Second-year English courses at Langara offer students the opportunity to build on the foundations of literary and rhetorical analysis established in first-year courses while applying a much more specific focus in terms of content. Whether you are planning on getting a degree in English or you just want to take an interesting elective, the course offerings change each semester, so make sure you check back often!
For Creative Writing courses, click here.
All our second-year courses are fully transferable to UBC and SFU. For information about transfer credit and articulation of these courses, please visit the BC Transfer Guide.
For more information, check out the following video, or contact the individual instructors or the English Department Chair.
Download PDF of all Spring 2025 second-year English and Creative Writing courses.
Second-Year Courses for Spring 2025
ENGL 2222: Classical Literature in Translation
Come discover a world of myth, epic adventures, and dark tragedies (plus much more) as we explore Olympus, the ancient Mediterranean, and the underworld. This course offers a wide variety of Greek and Roman texts (at no cost!). Foundational concepts like the Hero, Women, Worship, War, and Sexuality will be special themes served up to students hungry to learn about where today’s Western traditions come from, why they’ve developed, and how they’ve changed.
Instructor: Alex Grammatikos agrammatikos@langara.ca | Monday/Wednesday 16:30 - 18:20
View Course Outline | Register for ENGL 2222 (CRN: 10493)
ENGL 2223: English Literature to 1680
Battle monsters (Beowulf), the medieval church (Canterbury Tales), jealousy (Othello), and the devil himself (Paradise Lost) in this glorious romp through 800 years of English literature.
Instructor: Tanya Lewis tlewis@langara.ca | Monday/Wednesday 10:30 - 12:20
View Course Outline | Register for ENGL 2223 (CRN: 10494)
ENGL 2224: English Literature from 1680 to 1900
This course introduces students to major works of literature and to the historical and aesthetic movements from which they came, starting with the Restoration of 1660 and ending in the late nineteenth century. Together, we’ll discover some strange solutions to social problems with Jonathan Swift, laugh at the lifestyles of the rich and famous with Alexander Pope, play matchmaker with Jane Austen, develop new relationships with nature with the Romantics, and explore the formation of identity with Charles Dickens. Note: ENGL is not a prerequisite for this course; students may take ENGL 2224 before, after, or at the same time as ENGL 2223.
Instructor: Noel Currie ncurrie@langara.ca | Tuesday/Thursday 10:30 - 12:20
View Course Outline | Register for ENGL 2224 (CRN: 10495)
ENGL 2225: Canadian Literature
In a country so vast and varied in its people and geography, it’s no surprise that Canadian literature reflects a wide range of styles and perspectives. In this survey course, students will read literature on topics such as the human relationship to the land and the environment; the lives of Indigenous, settler, immigrant, and diasporic peoples; and the ways in which identities are negotiated at the intersection of history, the present, race, gender, sexuality, and more. Ranging from the 19th to the 21st centuries, the works will include poetry, short stories, novels, and non-fiction.
Instructor: Aubyn Rader arader@langara.ca | Tuesday/Thursday 16:30 - 18:20
View Course Outline | Register for ENGL 2225 (CRN: 10496)
ENGL 2235: American Literature
This course is a survey of American literature, spanning the Early National period (1780-1830) to the present. We will use the phrase “the old, weird America” (coined by Greil Marcus in reference to the Anthology of American Folk Music) as a point of access for considering the peculiarity—that is, both the uniqueness and the strangeness—of U.S. history and literature. We will place particular emphasis on the ways that emergent communication technologies (print, telegraphy, radio, television, the internet, etc.) have both mediated connections and sown dramatic, sometimes violent divisions between people throughout the history of the republic.
Instructor: Sean McAlister smcalister@langara.ca | Tuesday/Thursday 14:30 - 16:20
View Course Outline | Register for ENGL 2235 (CRN: 10497)
ENGL 2237: Children's Literature
This course examines the transformation of children’s literature by examining a variety of genres, including nursery rhymes, fairy tales, illustration, Disney films, and short novels. From the dark and playful aspects of fairy tales to the Golden Age of children's literature to modern children’s classics, we’ll wander the literary landscape of childhood together. The course will take a variety of approaches, including historical, sociological, psychological, and literary.
Instructor: Erin Robb erobb@langara.ca | ONLINE ASYNCHRONOUS
View Course Outline | Register for ENGL 2237 (CRN: 10499)
ENGL 2530: Real Reels: Exploring Myth & Reality in the Biopic
Do Thursday movie nights sound appealing? Come discuss biopics – films about real people and actual events – one evening a week. We will screen the lives of historical figures, witness the creativity of musical, film and visual artists, and view stories of true crime, scandal, and heroism. As we watch, we will consider how biopics perpetuate stereotypes and build on mythologies and archetypes; how actors cosplay into award season; and how the line between fact and fiction is increasingly thin, as social media sleuths dox the real people behind the characters. Possible films for study include The Passion of Joan of Arc, Badlands, Sid and Nancy, Malcolm X, Goodfellas, Ed Wood, Marie Antoinette, Loving Vincent, I Tonya and Oppenheimer; meta-biopics like May December, Close Up and Four Daughters; and series episodes from Baby Reindeer, The Crown and Under the Bridge. Let’s explore how close a life in pictures can come to one that is lived.
Instructor: Jacqueline Weal jweal@langara.ca | Thursday 18:30 - 21:50
View Course Outline | Register for ENGL 2530 (CRN: 10503)
ENGL 2226: Writing Lives 2: The Indian Residential School Survivors Memoir Project
In the second half of Writing Lives (English 2286), students who have already taken English 2226 (Writing Lives 1) will meet with Elders who attended residential school to interview them about their experiences. Students will then transcribe those interviews and collaborate with the Elders to write their memoirs. Students will learn about interviewing techniques, memoir-writing, and will participate in a closing ceremony where the memoirs are given to the Elders and their families. This is a life-changing opportunity to learn from community members and to participate in creating a culture of reconciliation. Note: Only students who are currently taking ENGL 2226: Writing Lives 1 are eligible to register for this course.
Instructor: Jill Goldberg jgoldberg@langara.ca | Wednesday 18:30 - 21:50
View Course Outline | Register for ENGL 2226 (CRN: 11206)
Second-Year Courses for Summer 2025
ENGL 2224: English Literature 1680-1900 | Sandra Friesen | sfriesen@langara.ca
ENGL 2225: Canadian Literature | Tiffany Johnstone | tjohnstone@langara.ca
ENGL 2237: Adaptations | Sean McAlister | smcalister@langara.ca
ENGL 2430: Film Through Theory: 2SLGBTQIA+ | Mono Brown | mmbrown@langara.ca
Second-Year Courses for Fall 2025
ENGL 2223: English Literature to 1680 | Tanya Lewis | tlewis@langara.ca
ENGL 2225: Canadian Literature | Joanna Clarke | jclarke@langara.ca
ENGL 2233: Children's Literature | Erin Robb | erobb@langara.ca
ENGL 2234: Literature from a Feminist Perspective | Erin MacWilliam | emacwilliam@langara.ca
ENGL 2237: Video Games | Greg Holditch | gholditch@langara.ca
ENGL 2430: Film Through Theory: Psychoanalysis | Marc Acherman | macherman@langara.ca
ENGL 2266: Writing Lives I | Jill Goldberg | jgoldberg@langara.ca
Second-Year Courses for Spring 2026
ENGL 2222: Classical Literature in Translation | Erin Robb | erobb@langara.ca
ENGL 2223: English Literature to 1680 | Ciara Lawlor | clawlor@langara.ca
ENGL 2224: English Literature 1680-1900 | Sandra Finlayson | sfinlayson@langara.ca
ENGL 2233: Imagining Otherwise | Jonathan Newell | jnewell@langara.ca
ENGL 2235: American Literature | Sean McAlister | smcalister@langara.ca
ENGL 2530: Horror Films | Mono Brown | mmbrown@langara.ca
ENGL 2286: Writing Lives II | Jill Goldberg | jgoldberg@langara.ca