What is English?
When you study English, you'll get to read great works of literature and will have your curiosity, imagination, and creativity inspired. You'll also better understand yourself and others, will learn about other cultures and viewpoints, and will build a platform from which to navigate a variety of careers paths.
English at Augustana
Our English program covers all of the major fields of literature written in English, along with less traditional courses on Indigenous, diasporic, environmental, and children's literature. You can also take courses on a particular author, genre, topic, or theoretical approach, and will get to work with professors on individual projects that you're passionate about.
Program Information
English at Augustana is available as a:
- Contributing Discipline in the Bachelor of Arts Interdisciplinary Studies Creativity and Culture
- Minor in the Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Education (Secondary) Combined degree program
Academic Innovations
All programs at Augustana include a wide-ranging liberal arts Core, taught within our unique “3-11” calendar
Careers
With an undergraduate degree studying English from Augustana, you'll find that your writing and communication skills are highly desired in careers like:
- Copywriter
- Editor
- Journalist
- Writer
- and many more!
English AlumnUS
Dean Prpick
Physiotherapist
Physiotherapist
Dean found Augustana to be a challenging and productive environment in which he developed the skills that make him a successful professional today.
Course Highlights
206 - Native Children's Literature
Students in this course will study a diverse body of literature for children and young adults written by North American First Nations authors. The work of leading Native theorists will be included so that analysis of these picture books and novels for young people will be informed by and rooted in Indigenous ways of understanding the world. In crafting a method of reading that is grounded in the traditions and concerns of North American First Nations people, students will attend to the ways in which these texts present the oral tradition, locate themselves in specific tribal territories and cultural practices, connect their narratives to the environment, and re-present Indigenous histories.
215 - Creative Writing
Introduction to the writing of poetry and short fiction. Literary examples are analyzed, and a student is required to write poetry and fiction with attention to specific elements of writing such as imagery, structure, dialogue, and characterization. A central element of the course is peer discussion.
240 - Restoration and 18th Century
Literature - poetry, prose, drama and fiction - of the period between 1660 and 1800. The course is taught chronologically with a focus on the major cultural shifts of that era. Topics include satire and the public sphere, print culture, consumerism, the politics of gender and ethnicity, globalization and subjectivity.
271 - American Law + Literature
Representative works of American literature since the American Civil War (1861-1865). The course will focus on themes of law and justice in works by canonical and lesser known American writers.
392 - Feminist Theory + Women's Writing
Several contemporary feminist critical approaches will be used to analyze writings by women from various historical periods and areas of the English speaking world.
Related Information
Brandon Alakas, PhD
Brandon Alakas teaches courses on classical and medieval literature. His interest in Latin literature in particular is fuelled by his research on monastic culture.
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Marina Endicott
Marina Endicott's first book, Open Arms, was short-listed for the Amazon First Novel award. Good to a Fault won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was on CBC's Canada Reads.
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Roxanne Harde, PhD
Roxanne Harde researches and teaches American literature and culture, focusing on popular culture, women's writing and children's and Indigenous literatures.
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Stephanie Oliver, PhD
Stephanie Oliver teaches courses on Canadian, postcolonial, and diasporic literatures. Her research focuses on representations of smell in Canadian diasporic women's writing.
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Craig Peterson, PhD
Craig Peterson has worked at Augustana since the fall of 2007, teaching a wide range of courses and directing the operations of the Augustana Writing Centre
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Willow White, PhD
Willow White teaches English literature and Indigenous studies courses. Her research focuses on literatures of the long eighteenth century, women writers, and Indigenous studies.