English - Cultural Studies Major Concentration (B.A.) (36 credits)
Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 36
Program Description
The Cultural Studies option concentrates on analysis of forms of cultural expression and symbolic interaction, and of the various media through which these may be disseminated and transformed. Such study concerns symbolic form, aesthetically based forms of analysis, and the various modes of criticism and theory relevant to media which contain both verbal and non-verbal elements. The aim is above all to hone students' analytical and interpretive skills while introducing them to specific critical approaches to cultural studies. This is not a major in journalism or communications; and while many of our graduates go on to do creative work in a variety of media, instruction in film and video production is not part of the curriculum.
For the most up-to-date information on Department requirements and detailed course descriptions, please see the English Department Handbook at http://www.mcgill.ca/english/.
Degree Requirements — B.A. students
To be eligible for a B.A. degree, a student must fulfil all Faculty and program requirements as indicated in Degree Requirements for the Faculty of Arts.
We recommend that students consult an Arts OASIS advisor for degree planning.
Degree Requirements — B.A. & Sc. students
This program is offered as part of a Bachelor of Arts & Science (B.A. & Sc.) degree.
To graduate, students must satisfy both their program requirements and their degree requirements.
- The program requirements (i.e., the specific courses that make up this program) are listed under the Course Tab (above).
- The degree requirements—including the mandatory Foundation program, appropriate degree structure, and any additional components—are outlined on the Degree Requirements page.
Students are responsible for ensuring that this program fits within the overall structure of their degree and that all degree requirements are met. Consult the Degree Planning Guide on the SOUSA website for additional guidance.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (9 credits)
These courses should be taken in the first two terms of the program.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 275 | Introduction to Cultural Studies. | 3 |
Introduction to Cultural Studies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A survey of cultural studies, its history and subject matter, presenting key interpretive and analytic concepts, the aesthetic and political issues involved in the construction of sign systems, definitions of culture and cultural values conceptualized both as a way of life and as a set of actual practices and products. | ||
| ENGL 277 | Introduction to Film Studies. | 3 |
Introduction to Film Studies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to key concepts in film studies. Exemplary works from the history of film will be studied to introduce students to such topics as the aesthetics of film; sound's production of meaning; film as narrative; film and genre; period and national cinemas; film's role in culture. | ||
| ENGL 359 | The Poetics of the Image. | 3 |
The Poetics of the Image. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course examines contemporary debates about the aesthetic dimensions as well as social roles of pictorial, theatrical, cinematic, and other representations, the meanings, effects, and aesthetic significance of which depend on their having visually recognizable features. | ||
Complementary Courses (27 credits)
27 credits selected as described below.
Note on Topics Courses: The Department of English offers courses which change topic from academic year to academic year. Depending on the topic in a specific year, these courses may count toward different program requirements. At the time they register for a topics course, students should confirm with their program adviser the program requirement it fulfils for that academic year.
Major Figures
3 credits from a list of courses on Major Figures in Cultural Studies:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 315 | Shakespeare. | 3 |
Shakespeare. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A study of the major works of Shakespeare. | ||
| ENGL 381 | A Film-Maker 1. | 3 |
A Film-Maker 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Studies in the history of film: the works of a major director. Topic varies each year. | ||
| ENGL 418 | A Major Modernist Writer. | 3 |
A Major Modernist Writer. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Intensive study of a writer important for Modernism, such as James Joyce, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein. | ||
| ENGL 444 | Studies in Women Authors. | 3 |
Studies in Women Authors. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of a particular topic related to literary, dramatic, or cultural productions by female-identified authors. | ||
| ENGL 481 | A Film-Maker 2. | 3 |
A Film-Maker 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Studies in the history of film. | ||
Canadian Component
3 credits from a list of courses in Cultural Studies with a Canadian component:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 393 | Canadian Cinema. | 3 |
Canadian Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A study of Canadian cinema. | ||
| ENGL 440 | First Nations and Inuit Literature and Media. | 3 |
First Nations and Inuit Literature and Media. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to Inuit and First Nations literature and media in Canada, including oral literature and the development of aboriginal television and film. | ||
| ENGL 441 | Special Topics in Canadian Cultural Studies. | 3 |
Special Topics in Canadian Cultural Studies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced study of a specific area of Canadian culture or Canadian cultural theory. | ||
Theory or Criticism
3 credits from a list of courses on Theory or Criticism:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 317 | Theory of English Studies 1. | 3 |
Theory of English Studies 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Philosophical approaches. | ||
| ENGL 318 | Theory of English Studies 2. | 3 |
Theory of English Studies 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Socio-Historical approaches. | ||
| ENGL 319 | Theory of English Studies 3. | 3 |
Theory of English Studies 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Cultural theory now. | ||
| ENGL 322 | Theories of the Text. | 3 |
Theories of the Text. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A course focusing on textuality (as opposed to, say, intentionality and interpretation) and on how specific effects are made - how texts work and produce meaning, including rhetoric and form. | ||
| ENGL 346 | Materiality and Sociology of Text. | 3 |
Materiality and Sociology of Text. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Writing, printing, distribution, marketing, and placement within canon-making institutions; the influence of material forms of production and transmission on the creation and reception of literature, film, and theatre. | ||
| ENGL 352 | Theories of Difference. | 3 |
Theories of Difference. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to a selection of theories that have influenced thinking about difference across the humanities and social sciences, including gender, sexuality, race, class and hierarchical structures, language, religion, ethnicity, and personal identity. | ||
400-Level Theory
3 credits from a list of 400-level courses in Cultural Studies with a theoretical component.
Historical Dimension
6 credits from a list of courses in Cultural Studies with an historical dimension:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 350 | Studies in the History of Film 1. | 3 |
Studies in the History of Film 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Developments in proto-cinema and early cinema through the silent era. | ||
| ENGL 351 | Studies in the History of Film 2. | 3 |
Studies in the History of Film 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Developments in the Hollywood Studio Era, including rivals, imitators, and alternatives. | ||
| ENGL 363 | Studies in the History of Film 3. | 3 |
Studies in the History of Film 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Developments in post-1958 cinema, from the European New Waves to contemporary global and independent cinemas. | ||
| ENGL 374 | Film Movement or Period. | 3 |
Film Movement or Period. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of a significant movement or period in film history. | ||
| ENGL 444 | Studies in Women Authors. | 3 |
Studies in Women Authors. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of a particular topic related to literary, dramatic, or cultural productions by female-identified authors. | ||
| ENGL 451 | A Period in Cinema. | 3 |
A Period in Cinema. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth examination of a significant historical period in cinema's development, early silent era to present. | ||
| ENGL 480 | Studies in History of Film 1. | 3 |
Studies in History of Film 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Studies in the history of film. | ||
Additional Cultural Studies
9 additional credits from the option's offerings which includes all the courses specifically listed in the Cultural Studies categories above and the courses listed below. Any ENGL course not on these Cultural Studies lists, such as courses in Literature, may not count toward the Major Concentration English - Cultural Studies.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 280 | Introduction to Film as Mass Medium. | 3 |
Introduction to Film as Mass Medium. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to film's social, historical, and technological contexts, including its relationships to other mass media. | ||
| ENGL 354 | Sexuality and Representation. | 3 |
Sexuality and Representation. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Topics on representations of sexuality with reference to its cultural contexts. | ||
| ENGL 366 | Film Genre. | 3 |
Film Genre. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A discussion of an individual genre of cinema; concept of genre. | ||
| ENGL 378 | Media and Culture. | 3 |
Media and Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An introduction to the study of television and its distinctive aesthetic, generic, and discursive features. | ||
| ENGL 379 | 3 | |
Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. | ||
| ENGL 380 | Non-Fiction Media: Cinema, Television, Radio. | 3 |
Non-Fiction Media: Cinema, Television, Radio. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Historical, formal, and thematic analysis of non-fictional and documentary works within cinema, television, and radio. | ||
| ENGL 382 | International Cinema 1. | 3 |
International Cinema 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Studies in the history of film by period or nation. Topic varies by year. | ||
| ENGL 383 | Studies in Communications 1. | 3 |
Studies in Communications 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Studies in the relationships between the media and culture. | ||
| ENGL 385 | Topics in Literature and Film. | 3 |
Topics in Literature and Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A topic in literature and film. Topics vary by year. | ||
| ENGL 388 | Studies in Popular Culture. | 3 |
Studies in Popular Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. History and development of important forms of popular culture. Topics may include traditional ballads; fairs; carnivals and popular festivity; material culture; popular fiction; mainstream television. | ||
| ENGL 389 | Studies in Popular Culture. | 3 |
Studies in Popular Culture. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. History and development of important forms of popular culture. | ||
| ENGL 390 | Political and Cultural Theory. | 3 |
Political and Cultural Theory. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The intersection between theories of culture and theories of society. | ||
| ENGL 391 | Special Topics: Cultural Studies 1. | 3 |
Special Topics: Cultural Studies 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Current issues in cultural studies. Topics will include contemporary debates on high culture and the literary canon, and the question of aesthetic value and aesthetic judgment. | ||
| ENGL 395 | Cultural and Theatre Studies. | 3 |
Cultural and Theatre Studies. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The relationships between theatre and forms of popular culture, including but not limited to cinematic and televisual adaptations of theatrical works. | ||
| ENGL 476 | Alternative Approaches to Media 1. | 3 |
Alternative Approaches to Media 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of alternative uses of contemporary media with particular emphasis on the forms of independent video and community television and their relationship to mainstream television and film. | ||
| ENGL 482 | International Cinema 2. | 3 |
International Cinema 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Intensive study of a particular tradition or movement in international cinema. | ||
Other Departments
Students are normally permitted to count 6 credits from other departments toward their English programs. In exceptional circumstances, an adviser who is approached by a student with strong academic grounds for including a third such course may grant permission (to a maximum of 9 extra-departmental credits) and must so indicate in advance by signing the departmental program audit sheet.