Master of Arts (MA)
| Program | Components | Expected Duration |
| MA in English | Thesis | 16 to 24 months |
| MA in English | Coursework | 12 to 16 months |
UBC Okanagan’s Master of Arts (MA) degree in English provides training in the theory, methods, and practice of literary studies in English. The program emphasizes a theme of place and its importance to culture and literature in both present and historical perspective.
Graduates will be prepared for PhD research and a variety of professions that value strong communication skills and a facility in writing and textual analysis—such as education, law, public administration, journalism, professional writing and editing, publishing, consulting, digital content creation, technical writing, and marketing.
The MA involves coursework and independent publishable research driven by student interests and supported by attentive supervision. Our mission is to train students to be successful scholars, who are capable of contributing important literary and cultural knowledge, both within our field and the culture at large.
The English MA graduate program concentrates in literary studies and the concept of place. How is “place” comprehended? How have writers engaged with various places, from the local, such as the Okanagan Valley, the unceded, ancestral territory of the Syilx people, to the global in postcolonial contexts? How does place intersect with markers of social difference such as race and gender? How can environmental literature contribute to sustainability? How does literature intersect with the constitution of bodies, identities, histories, spaces and places. These questions will be addressed through place-based and experiential learning opportunities, as well as in traditional classrooms.
To complete the thesis option MA in English, students are required to take 30 credits:
Students are required to take core courses that are taught every year as well as courses chosen from the English 520 and 530 series. See Graduate Courses for details.
To complete the coursework option MA in English, students are required to take 30 credits:
Students are required to take core courses that are taught every year as well as courses chosen from the English 520 and 530 series. See Graduate Courses for details.
English 501 Methodologies: Critical Theory: This course examines critical and cultural theory and how it informs current practices of research.
English 503 Practices in the Profession of Literary Studies and Related Disciplines: Introduction to the profession’s expectations, practices, and responsibilities. Pass/Fail
The following courses will be taught based on faculty research interests and expertise. They will be offered on the basis of faculty rotation. We will offer at least four per year and content will change annually. All courses will align with the following rubric.
ENGL 521: Topics in Historical Periods and Movements
ENGL 522: Topics in Genre Studies
ENGL 523: Topics in National/International Literatures and Culture
ENGL 524: Individual Author Studies
ENGL 525: Studies in Diversity and Identity
ENGL 531: Place and Power
ENGL 532: Culture and Location
ENGL 533: Narrating Place
ENGL 501 Methodologies: Critical Theory | Dr. Melissa Jacques
This course is a survey of critical theory. In the first week, students will get a crash course on the field we call critical theory. The goal is to understand the origins of the field before we enter into the debates that attend particular themes, movements, and applications of theory from the early twentieth century to the present. The syllabus covers what have become “canonical” theoretical paradigms, such as structuralism, Marxism, feminism, deconstruction and postcolonial theory. What we will find, as we move through the course, is that theorists rarely contain their thinking to discrete themes, positions, movements, and influences.
ENGL 503 Practices in the Profession and Teaching of Literary Studies and Related Disciplines | Dr. Aisha Ravindran
The first half of this course is designed to provide learners with core skills in teaching. In coordination with the Centre for Teaching and Learning and FCCS faculty members, sessions will address equity practices, class design, discussion strategies, writing and critiquing exercises, and grading. Students will be given the opportunity to design and deliver short lessons in their field of expertise and will receive constructive feedback on their teaching. At the end of the first five weeks, students who have attended and participated in the sessions will receive the Foundations Certificate for Graduate Teaching Assistants. The second half of the course will familiarize scholars in Literary Studies with the profession’s expectations, practices, and responsibilities. Topics will include the teaching dossier, conference presentations, research strategies, the proposal and thesis/ research project, publication, and employment. The course will also offer information on and encourage attendance at workshops on applying for funding. Class discussions are intended to provide a forum for reflection on the professional opportunities and challenges that exist within graduate studies.
ENGL 521A Posthumanism and Critical Animal Studies | Dr. Jodey Castricano
This course begins from the philosophical position that animals are worthy of serious intellectual and ethical consideration and, thus, a further aim is to attend to how animality and the question of the animal(s) similarly intersect with questions of gender, race, class and ethnicity by introducing students to the necessary intersection of posthumanism and critical animal studies. To this end, we will begin by developing an understanding of the field of posthumanism in relation to critical animal studies, postcolonial and cultural studies and eco-feminist theory. We will then move into the question of the animal and discuss how the relations of hierarchy, domination, and exploitation between humans and animals are systematically reproduced in relations of class, race and ethnicity among humans themselves while keeping before us the plight of actual animals as they are subject to systems of biopower. In addition to materials dealing with posthumanism and critical animal studies, we may be reading literary works which frame the question of the animal in its representational complexity.
ENGL 521B Feminist Forerunners: Early Modern Women’s Literature and Contemporary Theory | Dr. Alison Conway
This course examines foundational feminist writing from two historical periods, taking a comparative approach to writing during the early modern period (from the mid-sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century) in relation to a selection of work of late twentieth and early twenty-first century theory.
ENGL 521E Topics in Historical Periods and Movements| Dr. Margaret Reeves
This course examines advanced topics in seventeenth-century literature and culture. In this section of “Approaches to 17th-Century Literature: Special Topics” we will examine the gendering of political thought in fictional, historical, and philosophical narratives of the early modern period (1500-1700) with a focus on the seventeenth century (1600-1700). We will study how gender inflects some of the core concepts in political thought of this period, such as patriarchalism and royalism, analogies between the family and the commonwealth, republicanism and masculinity, the sexual contract embedded within social contract theory, and the gendering of early modern utopias (including those by Thomas More and Margaret Cavendish). By invoking conventional tools of literary analysis as well as the critical historiographical methods of Hayden White, we will consider the relationship between various forms of political narratives–fictional, poetic, historical, and philosophical–as modes of representation.
ENGL 525K Postcolonial Studies – Humanitarian Life Narratives | Dr. David Jefferess
This course examines the construction of the humanitarian in life narratives, understood broadly to include memoir, documentary biographical film, NGO marketing appeals, fiction, etc. Drawing upon scholarship in life writing, celebrity culture, media discourse, moral philosophy, postcolonial theory, critical race studies, and gender studies, the course focuses on the ongoing legacy of the “white saviour complex”. As a 400 level/graduate course, the course will be participatory, focusing on student-driven analysis, and will provide opportunities to develop skills in collaboration, oral presentation, and discussion facilitation, with options for both scholarly and creative research and communication.
ENGL 532A Culture & Location: Shakespeare and Place | Dr. Sean Lawrence
This seminar will examine the role of place and location in the works of William Shakespeare and the stage and society in which they were presented. The discussion will be framed by a dialogue between the respectively ethical and ontological phenomenologies of Emmanuel Levinas and Martin Heidegger. The course will be divided into three sub-themes, each examining three plays in three weeks: the English popular stage; representations of the world beyond Europe; the erotic landscape. The course has a philosophical focus, but seeks to find points of integration with other critical concerns.
English 501 Methodologies: Critical Theory | Dr. Astrida Neimanis
This course examines critical and cultural theory and how it informs current practices of research. (Required Course)
English 503 Practices in the Profession of Literary Studies and Related Disciplines | Dr. Aisha Ravindran
The first half of this course is designed to provide learners with core skills in teaching. In coordination with the Centre for Teaching and Learning and FCCS faculty members, sessions will address equity practices, class design, discussion strategies, writing and critiquing exercises, and grading. Students will be given the opportunity to design and deliver short lessons in their field of expertise and will receive constructive feedback on their teaching. At the end of the first five weeks, students who have attended and participated in the sessions will receive the Foundations Certificate for Graduate Teaching Assistants. The second half of the course will familiarize scholars in Literary Studies with the profession’s expectations, practices, and responsibilities. Topics will include the teaching dossier, conference presentations, research strategies, the proposal and thesis/ research project, publication, and employment. The course will also offer information on and encourage attendance at workshops on applying for funding. Class discussions are intended to provide a forum for reflection on the professional opportunities and challenges that exist within graduate studies. (Required Course)
ENGL 521A- Posthumanism and Critical Animal Studies | Dr. Jodey Castricano
This course begins from the philosophical position that animals are worthy of serious intellectual and ethical consideration and, thus, a further aim is to attend to how animality and the question of the animal(s) similarly intersect with questions of gender, race, class and ethnicity by introducing students to the necessary intersection of posthumanism and critical animal studies. To this end, we will begin by developing an understanding of the field of posthumanism in relation to critical animal studies, postcolonial and cultural studies and eco-feminist theory. We will then move into the question of the animal and discuss how the relations of hierarchy, domination, and exploitation between humans and animals are systematically reproduced in relations of class, race and ethnicity among humans themselves while keeping before us the plight of actual animals as they are subject to systems of biopower. In addition to materials dealing with posthumanism and critical animal studies, we may be reading literary works which frame the question of the animal in its representational complexity.
ENGL 521C Studies in 16th- and 17th-Century Literature: Special Topics: Same-Sex Relationships in Early Modern England, 1550-1735 | Dr. Marie Loughlin
This course will examine the representation of same-sex erotic desire in early modern England, between approximately 1550 and 1735. This expansive coverage in terms of period allows students to examine groupings of texts in terms of specific social, cultural, and political contexts, ranging from the Reformation to the humanist revival to the ‘birth’ of pornography. Among other issues, we will explore the relationship between same-sex desire, relationships, and erotic acts; the changing nature of early modern sexual identity; the influence of Biblical precedent and the classical tradition in translation; and the shaping effect of genre on representations of the love between men, and the love between women. In terms of the critical work of the last 30 years or so, which has seen signal developments in the study of early modern sexuality and literature, we will consider a variety of debates related broadly to the ‘essentialist’ and ‘social constructivist’ positions in the context of larger theoretical discussion of identity, sexuality, and subjectivity; the nascent discourse of early modern lesbianism; the complex exchange between early modern homophilic and homophobic social discourses and institutions; the profound twinned influence of the humanist revival of the classical past, and the Bible. In these and other contexts, we will consider the critical analyses produced by major figures in the field, such as Valerie Traub, Alan Bray, Jonathan Goldberg, Harriette Andreadis, Rictor Norton, and Kenneth Borris.
ENGL 525B | Gender, Race, Medicine: The Construction of the Hysteric Dr. Maria Alexopoulos
In this course students will think critically about the entanglement of medicine, science, culture, and power, with a focus on ‘hysteria’. Together, we will engage with a diverse range of material including theory, medicine, literature, and film. From witch hunts in Early Modern Europe and colonial North America to contemporary cases of ‘contagious’ mass-hysteria, students will consider the shifting diagnoses, treatments, and representations of hysteria over time, paying special attention to their relationship with constructions of race, gender and sexuality.
ENGL 525A Studies in Diversity and Identity: Reimagining Our Relations | Dr. Allison Hargreaves
This course explores the concept, structure, and practice of settler colonialism, and the role of representation in maintaining, resisting, or transforming settler colonial relations of power in the place we know as Canada. Together, we will explore a variety of cultural texts by differently positioned non-Indigenous and settler writers whose work can help us to re-story dominant myths and reimagine our social relations. In addition to these creative works, we will be reading essays and other forms of critical engagement by key Indigenous thinkers.
ENGL 531A Place and Power | Dr. Allison Hargreaves
This course explores the primacy of place in contemporary Indigenous literatures and theory. Beginning with the premise that “Stories take place,” (Womack 44), the course approaches place not from a thematic or setting-based perspective, but as a methodological precept and philosophical underpinning of Indigenous literary arts.
ENGL 532B Climate Change and Literature | Dr. Greg Garrard
This course reflects on the reasons why science-focused communication about climate change may have had limited impact on public attitudes and behaviors. Students will consider the problems and prospects for fictional exploration of climate change scenarios as a way of mitigating the limitations of the politico-scientific IPCC process. This course will conclude by considering the tension between the global scope of climate change and the affective and cognitive benefits attributed to place-based knowledge of the environment.
ENGL 532C Culture and Location: Contemporary Women’s Writing from South Asia and its Diaspora | Dr. Jennifer Gustar
This course will explore contemporary women’s fiction in English from South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora. The fiction will range from historicized narratives of Partition and the imposition of a colonial solution to Indian Independence, the Radcliffe Line, which remapped the Subcontinent with a
specific impact on women and children and cultural diversity.
The MA degree draws on the expertise of faculty members with national and international publications in every period of English literature from medieval to postmodern.
Our research focus areas include:
The success of UBC Okanagan’s MA in English Program depends on exceptional students.
Please touch base with a faculty supervisor before you start the application process. We look forward to hearing about your research interests and career goals.
FCCS students are significant contributors of artistic and cultural events on campus and off in Kelowna, the Okanagan Valley and beyond. Follow our English program on Facebook to keep up to date on events and connect with our community on campus and beyond.
English Students have participated in digital initiatives on our campus such as Textual Editing and Modernism in Canada and Punk Pedagogy, learning valuable skills and gaining the opportunity to disseminate research and work directly with stakeholders.
Students have also participated in experiential graduate courses that move outside the traditional classroom, sometimes in the local area and sometimes travelling to remote locations such as the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre on Vancouver Island.
We are proud to share our the accomplishments of our alumni who have gone on to many prestigious programs, and have had successes in publications and career opportunities.
Search all UBC Okanagan English student publications at cIRcle, the university’s digital repository for research and teaching materials.
View the FCCS Thesis Defence Flowchart to see the process in scheduling a student’s thesis defence.
Jessica Beaudin joins the MA in English program in the fall of 2021. She completed her undergraduate degree in English Literature at the University of Lethbridge with a focus on Modernist and Contemporary literature. Upon returning from an exchange semester abroad in Magdeburg, Germany she adopted a Great Pyrenees Golden Retriever cross. Her relationship with her dog made her think more deeply about their connection and how they responded to one another when things got tough. This sparked an interest into discussions around posthumanism, critical animal studies, Holocaust theory, and fictional cloning ethics.
Admission to UBC graduate programs is competitive. Applicants must meet the following criteria.
Applicants to the MA in English program are expected to have a BA degree in English.
Applicants are expected to have a standing of a B+ (76%) average or better in their third- and fourth-year classes or at least 12 credits in third- and fourth-year English classes with an A- (80%) or better average.
In exceptional circumstances, a student who has a strong undergraduate record but does not meet the minimal requirements may be allowed to take a qualifying term in the MA English program on recommendation of the FCCS Graduate Program Committee. Further, a student cannot be admitted into the program if a suitable supervisor is not available.
MORE INFORMATION
Visit the UBC Okanagan Academic Calendar* for full admission and program requirements information; the calendar is a comprehensive guide to all programs, courses, services and academic policies at the University of British Columbia.
* In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.
Applicants to the MA in English program are expected to have a BA degree in English.
Applicants are expected to have a standing of a B+ (76%) average or better in their third- and fourth-year classes or at least 12 credits in third- and fourth-year English classes with an A- (80%) or better average. A student cannot be admitted into the program if a suitable supervisor is not available.
Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must present evidence of English language proficiency tests. Test scores must have been taken within the last 24 months.
The requirements for the MA in English program are specific as outlined below and differ from the minimums outlined on the College of Graduate studies web site.
MORE INFORMATION
Visit the UBC Okanagan Academic Calendar* for full admission and program requirements information; the calendar is a comprehensive guide to all programs, courses, services and academic policies at the University of British Columbia.
* In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.
Grades and degree credentials required by UBC vary by country. Search the Required Grades and Credential Guide — a guide to assist international students in estimating their eligibility.
An international student advisor can answer questions about immigration, medical insurance and the transition to UBC’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna, BC. Visit the International Programs and Services website to meet the team.
UBC Okanagan’s tuition and fees compare favourably with universities of the same high calibre.
| Program | Schedule | Domestic (per year) | International (per year) |
|---|---|---|---|
| MA | Full-time | $4,995.78 | $8,776.74 |
Tuition amounts presented here are estimates only and fees are subject to change. For official tuition and fee information, visit the UBC Okanagan Academic Calendar*, a comprehensive guide to all programs, courses, services and academic policies at the University of British Columbia.
Tuition is paid three times a year at the beginning of each term, and on the first day of the term, as per the Academic Calendar: Winter Term 1 (September), Winter Term 2 (January), and Summer Term (May).
* In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.
The Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies is committed to financially supporting our graduate students to the best of our ability and providing a variety of funding options.
Currently, the Faculty can provide up to two years of support for Masters students through a combination of Graduate Entrance Scholarships (GDES), Teaching Assistantships (TAs), Research Assistantships (RAs) and University Graduate Fellowship (UGFs) funding. The specific source of the funding for an individual student will depend on a number of factors and may include a mixture of TA, RA and UGF support.
TAs pay approximately $11,500 annually and we prioritize graduate students for these positions—Masters students have two years of priority for placement. The number of available positions is contingent on Faculty budget and overall student numbers. TA positions are posted online.
RAs are employment opportunities for qualified students offered by faculty members with research grants and contracts. As a paid research assistant, graduate students assist their supervisor or other researchers in conducting high-level research, which often contributes to the student’s thesis or dissertation. RAs are not guaranteed because they follow the financial cycles of the supervisor’s external grants and contracts.
The College of Graduate Studies administers merit-based graduate awards at the Okanagan campus. The College manages a number of award competitions each year and administers payment of all internal awards and selected external awards, including:
Please contact our faculty before starting your application. Admission to the MA English program requires the support of a faculty supervisor as well as meeting program-specific criteria for admission requirements.
A complete application package will contain:
Applying takes time. We recommend you start your application at least two months in advance of published deadlines.
The application deadline of January 15 qualifies MA in English applicants for Graduate Entrance Scholarships. After this deadline, however, applications will still be reviewed for admission.
For full consideration students should submit all application materials by the following:
| Intake | Application Deadline |
|---|---|
| Domestic applicants | |
| September | January 15 |
| International applicants | |
| September | January 15 |
The University of British Columbia is a global centre for research and teaching, consistently ranked among the 40 best universities in the world. In the psychology program at UBC’s Okanagan campus, you gain all the benefits of attending a globally respected university while studying in a close-knit learning community.
UBC’s Okanagan campus borders the dynamic city of Kelowna, a hub of economic development with a population of about 150,000 people—the fourth fastest growing population in Canada. In fact, the Okanagan Valley is rated one of the best communities in Canada to grow your business.
More than 160 buses travel daily from campus to key locations such as Kelowna’s cultural district and thriving downtown waterfront. The campus is two minutes from the Kelowna International Airport, one of the top 10 busiest airports in Canada.
UBC Okanagan is situated within the First Nations territory of the Okanagan Nation, whose spirit of stewardship for the land is reflected in the university’s respect for sustainability.
A diverse natural region with sandy beaches, beautiful farms, vineyards and orchards, and snow-capped mountains, the Okanagan Valley features sweeping stretches of lakeside and endless mountain trails for biking and hiking.
Check out this 360-degree video: Kelowna From Above.*
* Best viewed using desktop Chrome or Firefox (desktop) or YouTube app (mobile).
Full-time UBC Okanagan students can live in residence, which offers modern living with easy access to academic and personal support. Residences are surrounded by hiking and biking trails, plus panoramic views of the campus and valley.
* UBC does not verify or endorse information shared on this third-party website, which is offered here as a public resource only.
Events: See what’s happening with FCCS News & Events, including readings by visiting authors and artist talks, performances, the AlterKnowledge Discussion Series, Film Series, Okanagan Short Story Contest, the popular annual Art on the Line fundraiser, and much more.
Stay Connected: and keep in touch with us, too—by following the FCCS community on Facebook and Twitter. Follow the UBCO Grad community on Twitter and keep up to date with what is happening in the English program.
Stay active: Take advantage of the many opportunities to get involved and play—from workout space in the new Hangar Fitness and Wellness Centre and our 1,561 square-metre gymnasium, to athletic courts, intramurals, fitness classes and nationally ranked varsity athletics. Have a ball in Sports and Recreation.
Relax: The Graduate Collegium is a gathering place where grad students can hang out, eat lunch, spend time with their fellow students, and attend or host special events. The lounge-style room is open seven days and week and is outfitted with comfortable furniture, kitchen facilities, and individual and group-work spaces.
Community: The Aboriginal Centre is a home away from home for all Aboriginal students by providing a sense of belonging and community, a place to catch up, wind down, make lunch, share opportunities and celebrate success.
College of Graduate Studies: Your hub for administrative support and such things as graduate workshops for professional development and for assisting you from the admissions process through to your graduation
Centre for Scholarly Communication (CSC): Supports graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, staff and faculty in disseminating their research. The CSC provides one-on-one consultations and workshops, including writing support for theses, dissertations, journal articles and grant proposals.
Centre for Teaching and Learning: Provides support related to teaching, TA training and use of technology in educational programming.
Learn more about graduate student resources and support in FCCS.
Graduates of the MA English program will be prepared for a variety of professions that value strong communication skills and a facility in writing and textual analysis—such as education, journalism, professional writing, publishing, law, consulting and marketing—or for PhD research.
Map out your future and prepare to hit the ground running with resources and services provided by the Advising & Involvement Centre.
Tell your story with resumé and cover-letter strategies, and search Work Study jobs for experience relevant to your degree and career goals. You can also book an appointment to meet one-on-one with our career advisor.
alumni UBC is a member-driven association that offers a variety of lifetime programming and communications to enrich the lives of UBC graduates.
The ‘Your Next Step’ program offers webinars, speaker series and professional development sessions. It is designed to provide advice, tips and resources in areas of career development to graduates for life after university.
Realize the promise of a global community with shared ambition for a better world and an exceptional UBC.
