The study of literature equips students for professional and civic life by fostering both practical communication skills and a sympathetic imagination. By reading literature critically, students gain essential training in how to think clearly and write articulately—skills that are essential to success in many fields, including public relations, business, administration, law, and information technology as well as publishing and teaching.
By exploring social and cultural questions through the lenses of poetry, fiction, and drama, students also develop the important capacity to see the world from someone else’s point of view. They learn to examine familiar ideas from new perspectives; to approach unfamiliar ideas with generosity and intelligence; to understand how historical context shapes individual beliefs and social relations; and to think critically about how all kinds of texts contribute to the social debates that shape culture.
The English Department at the University of Ottawa offers broadly based, historically grounded training in literary studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our distinguished faculty are committed to excellence in both research and teaching. Our department is well-known for its annual Canadian Literature Symposium, and faculty members regularly win prestigious SSHRC grants and publish articles and books that make major contributions to their fields. The department is home to a lively creative writing community and active student organizations that sponsor a variety of events and activities throughout the year.
We invite you to browse our program descriptions (BA, MA, and PhD) and current course descriptions (undergraduate or graduate) to see the range of topics and perspectives explored in our courses.
News and events
- Congratulations to Professor Gerald Lynch, who has won a SSHRC Standard Research Grant for his current project, "Canadian Humours: Between Satire and Sentimentality."
- Congratulations to recent PhD and current part-time professor Tobi Kozakewich, who has just won a SSHRC post-doctoral fellowship. Her proposed research project is entitled "Bad Blood: Eugenics in English-Canadian Literature." She will be undertaking this project at Queen's University, under the guidance of Tracy Ware.
- Congratulations to Alison Hamer, who has won a Joseph-Marie Quirion Fellowship for 2007-2008. Seven Quirion fellowships are awarded each year to students in Faculty of Arts honours programs who have excelled in their studies.
- The Department is pleased to announce that several of our graduate students have successfully defended their doctoral and MA theses since September 2007. Congratulations to Julie Godin, Anna Lewis, Reginald Webber, and Felicity Maxwell.
- The Department congratulates Anna Lepine, who was awarded a Pierre Laberge prize for her doctoral thesis, "'The Old Maid in the Garret': Representations of the Spinster in Victorian Culture," at Fall Convocation.
- The Department of English lost one of its stalwart members, Cam La Bossière, at the end of October 2007. Before his retirement in 2003, Professor La Bossière was an extremely active participant in the life of the Department. Please click through for a fuller obituary
- The English Department wishes Professor Klaus Peter Stich all the best in his retirement.
- Yves Desnoyers, who served the department for many years and advised hundreds of students, has left us to pursue a career in teaching. We will all miss his warm presence and sage counsel. We wish him all the best and welcome his replacement, Joanne Kloeble, the new Academic Assistant for Undergraduate Studies.
- Please visit the Departmental "Awards and recognition" page for recently archived news.
Information for students
- Rabaska, the new online registration tool, is now available
- ATTENTION newly admitted students: registration officially begins on May 15
- Faculty of Arts Students – Undergraduate
- Faculty of Arts Students – Graduate
Prospective Students
- Everything you need to know about admission.
- Graduate studies
Generous Financial support
