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:

Academic Innovations

All programs at Augustana include a wide-ranging liberal arts Core, taught within our unique “3-11” calendar

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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

A portrait of Dean Prpick
Dean Prpick
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.

Details

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.

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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.

Details

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.

Details

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.

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More courses in the Course Catalogue.

Faculty

Portrait of Brandon Alakas, PhD

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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Portrait of Marina Endicott

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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Portrait of Roxanne Harde, PhD

Roxanne Harde, PhD

Roxanne researches and teaches American literature and culture, focusing on popular culture, women's writing and children's and Indigenous literatures.

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Portrait of Stephanie Oliver, PhD

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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Portrait of Craig Peterson, PhD

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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Portrait of Willow White, PhD

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.