2005-2006 Graduate Calendar

English  
Master of Arts in English Dean Rosemary Drage Hale Faculty of Humanities Associate Dean John Sainsbury Faculty of Humanities Participating Faculty Professors Martin Danahay (English Language & Literature), Marilyn J. Rose (English Language & Literature), Elizabeth Sauer (English Language & Literature) Associate Professors John Lye (English Language & Literature), Mathew Martin (English Language & Literature), Barbara K. Seeber (English Language & Literature), Angus A. Somerville (English Language & Literature), Susan Spearey (English Language & Literature) Assistant Professors Robert Alexander (English Language & Literature), James Allard (English Language & Literature), Tim Conley, (English Language & Literature), Neta Gordon, (English Language & Literature), Ann Howey, (English Language & Literature), Angela Mills, (English Language & Literature), Steven D. Scott, (English Language & Literature) Lecturer Jaclyn Rea, (English Language & Literature) Graduate Officer Susan Spearey sspearey@brocku.ca Administrative Assistant Janet Sackfie 905-688-5550, extension 3469 Mackenzie Chown A310 http://www.brocku.ca/english The MA in English has a Field of "Text/Community/Discourse." As mutually informing concepts, "text," "community," and "discourse" suggest the power of texts to reflect and to shape both communities of origin and communities of reception. The Program also focuses critical attention on the kinds of negotiation ­ both material and theoretical ­ attending the production, performance and reception of texts. Literary and textual problems acquire richer significance when viewed in relation to the ways in which texts, both literary and non-literary, are produced and used in the often conflicting discourses that constitute the culture of a community. This Program includes a preferred Major Research Paper Option and is designed to be completed in twelve months. A thesis option is also available under exceptional circumstances, with approval of the Graduate officer.  
Admission requirements Go to top of document
Applications for admission to the MA program, on either a full-time or a part-time basis, will be accepted from students holding an honours degree or equivalent in English Literature, with an overall average not less than B+. Applicants must supply three letters of reference, a personal statement of interest and goals of not more than two pages in length, and a representative piece of work. Students with a co-major in English and a related discipline will be considered, although such students may be required to take additional qualifying undergraduate courses. Exceptions for students with unique circumstances will be considered. The decision to admit rests with the Graduate Officer in consultation with the program admissions committee.  
Program Requirements Go to top of document
All students are required to take the two core courses, ENGL 5P00 and ENGL 5P01. Major Research Paper students must take four additional courses, from the variable topics offerings; Thesis students take two such additional courses. With the permission of the Graduate Officer a student may take a course from one of the other MA programs in the university or a reading course/tutorial (ENGL 5P02) in place of a course from the variable topics list. Research Paper students will with the guidance of the Graduate Officer arrange for a supervisor and a second reader and shall choose a topic in consultation with the supervisor, the second reader and the Graduate Officer. A Thesis student may, with the permission of the Graduate Officer, arrange for a thesis supervisor; the student and the supervisor will, with a supervisory committee appointed by the Graduate Officer, choose a thesis topic.  
Course Descriptions Go to top of document
ENGL 5F90 Major Research Paper A research project on a selected topic involving independent work and original research and thought. ENGL 5F91 MA Thesis An extended research project involving the preparation and defence of a thesis which shall demonstrate capacity for independent work and original research and thought. ENGL 5P00 Theoretical Foundations Survey and critical analysis of a broad range of theories bearing on the relation of literary texts to cultural formations. Seminar, 3 hours per week ENGL 5P01 Graduate Seminar in Research and Professional Development Topics such as the nature and requirements of academic work, research methodologies, research resources, the nature and requirements of the graduate thesis and research paper, the development of the research proposal, focused discussion of research and design strategies for the work proposed, the development of and adherence to a schedule, preparation of conference proposals and public presentations. Seminar, 1 1/2 hours per week for two terms ENGL 5P02 Graduate Tutorial Research course with directed study and regular meetings with a faculty member, covering topics not offered in a designated course. Requires permission of the Graduate Officer. ENGL 5V10-5V19 Medieval and Early Modern Literature and Culture English literature, literary culture, and discourses on community from the 14th century to the late 17th century. 2005-2006: ENGL 5V10 Textual Communities in Seventeenth-Century England The contribution of print culture to the development of politicized textual communities of writers and readers.Features a range of heterogeneous texts, including trial accounts, printed speeches, religious treatises, female-authored defences, and political dialogues, pamphlets, and closet dramas in terms of such topics as: public spheres and print cultures; censorship and resistance; writing the revolution; royalist stage acts; cultures of dissent. ENGL 5V20-5V29 The Long Eighteenth Century Literature and Culture Studies in literature and culture from the Restoration of Charles II to the ascension of Victoria, 1660-1837. 2005-2006: ENGL 5V20 Jane Austen and Communities of Women The works of Austen in the context of eighteenth-century women writers (such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Frances Burney) and contemporary feminist approaches. Seminar: 3 hours per week ENGL 5V30-5V39 Nineteenth Century British and American Literature and Culture Literature and literary culture in relation to the political, social and intellectual movements of the 19th century. May include transatlantic or nationally located studies. 2005-2006: ENGL 5V31 Textuality/Sexuality in Victorian Discourse Are new forms of sexuality "discovered" like new continents or "invented" and actually called into being by new forms of discourse? Using the theories of Michel Foucault, a range of Victorian texts from poems to paintings and photographs will be interrogated for what they tell us about the articulation of new categories such as "masochism" and "homosexuality" in Victorian discourse. ENGL 5V40-5V49 Twentieth Century Literature and Culture Literature and cultural identity, location and change in established and developing literatures in the 20th century. ENGL 5V50-5V59 Canadian Literature and Culture Studies in Canadian literature with an emphasis on texts and their relation to intersecting notions of community. 2005-2006: ENGL 5V50 Alice Munro: History, Memory and Community The implications of storytelling in the fiction of Alice Munro, with special attention to the role of narrative in the construction of individual and communal identities in small towns in Huron County. The ways in which historical and material circumstance, as mediated by reading and writing, contribute to the provocative sense of the conditional that characterizes Munro's textualized universe. Seminar: 3 hours per week ENGL 5V60-5V69 Contemporary Literature and Culture The role of literature in the creation and maintenance of located and imagined communities in the contemporary world. ENGL 5V70-5V79 Special Topics in Literature and Culture Literature, culture and community in areas such as genre studies, specialized theoretical studies and comparative historical studies. ENGL 5V80-5V89 Rhetoric and Discourse Studies Study of rhetoric, genre, discourse and language. Topics may include rhetorical instatiations of textual communities, ideologies of language as they operate in conceptualizations of nation and self, and discourse analytic methods for examining texts and their contexts.  
Last updated: July 14, 2005 @ 11:20AM