Recent Content

For most upper-level courses, the prerequisite is six credits of second-year English, third-year standing, or by permission of the instructor. See a href="/%3Ca%20href%3D"https://www.viu.ca/courses/english">https://www.viu.ca/courses/english">prerequisites for individual courses.

Fall 2022

Spring 2023

NOTE: Any course descriptions or reading lists here are tentative. Check back for updates.

Course Descriptions: Fall 2022

ENGL 310: Topics in Rhetoric

Professor Ian Whitehouse

If, as Alfred North Whitehead said, Western philosophy is a footnote to Plato, then Western theories of rhetoric and composition are a footnote to Plato’s greatest student, Aristotle. He systematized, not invented, the techniques and strategies of the orators of his day.  His analysis of the three modes of persuasion is still taught in our university composition courses to this day, and his topics, by which everything from a first-year essay to a doctorate can be constructed, are still as functional now as they were then. Furthermore, his analysis of different audiences -- and the way in which they can be persuaded -- has been used by politicians as contemporary as Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and by internet giants such as Facebook and political consulting firms such as Cambridge Analytica, as they profile your interests and construct their advertising and political narratives accordingly. In this course, students will review the beginnings of rhetorical theory, survey its development, learn the contribution of female rhetoricians, and analyze its application in various contemporary discourses from comedy to politics.

ENGL 315: Advanced Workshop in Composition

Professor Deborah Torkko

This workshop invites students to develop their capacity to write clear academic prose that is a delight to read and a delight to write. We will explore imaginative and practical ways to stretch the usual conventions associated with traditional forms of academic writing. We will explore the possibilities for how to communicate ideas and argument in a prose style for readers both within and beyond the academic community. We will explore how a writer’s grammatical and stylistic choices create rhetorical effect. In turn, and with attention to language, sentence structure, and essay form, we will develop, shape, and express our thinking in writing that displays a creative and discerning mind at work. In the words of Stephen Pinker, we will remind ourselves of the reasons to strive for good style: to enhance the spreading of ideas, exemplify attention to detail, and to add to the beauty of the world.

ENGL 326: Topics in Globalization and Culture

Professor Toni Smith

How to transition out of a fossil-fuel driven world economy is a central problem of our time, but the oil industry has been shaping cultures, nations, households, identities, and ecosystems for more than a century.  Authors from oil-shaped countries—including our own—have written extensively about the complexity of life in petro-nations, where colonialism, neo-colonialism, capitalism, labour, race, gender, culture, and class all intertwine with conflicts over land and water.   

In this course, we’ll read novels and texts by the peoples displaced and re-shaped by the global industry in the Middle East, Africa, the US, and Canada.  Join us to learn more about the complex issues at stake in the development of oil and gas pipelines for indigenous people and others in BC, Alberta, and beyond.

ENGL 328: Gender and Sexuality in Literature

Professor Janet Grafton

This course will investigate the witch trope in literature and trace the development and application of this trope from Greek mythology and folk tales to contemporary representations. Through readings and seminar discussions, we will look at how the label “witch” has been applied in literature across cultures and eras and how it has evolved, from the age of witch-hunts to modern-day politics to the feminist reclamation of the term as a slur. We will also look at who the term has historically been applied to, and how the hegemonic use of the term has been used to condemn and control sexuality, knowledge, and deviance from the norm. The witch as signifier of power, difference, and the untamed makes it a powerful trope, and we will unpack the discomforts and fears attendant with this trope, as well as the language associated with it, including crone and hag - language that reveals larger social anxieties around gender, age, and power. Course readings and materials will include a range of genres, such as feminist criticism, short stories, poetry, global folk tales, myths, popular culture, film, and television.

DIGI COURSES NOW MEDI FOR 2025-2026

SEE NEW NAMES AND COURSE DESCRIPTIONS IN THE VIU CALENDAR.

ALL "DIGI" COURSES ARE NOW CODED "MEDI" WITH THE SAME COURSE NUMBER -- 

NO COURSES HAVE BEEN CANCELLED.

IT IS A NAME CHANGE ONLY AND CONSOLIDATION OF THE DIGITAL MEDIA MINOR INTO ONE MEDIA STUDIES MINOR AND ONE DIGITAL MEDIA STUDIES MAJOR.

"After completing my Forestry diploma, I immediately transferred into third year of the Natural Resource stream in Geography at VIU. There is a seamless transition into the Geography program. The Geography route was great for me, and I highly recommend the transfer option.

While completing my BA, I was able to become more involved around Campus through volunteering, work-op and research assistant (RA) positions. These experiences enabled me to meet many people on campus and throughout the community which aided me in obtaining my current job."

installation view

CHINTAN BOLLIGER, KATARINA MEGLIC, JOEL PREVOST and KATHY VENTER

Julia Coltman, Essay Contest Winner in the Third-Year Category, 2020-2021

Bethany Freed, Essay Contest Winner in the Third-Year Category, 2020-2021