MA in English and Film Studies: Studies in Gender, Nation, Media
Laurier’s redesigned Master of Arts (MA) in English and Film Studies offers courses and faculty expertise in English literature and global cultures, film and media studies, and professional skills.
Students develop their theoretical, critical and communication skills through analysis and research, and are also given an opportunity to put their knowledge into practice in course assignments that have real-world applications, as teaching assistants in the department, and in an optional Professional Skills Option placement in the spring term. Students undertaking the Major Research Paper option have the opportunity to customize their degree work according to their area of interest under the supervision of one of our dedicated faculty members.
Works studied in our graduate seminars include fiction, film, poetry, autobiography, drama, graphic narratives, digital and visual media, travelogues and essays.
Ideas relevant to our fields of study include gender, representation, aesthetics, narrative, adaptation, memory, identity and genre. Our faculty have a diverse range of research expertise in areas such as global culture, periodical culture, music, memory, animation, gaming, youth, ecocriticism and catastrophe, crime and violence, human rights, media history, life writing and diaspora.
The program encourages students to apply their critical thinking and communication skills in concrete situations, through practical assignments and projects such as organizing debates and class colloquia, and by producing conference papers, chapbooks, book and film reviews, author interviews, blogs, reports and media releases.
The department offers graduate courses in both English literature and film studies. Each student has the flexibility to choose an area of concentration: either a single focus on English literature or a combined focus on English literature and film studies.
Program Structure
Students have the option of completing their MA in an intensive eight-month degree (course work only), or a one-year degree consisting of course work with either a Major Research Paper or a Professional Skills Option. The degree is also available for study on a part-time basis.
The MA and Beyond
Our department takes great pride not only in the accomplishments of our students while they are in our program but also in the productive, successful and fulfilling careers they build after they have graduated from our program.
Indeed, those of our graduates who wish to pursue a career in academia are very successful in winning external awards and scholarships, as well as securing a place as doctoral candidates in leading PhD programs across the country. Those who pursue careers beyond the academy prove how versatile and highly valued the MA in English and Film Studies continues to be in a rapidly changing and increasingly competitive global job market.
Our graduate students have launched successful careers in the publishing industry, education and government, the media and entertainment industry, the information technology sector, law, journalism, the business sector and much more. Examples of work found by our graduates include: acquisitions editor for a university press, CBC researcher, professor in English, sales and marketing representative, public relations coordinator, and high school teacher.