This course deals with various aspects of criticism and theory related to literature, film/media studies and digital humanities, focusing on specific questions each time offered. Content will come from various temporal periods and geographical locations. Topics may include the investigation of a specific critical debate and its treatment.

Variable in content and practical in orientation this course seeks to familiarize the student with particular critical techniques and approaches by applying specific examples of those approaches and methods to particular topics (e.g., cultural studies and renaissance literature, discourse analysis and the Victorian novel, computer-mediated analysis and the theatre of the absurd).

This course draws from different forms of representation concerned with the biosphere and ecological thinking and practice. Theoretical approaches can problematize 'nature,' the Anthropocene, environmental humanities and post-humanism. While critical methodologies will be earth-centred and focused on environmental and eco-criticism, these may be combined with other theoretical approaches. Examples of topics include environmental racism, resource extraction, waste disposal and climate change.

How do contemporary digital humanities engage in representation? This course looks at intersecting concepts, politics, and practices of representation using digital humanities methods and tools. Content may include digital editing; semantic technologies; digital interfaces and platforms; and/or long-form digital argumentation. These technological tools may be considered within the context of big data and their impact on social identities.

This course involves the study of Canadian literature with an emphasis on understanding works within their social context and exploring the complex sets of relations that shape them. Possible topics can include literary and cultural production of a time-period, specific region or environment, race and diaspora, Indigenous writing or performance, archives and literature and literary history.

This course focuses on postcolonial literatures and forms of representation in response to colonization, including decolonization. Texts can be selected from diverse genres, locations or historical periods, and engage a range of approaches to the study of postcolonial literatures.

An examination of the literature of Britain in the medieval and/or early modern periods. Topics may focus on a single author, a specific genre, or relationships between the literary and the cultural.

A examination of the literature of Britain between the 17th century and the latter part of the 18th century. Topics may focus on a single author, a specific genre, or relationships between the literary and the cultural.

This course is a study of the literature of Britain, Canada, the United States, or another region from the late 18th century until the start of the First World War. Topics may focus on a single author, a specific genre, or a central critical question.

A study of the literature of Britain in the twentieth century. This course includes a consideration of the interaction between literature and culture in the period - sometimes through the examination of a specific author, sometimes through the study of a particular genre or issue.

Topics may include a focus on a single region, such as the American West, on a single time period, such as the Civil War, on a specific genre, such as the novels of frontier women, or other issues in American literary studies.

This course considers representations of genders/sexualities to contextualize their force within literature and/or performance. A range of critical and theoretical approaches will investigate aspects of sex, gender, sexual orientation, race and class.

This course examines cultural materials that target children and young adults - whether books, comics, film, animation, theatre, video games, clothing or toys. It may focus on cultural or historical context. Topics include colonial, postcolonial and anti-colonial literature for children; gender, race and the coming-of-age.

Courses under this rubric are concerned with the various literatures produced by Scots both within and beyond the boundaries of Scotland. The course could involve the study of a specific genre, the investigation of a specific theme, or the examination of a particular author over the course of her/his career.

Designed to provide the opportunity to explore alternative fields and modes of critical inquiry, this course tackles various topics emerging from bringing literary studies into dialogue with other forms of intellectual inquiry such as sociology, biology, psychology, history, environmental studies, computer science or geography.

An independent study course, the nature and content of which is agreed upon between the individual student and the person offering the course. Subject to the approval of the student's advisory committee and the graduate program committee.

An independent study course, the nature and content of which is agreed upon between the individual student and the person offering the course. Subject to the approval of the student's advisory committee and the graduate program committee.

The Major Research Project (MRP) is an independent study course, the content of which is agreed upon between student and supervisor, subject to the approval of the Advisory and Graduate Program Committees. The MRP provides an opportunity to conduct research that provides training in methodologies and development of complex arguments.

This course explores topics in the study of literature and culture that fall outside the scope of regular graduate courses. Offerings may focus on aspects of literary, textual or cultural study from any temporal or geographical location, and may deal with emergent as well as established approaches.