World Literature and History Joint Major
This inter-departmental program explores various relationships between world literature and historical studies. Interested students must plan their program in consultation with both department advisors, and should consult Guidelines for Course Selection which is available from each department.
Program Requirements
Students complete 120 units, as specified below. Students are moreover required to satisfy the prerequisites of all courses (upper and lower division) that are taken within this joint major and should consult regularly with the program advisors regarding course selection.
Lower Division Requirements
History
Students complete 18 units of 100 and 200 level History courses.
Students must complete at least nine lower division History units before enrolling in upper division work.
World Literature
Students complete 15 units. This includes one of
Explores how texts resonate in other cultural contexts, influence foreign traditions, and become works of world literature. Breadth-Humanities.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Mark Deggan |
May 8 – Aug 4, 2017: Thu, 12:30–2:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D101 |
May 8 – Aug 4, 2017: Thu, 2:30–3:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
|
D102 |
May 8 – Aug 4, 2017: Thu, 3:30–4:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Examines international migrancy, cultural identities, or cross-cultural influence in world literatures, while introducing the fundamentals of literary analysis and expository writing. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
Introduction to the study of literary texts from diverse linguistic and cultural origins. May examine the literature of cross-cultural interaction, or compare texts through thematic topics. Breadth-Humanities.
and one of
Surveys pre-modern texts of world literature. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
Surveys poetry and prose from the seventeenth century to the present, with a focus on the literary exploration of issues of humanity. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
plus
and one of
Explores the relationship between Eastern and Western narratives. The focus may include the mutual influence of Eastern and Western cultural traditions and modernities, the construction of the 'East' in the West and of the 'West' in the East, theories of Orientalism and Occidentalism, and forms of East/West syncretism. Prerequisite: Three units in World Literature or three units of B-Hum designated courses. Breadth-Humanities.
Explores how European traditions have influenced and engaged the cultures of the global 'South'. The focus may encompass the cultures and counter-cultures of empire and globalization and the 'tropicalization' of European genres and cultural forms under the influence of artists from Africa, Latin-America, and South Asia. Prerequisite: Three units in World Literature or three units of B-Hum designated courses. Breadth-Humanities.
Examines a diversity of world literature concerning human rights. May focus on writing in the face of political oppression, censorship, political and economic displacement, terrorism and/or warfare. Prerequisite: Three units in World literature or three units of B-Hum designated courses. Breadth-Humanities.
Plus one additional three unit lower division course in World Literature
Upper Division Requirements
History
Students complete 24 units of 300 and 400 level history courses, of which 12 must be in 400 level. Students complete at least one course from each group as shown below. [See Appendix for the list of courses in each group]
World Literature
Students complete a minimum of 20 upper division WL units including both of
Explores the counterpoint of Western and non-Western approaches to world literature. May draw from disciplines including comparative literature, history and anthropology, and focus on how concepts of world literature are imported into new cultural contexts. Prerequisite: 12 units in World Literature, including WL 200.
Examines scholarly and other professional styles of writing about literature, focusing on representative genres, approaches and practices through a selected topic in world literature. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units in World Literature. Writing.
and any of
Explores cultural expressions of sameness and difference in an age of globalization and its discontents. May focus on transnational expressions of secularism and faith or of the metropolis and suburbia, or on forms of cross-pollination in world literature, cinema and music. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Explores the culture of peoples and individuals displaced by force or migrating by choice. May focus on the plight of refugees in the work of playwrights, essayists and novelists, on the work of emigre artists in different cultural traditions, or on a comparison of the literary cultures of exiles and emigres. Prerequisite: 45 units. Breadth-Humanities.
Explores wisdom literature, poetry, or the resonance of faith in secular world literatures. May focus on cross-cultural mystical quests, secular re-castings of narratives of faith and conversion, or the interplay of the religious and the secular in comparative supernatural literatures. Prerequisite: 45 units. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
A comparative approach to literary romanticisms and romantic texts. Prerequisite: 45 units. Breadth-Humanities.
Explores the cultures of imperialism in a cross-continental and comparative framework. May focus on chronicles of discovery, moments of colonial contact, critiques of empire, and the imperial engagement with pre-conquest cultures. Prerequisite: 45 units. Breadth-Humanities.
Explores post-imperial notions of culture and universality, tradition and modernity, or nation and cosmopolis. May focus on narratives of independence, postcolonial self-fashioning, and imperial nostalgia. Prerequisite: 45 units. Breadth-Humanities.
Intermediate seminar on selected literary texts in relation to their social, historical, cultural, or theoretical contexts. Prerequisite: 45 units.
and at least one of
Explores the discovery, resonance, and/or influence of ancient literature and culture. May focus on the role and poetics of ancient cultures in modern writing. Prerequisite: 60 units including two 300-level courses in World Literature, English, or Humanities.
Explores early modern literature across cultures. May compare Eastern and Western texts or focus on the cross-cultural influence of a single genre or author. Prerequisite: 60 units including two 300-level courses in World Literature, English, or Humanities.
Explores the mutual constitution of modernity in North and South. May focus on modernism and its enemies, case studies of alternative modernities, or the pre-modern in discourses of the modern and anti-modern. Prerequisite: 60 units including two 300-level courses in World Literature, English, or Humanities.
Explores works of contemporary world literature in the second half of the twentieth century. May focus on the postmodern as a response to the modern, on prevalent postmodern genres, or on the postmodern engagement with developments in philosophy, science, and the media in East and West. Prerequisite: 60 units including two 300 level courses in World Literature, English, or Humanities.
Explores the translation of texts into new cultural contexts, their reception, and the theory and practice of literary translation. May compare several texts or focus on a single work that has been reconceived in several cultures. Prerequisite: 60 units including two 300 level courses in World Literature, English, or Humanities. Writing.
Advanced seminar on a topic in World Literature. Prerequisite: 60 units including two 300 level courses in World Literature, English, or Humanities.
Independent study of literature in a language other than English. Prerequisite: ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV by permission of the instructor and department.
Independent reading and research on a topic selected in consultation with the supervising instructor. A research essay is required. Prerequisite: Two 100 level World Literature courses, two 200 level World Literature courses, and two 300 level World Literature courses. Reserved for World Literature honors, major, and minor students. ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV is by permission of the instructor and Director.
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Degree Requirements
For all bachelor of arts (BA) programs, students complete 120 units, which includes
- at least 60 units that must be completed at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV
- at least 45 upper division units, of which at least 30 upper division units must be completed at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV
- at least 65 units (including 21 upper division units) in Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences courses
- satisfaction of the writing, quantitative, and breadth requirements
- an overall cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and upper division CGPA of at least 2.0, and a program (major, joint major, extended minor, minor) CGPA and upper division CGPA of at least 2.0
Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements
Students admitted to ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements for university-wide information.
WQB Graduation Requirements
A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit
Requirement |
Units |
Notes | |
W - Writing |
6 |
Must include at least one upper division course, taken at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV within the student’s major subject | |
Q - Quantitative |
6 |
Q courses may be lower or upper division | |
B - Breadth |
18 |
Designated Breadth | Must be outside the student’s major subject, and may be lower or upper division 6 units Social Sciences: B-Soc 6 units Humanities: B-Hum 6 units Sciences: B-Sci |
6 |
Additional Breadth | 6 units outside the student’s major subject (may or may not be B-designated courses, and will likely help fulfil individual degree program requirements) Students choosing to complete a joint major, joint honours, double major, two extended minors, an extended minor and a minor, or two minors may satisfy the breadth requirements (designated or not designated) with courses completed in either one or both program areas. |
Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit
The University’s residency requirement stipulates that, in most cases, total transfer and course challenge credit may not exceed 60 units, and may not include more than 15 units as upper division work.
Elective Courses
In addition to the courses listed above, students should consult an academic advisor to plan the remaining required elective courses.