English

We have published authors in both academic and creative areas, but with our small classes and dedication to the needs of individual students, instruction has always been our department’s priority.

The English Department offers you reading and writing skills which will help you to:

• Enter a profession or trade career with practical communication skills
• Arrive at the university with experience and training in academic writing
• Navigate future career opportunities which you haven't yet thought about
• Critically explore current society which will be interesting in its own right
• Help you to be a more engaged doctor, nurse, teacher or business person
• Be an aware and critical citizen.
   

We offer courses in the following areas:

• Literature: Most of our courses have a strong literature component because we are convinced that an appreciation for literature will not only open your mind to explore the various forms and genres of literature but also enable you to gain insights into the human condition. Whether you are confronted with the ever-changing world of technical innovation or the daily pressures of life, literature can provide models for reflection and action.
• Creative Writing: Some of our faculty are published and acclaimed authors and editors. They will share their talents with you in creative writing classes that explore creative writing in workshop situations.
• Communications: Learn to express yourself professionally in the workplace in our communications courses. Whether you are fulfilling a degree requirement (for the BBA) or want to upgrade your communications skills, the presentation skills we teach you will contribute to your future success. Furthermore, the discussion of moral dilemmas as they occur in the workplace is a favourite feature of our communications courses.
• ESL & Academic Preparation: Whether you are a recent immigrant and non-native speaker or a native speaker who feels the need to upgrade your English skills, our ESL & Academic Preparation courses will bring your reading and writing skills up to speed in order to go on to our university transfer courses. Our academic preparation courses have especially small class sizes (20 students max) that allow the instructors to work very closely with you to improve your English skills.
   

The English Department is involved in two Associate of Arts Degrees, one with focus in English and one with focus in Creative Writing.

"The Writing Lives course provided a thought-provoking, impactful personal experience. Once I gained the trust of the Survivors, they generously shared their memories and life stories. I had the honor of documenting their lives and amplifying their voices in their memoirs. By engaging empathetically, I established a genuine, meaningful relationship with each Elder, which I will forever cherish." – Melissa Halford, former Writing Lives student

"Stories are the most important thing we have. When we have left this earth, all we will be remembered for is the story we left behind. Whether it is a family anecdote or a chapter in history, other people carry us, and they carry us through story.

History is written and told about those who are remembered. Remembering is political: colonial powers have tried to erase the stories of Indigenous peoples for centuries, and tried to have their histories forgotten. Erasure has come in various forms: murder, forced sterilization, the Indian Act, residential schools, foster care, prisons, police abuse, theft of resources, chronic underfunding, and intentional obfuscation of history.

As citizens of 'Canada' and settlers on Turtle Island, we have a moral duty to remember the real history of this place. We have the privilege of knowing what has happened here, and we have the privilege of still having witnesses and survivors alive with us. The stories of our Elders deserve to be remembered. We must honor Indigenous truths just as we honor colonial ones.

We are writing not only lives; we are writing history." – former Writing Lives student