Courses

The most recent course timetable is available on the web on the UVic timetable.

The course that's right for you depends on  your academic goals and needs. If you're interested in studying literature, you will want to look at ENGL 146 and ENGL 147, both of which fulfill the Academic Writing Requirement (AWR). If you're interested in writing and reading for academic purposes without a literature focus, you should look at ENGL 135 (which also fulfills the AWR). And if you think you need review, consider ENGL 101.

If your program requires 3.0 credits of English, you would normally take any two of the courses that fulfill the Academic Writing Requirement; please check with your own department as to its specific program requirements.

If you are unsure which course you may need, you can start by taking the University's voluntary self-placement questionaire for first-year writing classes.

First year courses at a glance

Course Number Writing Course

Literature  Course

 Satisfies AWR Credits
ENGL 101 Yes 1.5
ENGL 135 Yes Yes 1.5
ENGL 146 Yes Yes 1.5

ENGL 147

 Yes Yes 1.5

Most second-year courses are survey courses that introduce you to major fields within English literary studies: British, American, or Canadian literature; modernism; women’s literature; cultural studies and literary criticism. Apart from their intrinsic interest, they are designed to prepare students for more specific upper-level courses in these fields.

Students can take these courses in their first year, but are strongly encouraged to take an AWR course (135, 146, 147) either before or in conjunction with their first 200-level course. Students interested in the Honours program should note that the program requires 3 units from the British literature series 200A, 200B or 200C.

English 250 and 260 are general interest courses that cannot be used toward the English Major, Minor or Honours degrees.

Course outline links are to the most recent offering from the instructors, and are updated as they are provided to the titles below.

Please note: course listings and assigned instructors are subject to change.

Course Number Title Term Credits
ENGL 200A English Literature to 1660 Fall 1.5
ENGL 200B English Literature 1660-1800 Spring 1.5
ENGL 200C English Literature 1800-1914 Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 201 Introduction to Modernist Literature Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 202 Introduction to Canadian Literature Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 203 Introduction to American Literature Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 207 Introduction to Cultural Studies Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 208 Introduction to Women's Writing Spring 1.5
ENGL 209 Foundations of Literary Criticism Spring 1.5
ENGL 215 The Writing of Expository Prose Fall 1.5
ENGL 225 Technical Communications Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 230 Literature & Culture I: "Becoming Posthuman" Spring 1.5
ENGL 260 The Bible as Literature Fall 1.5

The best preparation for upper-level English courses (300 and 400 level) is either 3 units of 200-level English in addition to English 146 and 147, or 4.5 units of 200-level English and one of 146 or 147.


300 and 400 courses are at the same level. 300-level courses are mainly in British literature before the 20th century. 400-level courses cover American, Canadian and post-colonial literatures in English, as well as British literature after 1900. There are also 400-level courses in film, literary criticism and theory, and cultural studies.


English 310, 467, and 468 are restricted to Honours students, or with permission of the department. English 490 and 499 are restricted to Honours students.
English 480 is restricted to declared Majors or Honours students.
English 393 and 395 are general interest courses that cannot be used toward the English Major, Minor or Honours degrees.

Course outline links are to the most recent offering from the instructors, and are updated as they are provided to the titles below.

Please note: course listings and assigned instructors are subject to change.

Course Number Title Term Credits
ENGL 301 Report Writing for Business Fall 1.5
ENGL 302 Writing for Government & the Public Sector Fall 1.5
ENGL 303 Copy Editing Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 310 Practical Criticism Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 341 Old English Literature Spring 1.5
ENGL 342 Early Middle English Literature Spring 1.5
ENGL 344A Chaucer: Canterbury Tales Spring 1.5
ENGL 353 Studies in Medieval English Literature Fall 1.5
ENGL 365 17th Century Poetry & Prose to 1660 Fall 1.5
ENGL 366B Shakespeare: Histories & Tragedies Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 366C Comedies, Problem Plays & Romances Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 369 Milton: Major Poetry & Select Prose Fall  1.5
ENGL 372 Special Studies in 18th Century Literature "Writing Nature in the Eighteenth Century" Fall 1.5
ENGL 373 English Literature of the Restoration Period: 1660 to 1700 Spring 1.5
ENGL 374 Swift, Pope & Literature of the Augustan Age: 1701-1745 Fall 1.5
ENGL 376A The Beginning of the English Novel: 1660-1750 Fall 1.5
ENGL 376B The English Novel: 1750 to the Early 19th Century Spring 1.5
ENGL 379 British Fiction & Non-Fiction of the Early 19th Century Spring 1.5
ENGL 380 Victorian Fiction: Dickens to Eliot Fall 1.5
ENGL 381 Late Victorian & Edwardian Fiction Spring 1.5
ENGL 382 Romantic Period I Fall 1.5
ENGL 383 Romantic Period II Spring 1.5
ENGL 392 Studies in a Major Figure: "E. Spenser's The Fairie Queene" Spring 1.5
ENGL 393 Myth & Literature "Alternative Worlds in Fiction (and Film)" Spring 1.5
ENGL 406 Special Studies in Professional Communication: "XML Languages & Editorial Practice" Fall 1.5
ENGL 407 Social Media & Electronic Communicaiton Spring 1.5
ENGL 410 Background to English Literacy Traditions Fall/Spring 1.5
ENGL 412 Research for Professional Writers Spring 1.5
ENGL 414A American Film to 1945 Fall 1.5
ENGL 414B American Film Since 1945 Spring 1.5
ENGL 418 Print Media Genres & Techniques for Professional Communication Spring 1.5
ENGL 427 19th Century American Prose & Poetry Fall 1.5
ENGL 428A 19th Century American Fiction I Fall  1.5
ENGL 429A 20th Century American Fiction to WWII Spring 1.5
ENGL 429C Contemporary American Fiction Spring 1.5
ENGL 431A Modern American Poetry I Fall 1.5
ENGL 431B Modern American Poetry II Spring 1.5
ENGL 432A American Poetry: 1950 to 1975 Spring 1.5
ENGL 434A British Poetry 1914-1950 Spring 1.5
ENGL 436A 20th Century British Fiction to WWII Fall 1.5
ENGL 437A Modern Drama to WWII Fall 1.5
ENGL 437B Modern Drama Since WWII Fall 1.5
ENGL 439A Colonial Discourse & Postcolonial Studies Fall 1.5
ENGL 439B Special Studies in Postcolonial Literature: "Postcolonial Literature in an Age of Apology" Fall 1.5
ENGL 448 Special Studies in Canadian Literature: "Re-Thinking Atwood Through The Handmaid's Tale" Fall 1.5
ENGL 450 Modern Canadian Fiction Fall 1.5
ENGL 451 Contemporary Canadian Fiction Spring 1.5
ENGL 452 Modern Canadian Poetry  Fall 1.5
ENGL 453 Contemporary Canadian Poetry Fall 1.5
ENGL 456 Literature of British Columbia Spring 1.5
ENGL 457 Literary & Cultural Criticism in Canada Spring 1.5
ENGL 459 Early Canadian Literature Spring 1.5
ENGL 460 Major Issues in Literary Criticism Fall 1.5
ENGL 464 The Bible & Literature in English Spring 1.5
ENGL 467 Seminar in 20th-Century Literary Criticism Spring 1.5
ENGL 475 Special Studies in Ethnic American Lit: "Just Revenge: Fiction by Contemporary Women Authors" Fall 1.5
ENGL 477 Indigenous Literature in English Fall 1.5
ENGL 478 Special Studies in Literature and Environment  Fall 1.5
ENGL 479 Victorian & Edwardian Children's Fiction Spring 1.5

The Digital Humanities -- and, more specifically, its incarnations in digital literary and textual studies -- are well-represented at UVic across a curriculum that incorporates computing at both undergraduate and graduate leves, across research of international significance involving graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty, and across a range of activites that engage the local, national, and international community (including the annual Digital Humanities Summer Institute, plus a few recent conferences: INKE 2009, TEI 2006 and ACH/ALLC 2005).

Why DH? Read about it in Matt Kirschenbaum's What is Digital Humanities and What's it Doing in the English Departments? as well as the Companions to Digital Humanities and Digital Literary Studies -- plus the Day of DH, which documents typical days in the life of those who practice DH.

Search for Digital Humanities courses

The English Department's Professional Writing program will teach you the skills you'll need to succeed as a writer. You'll be ready to enter the high-technology workplace of science, business, industry, government, and the professions, using new media to solve the problems of professional communication.

If you've declared a major or an honours degree in any of the disciplines UVic offers, you're eligible to also declare a minor in the English Department's Professional Writing program. You'll combine your knowledge of your discipline with the ability to communicate it to other professionals and to general readers.

If you have not declared a minor in the English Department's Professional Writing program, you are still eligible to take our courses if you have the prerequisites. Just register for our courses in the normal way; we welcome students from all faculties and programs across the university.

Note: UVic's Writing Department offers a separate professional writing minor in journalism, editing, and publishing; courses offered in the Writing Department do not normally count towards the English minor.

Prerequisites: Two of ENGL 125, 135, 145, 146, 147, 181, 215, 225, ECON 225, ENGR 240, WRIT 204, 215 with a minimum grade of B in each course, or permission of the department.

Search for Professional Communication courses.