Fall 2026-2027 Graduate Courses

Dr. Julia Polyck-O'Neill, ENGL 7003: Trends in Contemporary Critical Theory

Mondays 1100-1400

 

 

 

Trends in Contemporary Critical Theory 

 

Contemporary Critical Thought: Theory and Practice: This course engages in an examination and analysis of contemporary critical thinking and reading, drawing from both theory and practice as it applies to literatures and related areas of inquiry. Students will develop a familiarity with major and minor movements in critical literary thought and reading as it circulates in this contemporary moment, with an eye for the current and historical events, movements, and critical genres that generate the trajectory of the scholarly, activist, and creative thinking undertaken now. The practical application of theory is central to this course.

 

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Dr. Robert Ormsby, ENGL 7105: Shakespeare Across Media

Wednesdays 1000-1300

 

 Image: John Singer Sargent, Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth (1889). London, Tate Gallery.

 

Shakespeare Across Media

 

Shakespeare’s writings and life story have been re-worked in literature, film, and theatre for over four centuries, turning him into England’s “national poet.” By exploring works mostly from the twenty-first century, this course will examine how the cultural authority that comes with the status of such singular authorship is spread across many media and shared among many agents, including actors, directors, adaptors, writers, and spectators across the globe. We will also consider the theory that someone else authored the works attributed to the man from Stratford-upon-Avon and ask what it means to say that Shakespeare didn’t write Shakespeare. Throughout the course, we will be concerned with questions of originality and copying, the relationship between biography and writing, and the intercultural reception and perpetuation of “Shakespeare.”

 

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Dr. Lisa Moore, ENGL 7208: Writing the Political Novella

Tuesdays 1000-1300

Image credit: Lisa Moore

 

Writing the Political Novella

 

We will explore how the social and political pressures of the present moment touch down in the lives of our fictional characters, and how even the smallest antagonisms – for example: losing a bus pass; or being victim of a renoviction;  getting on the wrong side of a new manager; the necessity of thwarting unwanted sexual attentions in the workplace – might provoke a vertiginous slide down the slope of relative stability to crushing precarity. On the other hand, we will also explore how individuals exercise agency against neoliberal forces, global capitalism and environmental desecration. We will reckon with the notion that plot is character; and character is plot, a tango of society demanding conformity and silence from the individual and the individual fighting back. At the same time, we will question the novella form and experiment with all its possibilities. We will fashion tension as calibrated as a combination lock; as radical as spreading the seeds of an invasive plant with roots that can crack through concrete next to an AI centre. And, we will ask how the length of a story affects our understanding of the unfolding of time. We will explore the politics of time: how it is bought and sold; who gets leisure time; what it means to be cast out of the community shaped by the punch clock. And we will focus on how the creation of point of view differs according to the length of a narrative, the allotted pages of a novella, as opposed to a poem, short story, or novel.  We will ask: what are the attributes of a novella, and how a compact form creates rhythm through unevenly distributed attention. And how concentrated attention is a form of bearing witness and a political act. And how many points-of-view can be jammed into this relatively short form, or how many angels fit on the head of a pin? To do all this exploration, we will read some very great novellas and discuss how they work, written by the likes of Kim Thuy, Miriam Toews, Melissa Barbeau, Otoniya J. Okat Bitek and Claire Keegan.

 

ENGL7099: MA Internship: Application Required

 

Memorial University Press publishes illuminating and diverse research on the North Atlantic region, with topics ranging from Indigenous issues, to energy and the environment, to food security, to fisheries, to folklore. We are currently the only fully-fledged university press in Atlantic Canada, publishing four books a year, as well as the bi-annual scholarly journal Newfoundland and Labrador Studies.

 

Working under the direction of the Managing Editor, the intern will work closely with press staff on editorial, marketing, sales, and administrative tasks related to the production and promotion of our publications, as well as tasks related to the day-to-day operation of the press. The intern will also be in tasked with special projects which may include stand-alone marketing initiatives, industry research, facilitating accessibility of digital books, and backlist digitization. Candidates should have an interest in the publishing industry, and we aim to steer internships towards the interests of the successful candidate.

 

This is an internship opportunity open to students in the English MA program. Work will be performed at the Memorial University Press offices in St. John’s at 297 Mount Scio Road. While access to a vehicle is not a requirement for the position, be advised it can be difficult to get to our office on foot or using public transportation.

 

Qualifications/skills required

 

• An interest in the publishing industry
• Facility with technology and digital environments
• Attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Research skills
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills
• Creativity, energy, and a willingness to learn
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite
• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, etc.) is an asset, though not required
• Experience in marketing, promotion, and content creation is an asset, though not required

 

Duties may include

 

• Manuscript preparation and/or proofreading
• Writing and or/proofreading marketing copy
• Assistance with layout of books/journals
• Communicating with customers, authors, and vendors
• Assistance with journal production
• Assistance with the organization of book sales and special events
• Facilitating accessibility of digital books (writing image alt-text, language tagging, navigation features, links, etc.)
• Creating/augmenting book metadata
• Data collection and data entry
• General administrative tasks as needed (mail handling, filing, scanning, email correspondence, etc.)

 

Application process

 

Internships are competitive placements. Students are awarded them based on grades, and the needs of the organization in question. The Department of English’s Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) assesses students’ eligibility for pursuing an internship.

 

In the first instance, students should submit a 1-2 page statement of interest demonstrating affinities between their academic or career intentions, along with an up-to-date transcript, to Graduate Coordinator, Dr. John Geck (englishgradofficer@mun.ca). After vetting by the GSC, eligible applications will be forwarded to Memorial University Press for consideration.

 

The deadline for submitting statements of interest is September 15, 2026.

 

 

Administrative procedures and assessment

 

The successful candidate will be enrolled in ENGL7099 by the Graduate Coordinator. The internship is unpaid, but the candidate is awarded a course credit (along with a “pass” grade) upon its successful completion. As soon as the intern is selected, they should meet with the Graduate Coordinator to ensure their familiarity with the Department’s internship guidelines.

 

The student is required to submit a monthly report (of approximately 2 pages each, single-spaced) to the Graduate Coordinator. These reports provide detailed reflection on the learning experiences involved in the internship and how these experiences complement or call into question lessons from the student’s previous courses.