These English courses are still accepting registrations for Winter Term 2!
Experience the fantastic literature of the late Middle Ages, learn about the connections forged by travel and translation in the Global South, or dive deep into Canadian environmental writing with one or two of these courses. They are sure to enrich your learning, broaden your understanding of a different time period and culture, or open your eyes to issues that you’d never heard of before.
Medieval Romance (ENGL 344-001)
The quests, bloody heroics, and thwarted love affairs of medieval romance have survived into modernity, but the fantastic literature of the late Middle Ages still contains many strange surprises: kings kiss werewolves, girls become men and father children, women cook and eat their own babies. In studying the courtly literature of the late Middle Ages, we will ask how medieval romances chronicle the lethal racial fantasies of the Crusades, police the borders between human and animal, represent trans masculinity and gender fluidity, and respond to other genres of medieval literature. Readings include Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Silence, and works by Chrétien de Troyes, Marie de France, and Chaucer. Some readings will be in the original Middle English. This course is taught by Mo Pareles.
The course will proceed through a mix of asynchronous activities (discussions and materials on Canvas) and synchronous (real-time) meetings in our designated time slot.
You Cannot see the Forest for the Trees: Environmental Writing in British Columbia (ENGL 394-001)
Trees and their associated ecosystems have been integral to Canada in general and British Columbia in particular. The “forest sector” has, and continues to be, a major economic driver in this province and has contributed to its prosperity. However, in the face of climate change, natural resources such as forests are under ever more increasing threat. Environmental activists are fighting to protect BC’s forests, and, on the literary front, the burgeoning field of ecocriticism is addressing these concerns. Taught by Alexander Hart, this course delves into Canadian environmental writing! Readings include John Vaillant’s The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness and Greed (2006) and Harley Rustad’s Big Lonely Doug: The Story of One of Canada’s Last Great Trees (2018).
