Master of Arts (MA)
| Program | Components | Expected Duration |
| MA in English | Thesis | 16 to 24 months |
| MA in English | Coursework | 12 months |
UBC Okanagan’s Master of Arts (MA) degree in English provides students with the theoretical and practical tools necessary for advanced study in literature and culture.
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.
This graduate program concentrates in literary studies and the concept of place. How have writers engaged with various places, from the Okanagan Valley to postcolonial contexts? How does place intersect with markers of social difference such as race and gender? How can environmental literature contribute to sustainability? These questions will be addressed through place-based and experiential learning opportunities, as well as in traditional classrooms.
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.
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 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 series. See Graduate Courses for details.
English 501 Critical Theory: This course introduces students to the discourses of Critical Theory that address literature and culture. Exploring the interdisciplinary roots of Critical Theory in philosophy, linguistics, aesthetics, political science, cultural studies, feminism, and history, this course examines the ways in which knowledge is something that is produced rather than a pre-given entity to be found or “discovered.”
English 503 Professionalization Seminar: The Practices of the Profession: This team-taught course will involve modules on a variety of topics related to professional and academic development. Students will learn research methods, how to conduct archival research, participate in a marking practicum and discussions regarding pedagogies pertaining to their duties as Teaching Assistants. Students will learn proposal-writing skills that will assist in the creation of applications to granting agencies or future professional/degree programs. 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 501 Methodologies: Critical Theory | Dr. Marie Loughlin
This course is structured as a survey of the most important movements in critical theory, an approach which we will use to consider the development of this interdisciplinary field as a sometimes-heated conversation about a variety of topics, including (but not limited to) language, representation, identity, sexuality, power, subjectivity, history, desire, embodiment, colonialism, race, and ethnicity. In the course of our analysis of theorists as varied as Butler and Barthes, Freud and Foucault, we will trace the influence of a wide body of ideas and methodologies, examining in particular their productive intersections and disagreements. Thus, the course begins by considering the disputes that have surrounded the use of critical theory in various disciplines, and then moves through the various schools of critical theory, allowing (for example) students to examine the writings of Marx and those of more recent critics who have built upon his work directly, before looking at critical theories like New Historicism, which rely more indirectly upon this work. Obviously, the course aims to help students develop an understanding of these theories and theoretical schools, but also to critique them, and in the end to use them as useful tools in their own critical practices.
ENGL 503 Practices in the Profession and Teaching of Literary Studies and Related Disciplines | Dr. George Grinnell
The first half of this course is designed to provide learners with core skills in teaching. 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 emphasize the profession’s expectations, practices, and responsibilities including presenting work at conferences, publishing, preparing research proposals, creating professional CVs, and developing research skills.
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 522M The Flash-Based Archive of Interactive Documentary in Canada: Update or Die | Dr. Daniel Keyes
This course focuses on a few of the 41 interactive documentaries [idocs] produced by the National Film Board of Canada [NFB] on the Adobe Flash platform between 2008 and 2014 during Stephen Harper prime ministerial era in federal politics (2006-2015). These Adobe Flash-based idocs like Gods’ Lake Narrows (2011), Welcome to Pine Point (2011), Soldier Brother (2011), Bear 71 (2012), Similkameen Crossroads (2013), Fort McMoney (2013-14), and Bubble Dancers (2014) offer glimpses into how this institution shaped representations of Canada for Canadians to access on their computers and smart phones. Sometime in 2020, Adobe promises it will remove all support for its hacker vulnerable Flash player, meaning these idocs will be inaccessible. This course explores issues relating to this disappearing archive of “new” old media.
ENGL 522H The Politics of Children’s Fiction | Dr. Margaret Reeves
This course examines the relationship between concepts of innocence and cultural, racialized, and gendered identities in fictional works written for and about children. Central to this examination is a critique of “childhood” as an idea or concept that is socially, culturally, and historically constructed, as well as the argument, proposed by Jacqueline Rose, that the concept of children’s fiction rests on an “impossibility.” The focus, then, is not on real children and their experiences, but rather on the ideas of childhood that have been constructed within Western culture, and how those ideas shape and are shaped by fiction written for and about children.
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 523P Canadian Environmental Writing: Writing the Okanagan | Dr. Greg Garrard
A new course on the representation of the Okanagan Valley in Canadian literature, including Indigenous authors. We will look at this place through a literary lens, and look at novels and poetry from the perspective of dwellers and settlers of this place.
ENGL 525H Canadian Studies: Reconciliations | Dr. Lisa Grekul
With focus on a selection of Canadian literary texts which engage with “dark chapters” of Canadian history (including the residential school system, the Chinese Head Tax, the internment of Canadians during the First and Second World Wars, and the so-called “60s Scoop”), this course examines the role that literature plays in ongoing processes of decolonization and reconciliation. Our analyses of the required readings—drawn from the genres of fiction, drama, creative non-fiction, and the graphic novel—will be informed by both public discourse and multi-disciplinary scholarship on Canada’s long track record of genocide and officially-sanctioned/institutionalized racism. Lectures and class discussions will address overarching questions about the extent to which the past has passed as we consider ongoing tensions between the official rhetoric of Canadian multiculturalism and the lived experiences of minoritized Canadian citizens.
ENGL 522C Victorian Novel | Dr. Oliver Lovesey
English 522C, The Victorian Novel, traces major developments in the novel genre in the 19th century from the work of Charles Dickens to that of Thomas Hardy. The course considers the Victorian novel in formal terms and also in relation to its historical, cultural, and critical contexts.
ENGL 522A Graphic Memoir | Dr. Melissa Jacques
The focus for this course will be the graphic memoir. More specifically, we will focus on graphic medicine, an emerging subgenre of the graphic memoir that focusses on health and wellness, broadly conceived. One of the most exciting aspects of this subgenre is that it is inherently interdisciplinary, bringing together epistemological, methodological, formal, and aesthetic concerns from a range of disciplines including literature, art, graphic design, life writing, psychology, medicine, and trauma theory. Therefore, in addition to the tentative list of primary texts listed below, we will read relevant secondary materials in these disciplines. The central aim of the course is to interrogate graphic medicine as a genre that forces readers to both engage in and exceed traditional “literary” or “cultural” approaches by focussing on such things as visual rhetoric, the therapeutic potential of texts, the force of the figurative in medical discourse, and the force of the visceral or material in literary discourse.
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.
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.
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.
