Department of English Second-Year English

Mondays & Wednesdays 12:30-14:20 (CRN: 30617)

Instructor: Tanya Lewis | tlewis [at] rstdev3.zyns.com (tlewis[at]langara[dot]ca)

Battle monsters (Beowulf), the medieval church (The Canterbury Tales), envy (Othello), and the devil himself (Paradise Lost) in this glorious romp through 800 years of English literature. Students will learn to understand and appreciate the roots of contemporary literature in English and to express that understanding in articulate written analysis. There will even be an opportunity to perform!

Tuesdays & Thursdays 10:30-12:20 (CRN: 30618)

Instructor: Joanna Clarke | jclarke [at] rstdev3.zyns.com (jclarke[at]langara[dot]ca)

In Canadian literature, you will find rebellious and idiosyncratic voices alongside the myth-builders. In this survey course, we will read a range of historical and contemporary literature on topics such as the human relationship to the land and the environment; the lives of Indigenous, settler, and immigrant peoples; and the ways in which identities are negotiated at the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, and more. Ranging from the 19th to the 21st centuries, the works will include poetry, short stories, novels, and non-fiction.

Tuesdays 18:30-20:50 (CRN: 30619)

Instructor: Jill Goldberg | jgoldberg [at] rstdev3.zyns.com (jgoldberg[at]langara[dot]ca)

English 2237 is the first part of the two classes that make up Writing Lives. In this class, students will study Indigenous literature with an emphasis on learning about the history of colonization and the residential school system. They will hear from guest speakers with lived experience of the Indian Residential School system and will prepare for the second semester when students will interview Elders who attended residential schools with the goal of collaborating with them to produce completed memoirs. It is strongly preferred that students plan to register for both semesters of this transformative class.

Online Asynchronous (CRN: 30660)

Instructor: Erin Robb | erobb [at] rstdev3.zyns.com (erobb[at]langara[dot]ca)

This course examines the transformation of children’s literature by examining a variety of genres, including nursery rhymes, fairy tales, illustration, Disney films, and short novels. From the dark and playful aspects of fairy tales to the Golden Age of children's literature to modern children’s classics, we’ll wander the literary landscape of childhood together. The course will take a variety of approaches, including historical, sociological, psychological, and literary.

Mondays & Wednesdays 10:30-12:20 (CRN: 30620)

Instructor: Erin MacWilliam | emacwilliam [at] rstdev3.zyns.com (emacwilliam[at]langara[dot]ca)

Henry Jenkins (2009) has argued that fandoms are a central part of participatory online culture, where online communities not only consume media, but produce content such as fan fiction. In this course, we will examine this phenomenon through three textual case studies: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813); Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight (2005); and selections from Taylor Swift’s discography (2006-2024), along with related films, fan fiction, and social media texts from Instagram and TikTok. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which fanfiction along with the fandoms/fan communities of Jane Austen (Janeites), Stephenie Meyer (Twihards), and Taylor Swift (Swifties) intersect with ideas of gender and cultural value.

Tuesdays & Thursdays 14:30-16:20 (CRN: 31100)

Instructor: Greg Holditch | gholditch [at] rstdev3.zyns.com (gholditch[at]langara[dot]ca)

In this class, we’ll explore how video games can tell powerful, complex, and emotional stories — just like novels, poems, films, or plays. You’ll learn to “read” games through a critical lens, building the tools to analyze how narrative, design, interactivity, and aesthetics come together to create meaning. We’ll start by developing a framework for understanding storytelling in games, then apply it to a range of titles — from indie titles like What Remains of Edith Finch, Gone Home, and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, to major narrative-driven hits like The Last of Us. Along the way, we’ll ask: How do games shape the way we experience stories? What makes interactive storytelling unique? Note: This course is welcome to all students – from hardened video game veterans to squishy newbies.

Tuesdays & Thursdays 16:30-18:20 (CRN: 30623)

Instructor: Marc Acherman | macherman [at] rstdev3.zyns.com (macherman[at]langara[dot]ca)

In this course, we will investigate psychoanalytic approaches to film interpretation. We’ll consider how such approaches have had a profound impact not only on our understandings of the human mind but also on the development of film as a medium and film studies as a discipline. Topics may include dream analysis, the unconscious and uncanny, voyeurism, desire, repression, and much more. Expect films by directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele, and Greta Gerwig, among others.