English - Cultural Studies Joint Honours Component (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
Students who wish to study at the Honours level in two Arts disciplines may apply to combine Joint Honours program components from two Arts disciplines. For a list of available Joint Honours programs, see "Overview of Programs Offered" and "Joint Honours Programs". Applications to do a Joint Honours program in English and another subject in the Faculty of Arts should be submitted once a minimum of 9 credits, and no more than 18 credits, have been completed in English. There are normally two possible application dates for Joint Honours in English: either by the end of January (by which time first-term courses are completed and the grades are available), or at the same time as the Honours application date, typically in mid-April. (Only students who will have completed more than 18 credits in English by the end of January may apply in the Fall.) Applications will be considered by the Department's Honours Committee on the basis of the student's program GPA, at a minimum of 3.50. The application form is available in the Department's General Office (Arts 155), and the specific submission requirements are described by that form.
The maintenance of a 3.50 program GPA is required for continuation in Joint Honours. Graduation with Joint Honours requires a minimum CGPA of 3.00, a minimum program GPA of 3.50, and a minimum mark of B+ on the Honours Essay. Graduation with First Class Joint Honours in English requires a minimum CGPA of 3.50, a minimum program GPA of 3.70, and a minimum mark of A on the Honours Essay.
Each academic year, there is a special adviser for Joint Honours students, and the receptionist in the General Office can provide their name and contact information. The Department's website http://www.mcgill.ca/english/ provides additional information on the Joint Honours program and applications, and this website should also be consulted prior to contacting the Adviser.
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.
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)
| 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.
In addition to the 6-credit requirement for Advanced Study described below, all Joint Honours students' programs of study shall include 6 credits of study at the 400 level or above. Students are encouraged to take courses at the 300 level and above. In addition to the Advanced Study requirement, 3 of the remaining 21 Complementary Course credits must be completed at the 500 level. A maximum of 9 of the 27 credits are allowed at the 200 level, none in the final year of the program.
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.
Advanced Study
6 credits of advanced study, in one of the following two forms A or B, in order of preference:
A) 6 credits of honours essay:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 491D1 | Honours Essay. | 3 |
Honours Essay. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Supervised research essay on an approved topic. | ||
| ENGL 491D2 | Honours Essay. | 3 |
Honours Essay. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Supervised research essay on an approved topic. | ||
B) Two 3-credit 500-level courses selected in consultation with the student's adviser(s).
(In very rare cases, a third alternative may be approved at the discretion of the Joint Honours Adviser, but only when it is formally recommended for the joint subject according to the description of that Joint Honours program found in the Arts section of the Course Catalogue. For example, Joint Honours with Anthropology allows the option of combining 3 credits of essay work with 3 credits in the joint subject to create a joint essay.)
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 409 | Studies in a Canadian Author. | 3 |
Studies in a Canadian Author. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced study of a significant author in Canadian literature. | ||
| ENGL 416 | Studies in Shakespeare. | 3 |
Studies in Shakespeare. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A study of the works of Shakespeare. | ||
| ENGL 417 | A Major English Poet. | 3 |
A Major English Poet. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A study of the works of a mahor English poet. | ||
| 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. | ||
| ENGL 516 | Shakespeare. | 3 |
Shakespeare. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A seminar on the works of Shakespeare. | ||
Theory
3 credits from a list of courses on Theory:
| 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. | ||
Historical Dimension
3 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. | ||
400-Level Theory
3 credits from a list of 400-level courses in Cultural Studies with a theoretical component:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| 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 454 | Topics in Cultural Studies and Gender. | 3 |
Topics in Cultural Studies and Gender. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Current studies focusing on the gendered dimensions of cultural life, including the production and reception of mainstream, avant-garde, and alternative cultures. | ||
| ENGL 479 | Philosophy of Film. | 3 |
Philosophy of Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Philosophical approaches to and topics in the study of cinema. | ||
| ENGL 483 | Seminar in the Film. | 3 |
Seminar in the Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth study of a topic related to film. Topic varies by year. | ||
| ENGL 484 | Seminar in the Film. | 3 |
Seminar in the Film. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth study of specific topics related to the film, which vary from year to year. | ||
| ENGL 489 | Culture and Critical Theory 1. | 3 |
Culture and Critical Theory 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Intensive study of advanced theoretical topics in the study of culture. | ||
| ENGL 490 | Culture and Critical Theory 2. | 3 |
Culture and Critical Theory 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Intensive study of advanced theoretical topics in the study of culture. | ||
| ENGL 492 | Image and Text. | 3 |
Image and Text. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Study of the relationship between verbal and visual aspects of a range of cultural artifacts. Topics may include iconography; illuminated manuscripts; book illustrations; cartoons and caricature. | ||
Departmental Offerings
9 additional credits of English (ENGL) courses, preferably courses at the 300 level or above.