The study of literature equips students for professional and civic life by fostering both practical communication skills and a sympathetic imagination. By reading literature critically, students gain essential training in how to think clearly and write articulately—skills that are essential to success in many fields, including public relations, business, administration, law, and information technology as well as publishing and teaching.
By exploring social and cultural questions through literature, students also develop the capacity to see the world from someone else’s point of view. They learn to examine familiar ideas from new perspectives; to approach unfamiliar ideas with generosity and intelligence; to consider how historical context shapes individual beliefs and social relations; and to analyze how all kinds of texts contribute to the social debates that shape culture.
Our English Department offers broadly based, historically grounded training in literary studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our distinguished faculty are committed to excellence in both research and teaching. Our graduate students benefit from our collegial environment and our proximity to research resources at the National Library and Archives of Canada. We are also home to a lively creative writing community and active graduate and undergraduate student organizations.
Information for students
- Experiential Learning Service
Apply your studies to real world situations, in ways that benefit the community. - Faculty of Arts Students – Undergraduate
- Faculty of Arts Students – Graduate
Events
February 10, 2010
Mark your calendars for an evening of poetry with writer-in-residence Erin Moure on Wednesday, February 10. Moure is one of Canada’s most admired poets and a lively, entertaining reader, so don’t miss this opportunity to hear her read from her books of poetry and translation. All are welcome. 7:30 pm in Arts 509.
News
- Want to participate in a poetry reading on March 12 at the University of Ottawa's Open House for potential new students? Participants will read a short poem of their own or from the canon (wild and otherwise) of English literature, and will get coaching from writer-in-residence Erin Moure on public reading and on revising their poems! Those interested should give your contact info to Nadine at the English Department office as soon as possible!
- Warm congratulations to Martha Musgrove, who has been awarded the Pierre Laberge Prize for an outstanding doctoral thesis in the humanities. Dr. Musgrove’s thesis was entitled “Women and the City in Novels of the Romantic Period.”
- The Department extends a warm welcome to our newest full-time faculty member, Dr. Sara Landreth. Dr. Landreth is a specialist in eighteenth-century literature, and joined the department in July 2009.
- Warm congratulations to our graduate students who have recently defended their PhD and MA theses: Elena Ilina, Jessica Langston, Martha Musgrove, Morgan Rooney, and Christa Zeller Thomas (PhD) and Rachel Conlon (MA).
- The Department is pleased to announce the keynote speakers for the 2010 Canadian Literature Symposium: David Bentley, FRSC, recipient of the Premier’s Discovery Award for Arts and Humanities at the University of Western Ontario, and Carole Gerson, FRSC, Killam Research Fellow at Simon Fraser University. Charlotte Gray, acclaimed biographer and cultural historian, will speak on the opening night of the symposium.
- Please visit the Departmental "Awards and recognition" page for recently archived news.
