Welcome from the Chair
Greetings from the Chair
Welcome to the Department of English at Simon Fraser University. Whether you are contemplating undergraduate or graduate studies or seeking employment with us, I hope you find the information on this website useful and informative. Our Department offers a comprehensive program of undergraduate and graduate study leading to the BA, BA (hons), MA and PhD degrees. We are one of the largest and most dynamic departments in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, with 35 regular faculty members, some 600 undergraduate majors, 200 minors, 60 graduate students and course offerings across the complete spectrum of English studies of some 170 courses per year at our Burnaby, Harbour Centre and Surrey campuses. We also offer comprehensive distance education courses, a Writer in Residence Program, and provide cooperative learning opportunities.
Faculty members in the English Department have amassed an outstanding record of teaching and scholarship. Our Department has won more Excellence in Teaching Awards than any other department in the University and an impressive number of Dean’s Medals for academic excellence. Over the last five years, faculty members have published nearly 40 books, with more forthcoming in the next year. We publish regularly in prestigious journals in our field. Included in the external honours our faculty have received are Governor General’s Awards, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada awards, Killam Fellowships, and major grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We have been undergoing unprecedented renewal, with fully half of our Department members coming to us in the last 10 years. We have been exceedingly fortunate in attracting so many superb young colleagues from an international pool of applicants. Ours is an exciting Department, characterized by care and intellectual challenge.
If you want to deepen your knowledge of great books and challenge your ability to respond to them, if you want to discover writers who open new worlds to you, if you want to refine your research and critical thinking abilities, if you want to develop your talent to write cogently and creatively, then English at SFU might just be the place for you. We are proud of our graduates and invite you to join their ranks. Our knowledgeable and helpful support staff would be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Betty Schellenberg, Professor and Chair
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