School of Humanities

School of Humanities

Welcome to English

English has long held a central place in education. To study English is to learn the history of the English language and the importance of literature in our culture. The skills learned in studying English – the close reading and careful analysis of texts, the ability to write clearly and concisely, and the ability to both make and critique arguments – are essential to success not only in education, but also in a wideI'm feline like a good read range of work environments. Even more importantly, English studies promote an active engagement with cultural values. That is to say, our discipline encourages us to examine accepted truths, to question and test them as part of our everyday work. By doing so, we foster open debates about power, knowledge, and identity. It's our firm conviction that such debates are crucial to the ongoing process of developing a culturally diverse society. Like other subjects in the Humanities, English studies help us to think about what it means to be human, and to understand the cultural and natural environments we inhabit.

Who are we?

As a programme we are made up of three basic groups, all of whom are indispensable: teachers, students, and administrative staff. Nor is it unusual for teachers to learn from students and administrative staff, who in turn learn from teachers and each other. In other words, we are interlinked in the process of learning, and we depend on each other as we work together towards our common goal – the pursuit of knowledge.

 News and Features

UC CEISMIC will be holding a mini-conference on Wednesday 5 June in order for UC CEISMIC Contestable Fund recipients to report back on their research progress. A timetable may be found here: Timetable (Word, 35KB). We hope you are able to attend some or all of the sessions.

The Wounded Brick screens on the 25th of May 2013 at 6pm CPIT, DL lecture theatre, Madras Street.
It is an Austrian-made film examining the city and people of L'Aquila, Italy since a 6.3 magnitude earthquake destroyed the city in 2009. This film screening is supported by the Goethe-Institut New Zealand (www.goethe.de/nz), CPIT, and the Christchurch Centre for Architecture.

Creative Writing in 2013
Note that ENGL 118 Creative Writing: Skills, Techniques and Strategies will now not be offered in 2013.
However, you may enrol in ENGL 220 Creative Writing: Short Fiction in Semester 2, 2013, if you have one of the following prerequisites: 15 points of ENGL at 100-level with a B pass, or 30 points of ENGL at 100-level, or any 45 points from the Arts Schedule.