English Department Expands Course Options
Tyndale’s English Department is undergoing some changes--changes that will give students more options while keeping the heart of a program that has produced graduates such as Amy Gabriel.
Since graduating from Tyndale in 2010, Amy has attained an MA in Political Science from the University of Toronto and is Assistant Director, Program Management and GTA Services for The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. “Not only did I become a better writer, I believe I also became a better speaker through my study of words, language, and poetry. Such communication skills are important assets in many areas,” says Amy. The changes being implemented in the English program are designed to enable more students to go on to succeed like Amy.
To better reflect the content of the courses, Survey of English Literature I & II has been renamed Introduction to Literature: Western Classics I & II. These courses will continue to survey literature from the Greek, Roman, Medieval, and Renaissance periods and into the Modern era.
Also, two new courses have been added to provide a genre-based approach to literature. Introduction to Literature: Fiction will survey important short stories and novels while Introduction to Literature: Poetry and Drama will give students a survey of those forms of literature.
Any two of these four introduction courses will fit well into Tyndale’s “Shaping of the Western Mind” sequence. This distinctive sequence is six courses—two in each of the three disciplines of History, Literature, and Philosophy—that may be taken during a student's first year. Using an interdisciplinary approach, students are given a solid foundation in Western thought and shown the interconnectedness between historical events, philosophical ideas, and literary works.
In addition to these course changes, Dr. Kathleen Patchell and Ann Wesson Garau will be guest professors, filling in during Dr. Scott Masson’s sabbatical. Ann Wesson Garau, a PhD student at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto will be teaching Creative Writing and Introduction to Literature: Fiction in the fall semester. She comes to Tyndale with an MA in Creative Writing, an M.Litt in Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and an MA (Hons) in English and Medieval History. Dr. Patchell will be teaching Children’s Literature and Introduction to Literature: Poetry and Drama in the winter.