Graduate Program
We offer a world-class graduate program in English at both the MA and PhD levels, in an English department consistently ranked as one of the best in the country. Recent unit reviewers of our department quoted graduate students as saying, "this is where you come if you want to do innovative work", and we think that speaks well to what we endeavor to offer our graduate students. A lively and collegial department, we host a number of visiting speakers each year, who help make this an exciting place to study. Recent visitors have included Patricia Yaeger, Zacharias Kunuk, Lucia Nagib, Judith Halberstam, Rosemary Hennessy, Lauren Berlant, and Anne Cvetkovich. Nobel poet laureate Derek Walcott will be in residence and teaching from 2009 through 2012. We also host many creative writers throughout the year, who together with the writers visiting the Canadian Literature Centre make the department particularly vibrant. Our CRC in Cultural Studies, Imre Szeman, together with Heather Zwicker, Faculty of Arts Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) and Kitty Scott, Director of Visual Arts at the Banff Centre have together established the Banff Research in Culture Institute, a new residency program designed for scholars engaged in advanced theoretical research on themes and topics in culture. Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty, and practicing artists from across Canada and beyond will convene at The Banff Centre to pursue their work – and, ideally, to incubate new collaborations and creations – for three weeks in the spring. This year's residency is On the Commons; or, Believing-Feeling-Acting Together, and led by Lauren Berlant, Michael Hardt, and Pedro Reyes. Our graduate program offers funding that is among the best in Canada, and includes research and teaching assistantships, scholarships, fellowships, and travel bursaries for graduate students to present papers at conferences and undertake archival research.
The U of Alberta is one of the most affordable places to study at the graduate level: Cost of Living Comparison Chart
What it's like to live and study here:
David, an EFS PhD student
Libraries
Housing
Edmonton
An active Graduate Students of English Collective (GSEC) makes students feel at home and gives them a voice in Department decision-making; graduate students have ten seats on the Department Council as voting members. We regularly offer workshops to those seeking academic jobs or postdoctoral fellowships, as well as arranging mock interviews.