Welcome to the Department of English Literature

In the Department of English Literature we are committed to the idea that small is big.  We believe that the best way to develop analytical skills is by exchanging and testing ideas in small-group discussions led by experienced and dedicated teachers.  So every year over 80% of the courses we offer have seminars of less than fifteen people.  That’s one of the best student-teacher ratios in Canada.  We think that’s big.

We introduce our students to literature in English from its beginnings over a thousand years ago in Anglo-Saxon England to its current status as the global medium of culture and communication.  We study the language of our daily existence (whether that language happens to be Shakespearean, Canadian, Chaucerian or Jamaican) in works of the imagination which confront the pressing and enduring issues in our lives and our world.   

We invite you to join the discussion!