English Language and Literature

Offered by Queen’s since 1942, the PhD in English is designed to foster the scholarly development of our students; we prioritize mentorship, professionalization, and intellectual exchange while maintaining an abiding excitement about our students’ autonomous programs of research. The department is small enough that students get to know our faculty, yet large enough to boast faculty expertise in all major historical periods and a wide array of critical methodologies for literary study.

Students are assigned a faculty mentor upon entry into the program and provided the opportunity via the “Publishing Practicum” to develop a paper for potential publication by the end of their first year of study. Opportunities for professional and pedagogical development proliferate throughout the program, including participation in departmental colloquia, funded conference travel for graduate students, and the potential to teach a course in fourth year. Graduates of our doctoral program have remarkable rates of success in securing tenure-track appointments and can be found in broad spectrum of rewarding careers throughout the knowledge economy.

• Introduction to Professional and Pedagogical Skills I and II
• Topics in Medieval Literature: King Arthur: Medieval to Modern 
• Topics in Early Modern Literature: The Classical and the Popular in Renaissance Drama
• Topics in Restoration and 18th Century Literature: The Whole Show
• Topics in Victorian Literature: The “Other” Body in Victorian Literature
• Topics in Modernism: Literature and Culture of the Spanish Civil War
• Topics in Canadian Literature: “Carrying the Burden of Peace”—Exploring Indigenous Masculinities through Story
• Literary Internship
• Publishing Practicum
• Topics in Medieval Literature: Introduction to Old English Language and Poetry
• Topics in Early Modern Literature: Practical Criticism—Close Reading the Renaissance
• Topics in Restoration and 18th Century Literature: Samuel Richardson and the Rise of the Novel
• Topics in Romantic Literature: Austen and Her Contemporaries
• Topics in Victorian Literature: Victorian Vampires
• Topics in Canadian Literature: Incarcerating Indigenous Peoples: Cultural and Political Perspectives
• Topics in Canadian Literature: Alice Munro
• Topics in American Literature: Black Lives Matter—African-American Culture and Politics
• Topics in Romantic Literature: Thomas De Quincey
• Topics in Contemporary Literature: The Refugee Crisis—Migration, Human Rights, and the Meaning of Citizenship

Requirements

• Successful completion of a research Master's degree 
• Letter of Intent
• Writing Sample. 15 pages maximum (including bibliography), preferably from your chosen research area
• For international students, if required, a TOEFL total score of at least 627(paperbased) or TOEFL iBT minimum scores of 109. Applicants must have the minimum score in each test as well as the minimum overall score.
• Two Official Transcripts from each post-secondary institution attended
• Two current academic recommendations are required from professors under whom the applicant has recently studied.
• IELTS (International English Language Testing System) - score of 7 on the academic module
• Pay the non refundable application fee on-line (currently $105 CDN).

Want to improve your English level for admission?

Prepare for the program requirements with English Online by the British Council.

• ✔️ Flexible study schedule
• ✔️ Experienced teachers
• ✔️ Certificate upon completion

📘 Recommended for students with an IELTS level of 6.0 or below.

Enroll in the course

Scholarships

• Basic Funding Package (teaching and research assistantship, internal fellowships, bursaries and incremental growth).minimum $18,000; most students receive between $18,000 and $22,000 per year
• Queen’s Graduate Awards (QGA)
• Graduate Entrance Tuition Awards (GETA)
• International Tuition Awards (ITAs)
• Conference Travel Awards