Bachelor of Arts - Honours Arts - English - Literature and Rhetoric

Program Description Students who have a wide variety of interests, Honours Arts gives them the freedom to explore it.

In the University of Waterloo's largest and most flexible first-year program, students will use their first two terms to test the waters. Sample courses from the humanities, social sciences, fine and performing arts, and languages and cultures. Discover subjects students weren’t exposed to in high school, or delve deeper into their favourite subject at the university level.

Honours Arts will give students the critical thinking skills to analyze issues, make persuasive arguments, write well, and speak with conviction — skills that will serve them well along any career path.

For students who love the written word: An English degree at the University of Waterloo gives students all kinds of opportunity to explore that passion, with more than 150 undergraduate courses available in both the regular and co-op streams.

In this stream, students will take rhetoric courses and learn the art of persuasion. Students will focus on digital media, where they will merge the latest technology with enduring principles of effective communication. Or explore the pleasures and insights of English literature, from Beowulf to Virginia Woolf.

At the University of Waterloo, students learn from the best. The Department of English features internationally recognized scholars. In classes, student will develop all-important skills in communication, critical thinking, analysis, and persuasion.

Students will pair their appreciation of great books with the theory of persuasive writing. Students will examine history, professional writing, information design, and digital media to become an effective communicator and storyteller.