University of Toronto

English has always been a strong, award-winning teaching department, one committed to the symbiotic relationship of teaching, research and the larger concerns of society. The Department structures its academic programs historically, a practice that has readily accommodated changes that reflect the development of English studies as a discipline and the changing mission of the university. Entirely new areas of study such as world literature in English, children's literature, Native North American literature and the digital text have been added to the curriculum. Even in courses with the most traditional titles such as Shakespeare or the Victorian novel, the selection of texts as well as the way they are taught undergoes regular reassessment and alteration. So too does the department's effort to improve the quality of the communication skills of the many students it teaches.
JHBMembers of the department contribute to the teaching of interdisciplinary programs at both the undergraduate level (e.g., Canadian studies, Christianity and culture, cinema studies, women's studies) and the graduate level (comparative literature, drama, medieval studies). In less obvious, but perhaps even more important ways, members of the department bring their interdisciplinary interests to their English courses, addressing such areas as the relationship between English literature and literature in other languages; literature and the other arts, sciences, history and philosophy; and the nature of literary language. In short, our concern is the place of a work of literature in the culture of its time - and in ours - and with literature not only as a passive reflector, but as an active moulder of culture.
As well as examining our cultures in the broadest sense, the study of English also focuses on training students to think and write critically.