Bachelor of Arts: English Literature

Throughout my degree, I explored science, language, and history. I originally attended the University of Calgary for a physics/education joint degree. However, due to the differences of math and science standards between the United States and Canada, I transferred to English. I studied literature from the last thousand years, from Beowulf and Canterbury tales in their original languages, to contemporary Canadian literature.

Physics

I spent the first three semesters of university studying physics, algebra, and biology. But after transferring, I still did two semesters of astronomy and one semester of energy physics. Astronomy covered, basically, the physics of the cosmos, from gravity and planetary motion, to mapping the stars outside of our solar system. Energy physics was largely focused on practical, and sometimes political applications of physics and the impact of energy sciences on society.

Arabic

As a second language requirement, I opted into the university’s first Arabic classes; part of their new Arabic Language and Muslim Civilizations department. I took two semesters of Modern Standard Arabic, which has greatly helped my reading and pronunciation, as well as my ability to parse Arabic words and phrases with Arabic resources. Afterwards, I took one semester of Arabic linguistics to understand the geographical and historical differences of language within the Arab world. My research for this class was around the regional pronunciation of the hamzah (ء) in both Arabic and it’s unmarked equivalent in American and Canadian English. In addition to these Arabic classes, I also joined a Muslim literature class which explored the stories of Muslim women in various contexts around the world, although all those texts were in English.

Special Topics

I was able to spend three semesters studying high-level special topics in science fiction, humor, and comics. Two of my works were submitted for the Kaleidoscope Award which recognizes creative and critical literary works from Calgary. One was an analysis of Samuel Beckett’s fourth-wall interplay and its affects on the audience. The other was a 71-page comic book on mental health, which was also submitted to Princeton’s graphic medicine department.