Introduction
Courses
Teaching awards
Supervisions / Courses taught in the past
Introduction
I teach in a small undergraduate English department where each faculty member covers a range of courses. As you can see in the listing below, I teach courses in Old English, Middle English literature, studies in medievalism (primarily Tolkien’s fiction), writing, women’s literature, poetry, and classical literature as well as a range of texts in introductory courses. Occasionally, I have the opportunity to supervise students writing an Honours thesis or to conduct directed study (independent study) courses. Below you will find links to the courses that I will be teaching in the 2019-2020 academic year.
As an adjunct in the graduate English program at Dalhousie University, I have had a few opportunities to teach graduate courses there or to serve on dissertation committees. These activities are also listed below.
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Fall 2021 courses
Fall- Winter 2022
On sabbatical research leave
Winter 2023
- ENGL/WRIT 3377 Old English: Translation Theory & Practice
- ENGL/WRIT 2223 History of Writing, Reading, and the Book (Online)
Teaching awards
- Recipient of the 2011 Mount Saint Vincent University Instructional Leadership Award
- Recipient of the 1993 Mount Saint Vincent University Alumnae Award for Teaching Excellence
- Shortlisted for the 2004 Alumnae Award for Teaching Excellence
Supervisions / Courses taught in the past
Undergraduate level
- ENGL 4475: Studies in Medievalism: Tolkien and Myth-making
- ENGL/WRIT 3377: Old English: Translation Theory & Practice
- ENGL 3378: Beowulf, Then & Now
- ENGL 3361: Old English Literature (no longer offered. Now ENGL/WRIT 3377 and ENGL 3378)
— Chaucer and Medieval Literature (no longer offered)
— Renaissance Literature (no longer offered)
— Sixteenth-Century Poetry and Prose (no longer offered)
- ENGL/WRIT 2223: History of Writing, Reading, and the Book
- Women’s Literary Tradition I (now revised as ENGL 2242: Themes in Women’s Writing)
- Women’s Literary Tradition II (now revised as ENGL 2242: Themes in Women’s Writing)
- Poetry (ENGL 2260)
- ENGL 2270: Classical Traditions in English Literature
- ENGL 1170: Introduction to Literature: Literary Genres
- ENGL 1171: Introduction to Literature: Literary Transformations
— Introduction to Literature: Gender and Form (ENGL 1155)
— WRIT 1120 The Writing Process: Theory and Practice (WRIT 1120)
— Literature for Children and Young Adults (ENGL 105: no longer offered at this level)
Directed Studies
on Old Norse Language and Literature; Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; J.R.R. Tolkien’s work; Beowulf; Translation and Old English Literature; Gender in Medieval Literature
Honours thesis supervisions
on Old English translation; on John Gardner’s Grendel; on Malory and Arthurian romances; Harry Potter novels; Tolkien’s poetry; Tolkien’s fiction; Beowulf films; fan fiction and gender theory; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; Julian of Norwich; Chaucer; Robin Hood
Graduate level teaching
English 5000.01A: Boethius and Medieval Literature
Dalhousie University reading course, Fall 2001
English 5000.03B: Old English Translation
Dalhousie University reading course, Winter 2001
English 5131.03A: The First Millennium, and Beyond
Dalhousie University, Fall 2000
English 5130.03B: Sex and Gender in Medieval Literature
Dalhousie University, Winter 1998
Supervisor, M.A. thesis, Dalhousie University
“From a Corpse to a Life: The Body in Old English Hagiography.” 2001. M. Fast.
Reader of M.A. theses, Dalhousie University
“‘May Saracens Be Saved’: The Conversion of the Saracens in Chaucer and Langland.” 2007. C. Bailey.
“‘Woman, why weepest thou?’: The Influence of Mary Magdalene on The Book of Margery Kempe.” 1999. K. Berrigan.
“Noisy Links and Narrative Energy in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.” 1995. V. Creelman.
External reader:
PhD thesis, University of Malaya
“Aesthetic Evaluation of the Landscapes of Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and the Textual / Literary Illustration of Space, Place, and Atmosphere.” 2021. F. Mohammadi.
M.A. thesis, Acadia University
“Forging Faërie: Sub-creation, Depth and Mythic Otherworldliness in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Conception of the Fairy-Story.” 2011. J. Deschenes.
Image: The image on this page is a detail from J.R.R.Tolkien’s painting Halls of Manwë (Taniquetil), published in J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. It is also widely available online.
Anna Smol 