Passings Archives - Department of English

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The Department of English mourns the passing of Prof. Marie-Christine Leps

Posted on 20 October 2022

At York, in addition to her focus on literary theory, discourse analysis, and modernism/postmodernism, she contributed to the graduate programs in English, Humanities, and Social and Political Thought. From 2011-14, and again in 2015-16, she served as the director of the Graduate Program in English and worked vigorously on behalf of the Faculty of Graduate […]

Passings: Professor Marilou McKenna

Posted on 2 July 2022

Dr. Marilou McKenna earned her BA from University of Guelph and completed her PhD in Victorian Literature at York University. As a CUPE faculty member from the 1980s, she had experience teaching in a wide range of areas, including American and British Literature, gothic literature, and poetry. She was an active member of the William […]

Passings: Professor Douglas Freake

Posted on 13 December 2020

Prof. Freake’s long career at York began in 1976 when he joined the University as a contract faculty member. He became a full-time faculty member in 1991 and received tenure in 1996. He taught for most of his career in the Division, now Department, of Humanities and the Department of English. He served twice as […]

Passings: Mark Wadman

Posted on 5 May 2020

Mark Wadman earned his BA and MA, and was completing his PhD at York University, when he passed away on 3 May 2020. A committed environmentalist, he studied and wrote on ecocriticism, and also published work on Indian and African-American writers. As a CUPE colleague, he served as a teaching assistant for courses in both […]

Passings: Professor Priscila Uppal was Canada’s coolest poet

Posted on 7 September 2018

Professor Uppal, or simply “Priscila” as she preferred, arrived in the Department of English from Ottawa as an undergraduate in 1993, and graduated summa cum laude in 1997. After earning a master’s degree from the University of Toronto, she returned to York University for her doctorate, which was awarded in 2004. At the same time, she was […]

Passings: Mimi Choi

Posted on 23 August 2017

Mimi Choi earned her BA in English at the University of Toronto, and was a doctoral student and teaching assistant at York University when she passed away on 22 August 2017. She was the co-editor, with Elizabeth Patton, of a collection of essays, Home Sweat Home: Perspectives on Housework and Modern Domestic Relationships, published in 2014, […]

Passings: Christopher Innes remembered as one of York’s stars

Posted on 21 June 2017

Innes was a Distinguished Research Professor, he held a senior Canada Research Chair and at the time of his death he was the incumbent of a York Research Chair. A world-renowned scholar, he remained energetically active and engaged in cutting-edge research until the very end of his life. As a department member and a citizen […]

Passings: Professor Emerita Penelope Reed Doob

Posted on 13 March 2017

Prof. Reed Doob passed away in Toronto on Saturday, March 11. Prof. Reed Doob joined York in 1969. She was a professor of English and Dance, teaching both undergraduate and graduate students in those departments, as well as in the Graduate Programs in Women’s Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies. Prof. Reed Doob was chair of the […]

Passings: Professor Emeritus Maurice Elliott

Posted on 13 December 2016

Professor Elliott was a professor of English at York University from 1966 to 2002, and served York University as Master of Winter’s College (1980 to 1987); Chair of the Department of English (1993 to 1999); Chair of Senate (1998 to 1999) and as a member of York’s Board of Governors. In 1996, he was awarded […]

Passings: Professor Rishma Dunlop inspired many with her poetry

Posted on 20 April 2016

Rishma had met with Denis DeKlerck, publisher of Mansfield Press, who had recently published her first book of poetry, The Body of My Garden, to propose an anthology of poetry by South-Asian Canadian women. The publisher liked the idea and suggested that Rishma seek me out as a co-editor. We spent much of the lunch venting […]