Aaron Donachuk of U of T (aaron.donachuk@mail.utoronto.ca) and Zubin Meer of York University (zubinmeer@yahoo.com) have organized a new, joint-university reading group! The Novel Theory Group aims to meet roughly once a month to discuss an instance of “novel theory” broadly defined. They have already looked at Lukacs’s Theory of the Novel and plan to tackle next Robert Scholes and Robert Kellogg’s The Nature of Narrative. Future contenders  may include: Auerbach’s Mimesis, Bakhtin’s Dialogic Imagination, Forster’s Aspects of the Novel, Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism, Goldmann’s Towards a Sociology of the Novel, Hagg’s The Novel in Antiquity, Iser’s The Implied Reader, McKeon’s Origins of the English Novel, Moretti’s Way of the World, or Watt’s Rise of the Novel.  If you’re interested in joining, contact either Aaron or Zubin.

Professor Elizabeth Harvey will be hosting two-hour stress management workshop on March 1 in JHB 100A starting at 3:00 pm.  Professor Harvey, as well as being a world-renowned Early Modern scholar, is also a certified yoga instructor and has recently begun her own wellness practice.  Professor Harvey is well-versed in the stresses and demands of graduates students, having served as graduate chair of the department in the mid-2000s.  Please join us for what will no doubt be one of the most beneficial GEA workshops of the year!

The University of Toronto’s talented and award-winning creative writing students have access to this program-specific room to work in and collaborate with other members of the program.  Unlike the other study rooms, JHB 816 is only accessible through a key, which MA CW students can obtain from the department secretary.

On our first GEA meeting of the year (on September 16 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm in JHB 719) there will be a number of positions within the GEA open for nomination.  For a brief description of each position and its duties, consult our Non-Executive Positions page.

An updated GEA – Year at a Glance 2011-2012 has been uploaded.  Important changes to the orientation schedule include:

1)      The GEA tours are returning to Tuesday, September 6 at 1:00 to 4:00 pm
2)      The Fellowships meeting is on Wednesday, September 7 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm in JHB 616–not on September 8.

A revised schedule is now attached.  In addition to the rescheduling above, the following changes have been made:

1)  The GEA’s Applying for Permanent Residency workshop has been cancelled.
2) A special MA-only workshop on preparing your PhD application is now scheduled for Thursday, October 27 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.
3) Information on these semester’s Brown Bag Lunch series contributors has been added.  Contributors include: Randy McLeod, Julie Mehta, Rosemary Sullivan, Garry Leonard, Michael Cobb, Esther de Brujin, and Larry Switzky.
4) The GEA’s “MA: Writing Your First Research Paper” workshop scheduled for November 3 has been cancelled.

Completing a graduate degree can be extremely taxing, and students should be careful not to create unnecessary stresses or difficulties for themselves.  If you require accommodations or have any accessibility concerns, or even if you suspect that issues may come in the course of your studies, it’s very important that you contact U of T’s Accessibility Services as soon as possible.

Accessibility Services provides students with a documented disabilities (be it physical, sensory, a learning disability or a mental health condition) with temporary or long-term support.  The University of Toronto is committed to accessibility; however, these services can be more difficult to obtain if an issue arises and no prior documentation exists, so students should be proactive in contacting the organization.