Bachelor of Arts in Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies

at Carleton University Canada

The BA Geography program at Carleton focuses on human and environmental geography, exploring and analyzing a wide range of topics such as local food systems, urban poverty, cultural landscapes, adaptation to climate change and natural resource management. Students in the BA Geography (Honours) program may take a concentration in Physical Geography or Urban Geography. Our professors have extensive expertise in social, political and cultural geography; resource management and environmental assessment; and the study of physical processes of the Earth’s vegetation, climate, water and soil systems. Field courses, workplace opportunities (1 day a week practicum; full term co-op), and training in tools like geographic information systems, remote sensing and cartography also provide an opportunity to gain practical experience while you study. A Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography is also available.

Linguistics is the scientific study of one of the most fundamental aspects of being human: using language to communicate. Linguists explore a range of fascinating areas, including how language is represented and processed in the brain, the psychology of language, clinical applications of linguistics in treating language disorders and delays, how children acquire language, and the biological and evolutionary aspects of language.

African peoples, cultures, societies, places and histories have been deeply affected by the global world, while also actively contributing to it. In this multidisciplinary specialization, you will study a wide range of issues as they apply to Africa, including democratization, human rights, international development, cultural change, migration and refugees, colonialism and post-colonialism, and social justice. You will also acquire an understanding of the larger issues of the politics of development and the relationship between the global north and south. This specialization is administered by the Institute of African Studies, which is the only stand-alone, degree-granting, institute devoted to the study of Africa in Canada.

Applied Physics is the basis of modern technology, including modern telecommunications, photonics, computer technology, medical imaging and cancer therapies.

Our Honours Applied Physics program combines studies in modern physics, optics and electronics, math and computer science. As part of your credits for this program, you may opt to take courses in finance, organizational management and entrepreneurship and earn a minor in Business in addition to your degree in Applied Physics.

Engineering Physics is a challenging and elite program for those students who want to combine the strengths of physics and engineering. You will obtain an unusually broad and strong foundation in material science, applied physics, electronics and nanotechnology, and learn to apply it in the development of new technologies which include, but are not limited to, nanotechnology, semiconductor devices, optical systems, telecommunications and related computer hardware. In your senior year, you may specialize in many other areas of interest.

Linguistics is the scientific study of one of the most fundamental aspects of being human: using language to communicate. Linguists explore a range of fascinating ideas, including what it means to know a language, how we process and produce language, language structure, how children acquire language, variation and diversity in languages across the globe, language disorders and delays, and how languages change over time.

At Carleton, students learn to study linguistics from a dedicated faculty with a diverse set of research interests, including theoretical and experimental approaches and methods.

Students in the BA Honours can choose from two concentrations to tailor their Linguistics degree to their interests: Linguistic Theory or Psycholinguistics and Communication Disorders. Qualified students in the Psycholinguistics and Communication Disorders concentration have the opportunity to take a practicum course that provides clinical experience in speech-language pathology.

In the Bachelor of Humanities, students read the world’s most influential books and explore the world’s most exciting ideas in art, philosophy, history, literature, classics, music, religion and science.

In this interdisciplinary Liberal Arts program, students study the world’s greatest ideas, books, and art works produced by thinkers from the span of recorded world history— from ancient Mesopotamia to modern America. The emphasis of the program is on ideas, explored through small discussion groups and writing assignments. The typical Humanities student loves to read, and is excited about sharing ideas with students and professors.

Cinema is examined in Carleton’s Film Studies program as an art form, an entertainment, and a documentary record of our time. Through a variety of critical approaches, you will study the history and aesthetics of film and other moving-image media, the main currents and developments in filmmaking, and the works of some of the world’s best filmmakers. Other areas of study include the documentary and the musical; animation; experimental film and digital media; African, Japanese, Indian, European and Canadian cinema; film theory; film technology; and silent cinema.

You will also examine broader questions of culture and hone your critical, research and analytical skills. Students in their fourth year can also take advantage of the practicum program in which they can get real-world experience working in archival research, film preservation, programming, exhibition or production work at institutions such as the Canadian Film Institute, the Ottawa International Animation Festival and the SAW Gallery. Moreover, you will have the opportunity to express your artistic vision and create audiovisual essays through our “Moving Image Practice” courses.

Carleton’s Department of French makes it easy to integrate French into your studies, whether you wish to major in French, expand your BA with a minor in French or enrol in a single course. The department’s comprehensive approach allows students to benefit from language courses that are culturally grounded in the francophone world. Our course structure spans beginner to advanced levels, targets both oral and written proficiency, and focuses on students’ full development as competent readers, speakers and writers. Courses in our BA programs in French offer students the opportunity to specialize in literary studies or French linguistics. You may engage academically with topics ranging from emerging voices in Quebec literature to writers from Africa and the Caribbean to the social dynamics of language. Exchange opportunities are available to students majoring in French.

Students in the Computational and Applied Mathematics and Statistics program will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to pursue careers involving the design of computers and computer networks as well as the application of computers in solving critical problems in business, government and science. For example, you might find yourself developing new ways to protect information from both improper access and corruption during transmission, helping managers in business and government to allocate resources optimally, or using computer networks to study traffic flow and optimal routing.