of these options may prepare you for graduate school or a career in teaching. English at UCFV is also excellent preparation for careers in journalism, law, publishing and editing, and information management. Concentrations allow you to work both in English and other related disciplines.

English major, extended minor, and minor students, or students planning to enter a teacher education program, may choose to complete the UCFV Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) certificate program simultaneously with, or upon completion of, their major or minor. See the TESL section for additional information on this option.

• English majors (English Literature, North American concentration, Drama concentration, Writing and Rhetoric concentration)

• Honours English

• English extended minor

• English minor

• Certificate in Extended Studies in Arts

Course listings

For complete details on courses see the course descriptions section.