Bachelor of Arts in Women and Gender Studies

at Brock University Canada

In the Department of Visual Arts (VISA), education takes place within well-equipped studios and teaching spaces, as well as in our vibrant local arts community.

We provide education in two distinct but interconnected streams: Studio Art (STDA) and the History of Art and Visual Culture (HAVC). Studio students take courses
in all fine art media, such as painting, photography, drawing, digital media, performance art, and non-traditional methods of expression. HAVC courses explore history as it is connected to the present, with a focus on themes such as the body in art and visual culture or the role of censorship from the ancient world to the present day. Courses are innovative, interdisciplinary and in keeping with the currencies of contemporary thought.

Our professors are exhibiting artists and published scholars who have mastered a wide array of media and topics, and are fluent in emerging discourses. Add to that a vibrant roster of internationally exhibiting artists who come through Rodman Hall Art Centre, the University’s art gallery, and you have a well-rounded, exciting education in Visual Art. Want to show your work, curate a show, or participate in a festival? How about giving a lecture on your research, or travelling to see art in Italy or Greece? All is possible within a degree program in the Department of Visual Arts.

We’ll prepare you for a career in Information Technology (IT), an industry that is transforming our world and workplaces. You’ll study data structures, operating systems, database systems, industry-standard programming languages, software engineering and user interfaces.

You can take specialized courses in object orientation, computer graphics, intelligent systems, computer networks, advanced Internet, neural networks, computer music (digital music), parallel computing and compiler construction.

The honors program offers two concentrations:

• Software Engineering focuses on programming and systems analysis for application development.
• Intelligent Systems focuses on making computers solve problems that normally require human intelligence to solve.

Recreation professionals deliver health, social, economic, and environmental benefits through leisure services.

You may choose one of the following areas of concentration:

• Community Recreation studies leisure services in diverse and changing communities, including management, community development and the needs of participants. Career opportunities exist in municipal and non-profit organizations, program development, and facility management with children, youth and seniors.
• Outdoor Recreation focuses on leadership in the natural environment. You’ll prepare to serve as a wilderness trip leader, facilitate groups in outdoor recreation settings, work in outdoor and experiential education environments, and promote social and environmental change in the world. Activities include lectures, outdoor and experiential activities, and small group work. Career opportunities exist in environmental education, outdoor adventure and leadership, K-12 classroom teaching, wilderness therapy, camp administration, ropes course facilitators and builders, and change makers.
• Therapeutic Recreation is focused on the goal of ensuring that all individuals, regardless of ability, have access to meaningful leisure in their lives. You’ll gain hands-on experience in providing services to marginalized individuals (people with disabilities and illnesses, recent immigrants, people who experience poverty and
• older adults), using leisure to improve functional abilities and quality of life. Career opportunities exist in rehabilitation centres, hospitals, mental health centres, long-term care homes, community organizations and private practices.

The Certificate in Drama in Education and Applied Theatre would be of particular interest to social workers, drama therapists, psycho-therapists, prison counsellors, people who train volunteers, personnel managers, union organizers and market consultants who wish to add to existing qualifications or to acquire courses which might later be applied to a degree. Studies include the development of skills, such as assessing and evaluating what is perceived, generating ideas, making connections, predicting outcomes, empathizing, abstracting the core from the periphery, questioning, accommodating and compromising and self-presentation. 

This program is for those who have already completed a university degree. The program is four semesters, taken over two academic years, allowing students time to learn, reflect and grow as beginning teachers.
Completion of the program leads to a BEd degree and an Ontario Certificate of Qualification and Registration. Programs are at campuses in both St. Catharines and Hamilton.
Teacher Education programs at Brock embrace the integration of theory and practice.
Students are placed in partner schools very early in their program. They move through a planned course of study, including in excess of 80 days in Ontario classrooms. With a focus on pedagogy reflective of 21st century learners, Brock teacher candidates have opportunities to personalize their learning through optional professional development courses, and may qualify for an alternative placement experience in their final year.
Instruction in professional practice takes place under the supervision of practicum advisers, practicum instructors and associate teachers, working with teacher candidates
in schools throughout the Niagara and the greater Hamilton regions and beyond.

Primary/Junior program: Certifies to teach Kindergarten through Grade 6.
Junior/Intermediate program: Certifies to teach Grades 4 through 10, emphasizing elementary school.
Intermediate/Senior program: Certifies to teach Grades 7 through 12, emphasizing secondary school.

The Department of Music offers superb performance and academic instruction, pristine facilities in the Walker School and a professional auditorium in the 300-seat recital hall at the adjacent FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

There are a wide range of courses in music history, theory, general musicianship, solo and ensemble performance, composition, conducting, music technology and music education.

The concentration in Music Education is the perfect lead into further studies in a Faculty of Education, school teaching, or for teaching privately in a studio setting.

The Music Therapy Foundations concentration is a kind of Music Therapy “pre-med,” and is excellent preparation for graduate studies and eventual certification in Music Therapy.

The Music Performance concentration (BMus only) is for performers of the highest calibre who aspire to go on to graduate studies in performance and an eventual career concertizing. Entry to this concentration is via a juried audition at the end of first year.

Applicants complete aural, keyboard and theory placement tests, and a scheduled interview. Students applying to the Bachelor of Music program, or taking lessons, will also be required to audition on a solo instrument or voice.

Study Geography in Niagara – one of the world’s most diverse social and natural landscapes.

Geographers look at the world from a unique perspective, one that bridges the social and natural sciences. Our programs are designed to combine theory and practical experience to train you in Human Geography, Physical Geography, and Geomatics.

Human Geography aims to understand the human world and its interaction with physical, built and symbolic landscapes. This knowledge is used to work towards more equitable societies.

Physical Geography aims to explain the geographic pattern of weather and climate, landform development and their interactions with the biosphere. This is done by studying processes at the Earth’s surface and how they interact with, affect and are affected by human activities.

Geomatics includes scientific and technological activities that integrate various fields, including cartography, remote sensing and geographical information systems (GIS).

Our department has been blending theory and practice for more than five decades through experiential learning in labs, seminars, field courses, internships and much more. These experiences have been developed to help you apply what you learn in class outside the classroom walls.

Professors in our programs engage in a broad range of research activities and incorporate interactive elements into their courses. This often includes spending time outside of the classroom around campus and across Niagara.

Our programs combine academic study with unique practical experience in critical thinking and writing. Courses explore literature from Britain, the United States and Canada, as well as works written in English from all over the world.

Our English Language and Literature and English and Contemporary Culture programs introduce students to a wide range of literary forms, historical periods and theoretical approaches. They provide superb preparation for education and law degrees, careers in public relations and communications or graduate studies in Library Science and English.

The English and Creative Writing program uses lectures and practical workshop courses to examine the material and social contexts of creative writing and teach the craft of key literary genres.

The Writing, Rhetoric and Discourse Studies program combines practical and theoretical studies with instruction in a range of writing genres for students interested in communications, public relations, journalism and professional writing for organizations.

At Brock, our teaching and research labs are combined. This means you’ll apply current techniques and technology to biochemical problems using the same state-of-the-art equipment that our professors use for their research.

The program begins with a set of core chemistry, cell biology and molecular biology courses. In Years 3 and 4, you may emphasize either biology or chemistry, choosing from courses in metabolism and energy flow, protein and enzyme action, macromolecular structures, information flow and molecular genetics, and bio-organic and biophysical chemistry.

The Tecumseh Center for Aboriginal Research and Education offers a few alternatives for those keen on working in an indigenous teaching condition. 

The people group put together educational program model depends with respect to qualified Aboriginal teachers to encourage the instructive adventure. Courses are offered in an encouraged learning associate model in areas over the territory. A determination of Indigenous Studies courses are offered in the campus such as: 

• BED in Aboriginal Adult Education 
• Certificate in Aboriginal Adult Education or language 
• BED primary/ junior 
• Minor in Indigenous studies 
• Indigenous Certificate program- Gidayaamin