Welcome

The Department of English, located on Treaty Six territory and traditional Métis homeland, offers a full range of graduate degrees. We value place, people, and community, and we support our students in their growth as writers, researchers, and teacher-scholars through a close-knit and collegial atmosphere.

Our M.F.A. in Writing program offers individualized mentoring that has facilitated award-winning creative work. Our Master’s programs prepare students for further academic study while developing broadly transferable professional skills, as evidenced by graduates who work as publishers and editors, learning specialists, and communications specialists. Our Ph.D. graduates have become faculty members at institutions such as the University of Kansas and Vancouver Island University, as well as research facilitators, lecturers, and writers-in-residence.

Our Programs

The M.A. program offers a project-based option as well as a thesis-based degree, through which students complete course work and research and write an article-length paper or engage in a more extended study. The Ph.D. program requires students to complete course work, fulfil a language requirement, and pass the Field Examination, and to propose, research, write, and be examined on a book-length dissertation. Where the M.A. program is normally one to two years' work, the Ph.D. takes a minimum of four. In a fifth year, Ph.D. students are encouraged to apply for a Teacher-Scholar Doctoral Fellowship, to further develop their professional skills.

Areas of Concentration

In addition to traditional, period-based literary studies, the Department of English cultivates innovative interdisciplinary research with concentrations in:

  • Indigenous Literature
  • Digital Studies
  • Modernist Studies
  • Canadian Literature
  • Cultural Studies

Research Opportunities

Our students have benefited from the opportunity to work as Research Assistants on a diverse range of award-winning research projects. Current projects include: 

  • Women of the Apocalypse: Writing the End of the World in Canada (Wendy Roy, Canadian Literature)
  • The Social Network of Early Modern Collectors of Curiosities (Brent Nelson, Digital Studies)
  • Topographies of Literature in 18th-century London, A Social Edition (Allison Muri, Digital Studies)
  • The Canterbury Tales Project and the Textual Communities Project (Peter Robinson, Digital Studies)

For more information, see our Recent Research Awards.

In the past, students have worked on projects such as:

Students also benefit from other research opportunities, such as those connected to the Digital Research Centre, which supports a number of digital projects including the Modelling and Prototyping Team led by Jon Bath of the Implementing New Knowledge Environments project.

See our Graduate Supervisors page for a full list of faculty who can supervise M.A. or Ph.D. projects in a range of specializations.

Teaching Excellence

The Department of English has a reputation of teaching excellence: our faculty and our graduate students have received numerous awards recognizing innovative, engaging, student-centred pedagogy. We are committed to ensuring that our graduate students gain authentic teaching experience in their degree programs, supported by faculty mentors and by the resources of the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning. Teaching Assistantships enable Master’s and Doctoral students to lead weekly tutorials and grade first-year work with faculty supervision. Graduate students are also employed as tutors through the University Library’s Writing Centre. Our upper-year Ph.D. students are strongly encouraged to apply for the Teacher-Scholar Doctoral Fellowship, a competitive university award that sees students engage in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning before leading their own course.

Funding

All students accepted into the M.A. and Ph.D. programs are automatically considered for funding. The Department of English combines Scholarships with Research Assistantships, Teaching Assistantships, or Writing Centre Assistantships in larger funding packages, supporting both academic work and transferrable professional skills. Ph.D. students in good standing are guaranteed funding of at least $20,000 each year for four years. Outstanding M.A. students may be offered a funding package of at least $17,500 for one year. M.F.A. in Writing students may be offered Teaching Assistantships and are also eligible for a number of departmental scholarships and awards.

Scholarships

The CGPS 75th Recruitment Scholarship, created to celebrate the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies' 75th anniversary, is open to high-performing graduate students. Students do not have to apply directly for this scholarship; they are eligible to be considered upon applying to a USask graduate program.

  • Value: $10 000 or $20 000 (may be offered for multiple years)

Indigenous Graduate Leadership Awards are open to Canadian Indigenous students at the Master's and Ph.D. level who demonstrate leadership through active community engagement and/or involvement.

  • Master's: $20 000 per year for two years
  • Doctoral: $25 000 per year for two years

Dean’s Doctoral Scholarships are open to both domestic and international students who have outstanding academic records, show research promise through publications and academic presentations, and are entering or continuing their doctoral studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

  • Value: $24 000 per year for two years

All eligible graduate students are expected to apply for SSHRC Doctoral and Master's Fellowships, at $40,000 and $27,500 respectively.

  • The College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies will provide an additional $6,000 for a student who has been awarded a CGS-M (Master’s) SSHRC Fellowship and $7500 for a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship.

For more information about funding see Graduate Funding in the Department of English and the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Graduate Student Funding page. Students entering and currently enrolled in graduate programs are strongly encouraged to seek other scholarships, bursaries, and prizes offered by the University of Saskatchewan via the Graduate Awards database.

Tuition

For information on student tuition and student fees, see the University of Saskatchewan’s Graduate Tuition Rates.

Travel Funding

Graduate students are encouraged to present their work at conferences and to support their academic trajectory through travel to archives and other resources within and beyond Canada. There are several sources through which students can be funded for research trips and for conference travel. See Travel Funding for more information.

English Course Council

The ECC is the Department of English’s graduate student organization and offers a vibrant social community as well as an important voice on departmental policy and decision making. Graduate student representatives are elected by the English Course Council to serve on the department’s Undergraduate Committee, the Graduate Committee, and the Faculty Committee, as well as on the Graduate Students’ Association. In addition, the ECC elects a representative to ACCUTE, the Association for Canadian College and University Teachers of English, a national organization that links Master’s and Doctoral students to their colleagues across Canada.

Applications and Registration

For application protocols see Department of English Applications & Registration.

For application forms see the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies page on the Application Process.

For online registration instructions see the University’s Classes and Registration site, which includes a link to registration deadlines.

International Students

Information for prospective students from outside Canada can be found at the U of S International Students page.

Living in Saskatoon

For information about the city see Tourism Saskatoon. See also the “Arrival” section in the CGPS Grad Hub page.

Rules, Regulations, Policies

For more detailed information about the administration of graduate programs at the University of Saskatchewan see the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website and, especially important, the CGPS Policies and Procedures document.