Bachelor of Arts: English Major (4-Year)

Number of credits required from Athabasca University: 30 credits.

Maximum credit awarded in this program for prior learning through Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR ) processes: 9 credits.

Program Learning Outcomes

As a result of completing this program, students should be able to

• show examples of original thinking related to the discipline.
• show evidence of breadth and scope of awareness of diverse approaches to knowledge.
• appropriately relate practice and/or lessons to the goals of the degree or discipline.
• show some insight into ethical questions, with discussion of the elements of solutions, their sources, and qualities of evidence for their resolution.
• conduct independent research with some complexity and depth.
• demonstrate knowledge of the history of English literature.
• analyze the traditional literary genres and the ways in which they are constructed and deconstructed.
• demonstrate an understanding of the multiplicity of “Englishes” in the post-colonial, postmodern world, and an understanding of the global dispersal of the language and literature.
• exhibit strong planning and organizing skills.
• show familiarity with disciplinary knowledge sufficient to wield it with confidence and discrimination.
• show insight into relationships among applicable theories and concepts as well as their connection to disciplinary practices and/or other disciplines.
• use the tools, mechanisms and processes of critical thinking consciously and systematically.
• produce organized, systematic and dependably sound written work related to the discipline.
• demonstrate understanding of and use logical arguments in a systematic and coherent way.
• accurately integrate data, research and insights from related disciplines.
• demonstrate knowledge of detailed historical and developmental data related to one or more specialized areas within the discipline.

Possible Career Options

• Writer, Technical Playwright, Novelist, Poet
• Journalist
• Editor
• Publisher
• Proofreader
• Copywriter
• Film/Television producer
• Civil/Foreign Service
• Project Manager
• English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher
• Researcher

Possible Further Education Options

At Athabasca University

• Master of Arts – Integrated Studies (MAIS)
• Master of Business Administration (MBA)
• Master of Education in Distance Education (MEd)
• Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Distance Education Technology
• Master of Counselling (MC)
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Counselling

At Other Educational Institutions*

• graduate studies in English/interdisciplinary studies
• library science
• journalism
• Law
• social work
• police studies
• education: bachelor/master
• English as a second language (ESL) teacher training

* Entrance requirements vary among educational institutions. It is the students’ responsibility to research the entrance requirements of other educational institutions.

Updated March 25, 2009