English - Cultural Studies Minor Concentration (B.A.) (18 credits)
Offered by: English (Faculty of Arts)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 18
Program Description
The Minor Concentration English - Cultural Studies may be expanded to the Major Concentration English - Cultural Studies.
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/.
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 (6 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. | ||
Complementary Courses (12 credits)
12 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. | ||
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. | ||
Additional Cultural Studies
6 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 Minor 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 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 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. | ||