Bachelor of Arts in Political Science - Comparative Politics and Area Studies (Global South)

at Carleton University Canada

Africa is the most culturally and geographically diverse continent on earth. The African Studies program offers you an opportunity to study the histories, cultures, languages, geographies, politics and economics of this fascinating continent. You will also learn about the aid, trade and investment, and migration flows that link Africa to the rest of the world in the era of globalization.

Students in the Combined Honours program can benefit from a work placement opportunity, a mentorship program and the chance to study in Africa through our African Studies Abroad course or by doing their third year at one of the African universities with which Carleton has exchange agreements.

The study of history allows us to recognize and understand the complex issues that shaped the contemporary world. The History Department offers courses in African, American, Asian, Canadian, Caribbean, European, Latin American and South Asian history. Some courses trace the history of social, political and cultural change of a region or period. Others are thematic and may examine women’s history, the histories of science, sexuality, food and drink, or slavery. In the Public History concentration, Honours students explore how history appears in our everyday lives, not just in museums and monuments, but also in movies, reality television, video games, music and the stories families and communities pass from one generation to the next.

In first year, history students may choose a small seminar class or a larger lecture course with a tutorial group. Both formats foster debate and discussion. All history courses encourage student research which may draw on the rich array of libraries and archives in the national capital, including Carleton’s own valuable collections and resources.

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.

Neuroscience is a new, exciting, and rapidly expanding scientific discipline that aims to understand how physical processes in our brains underlie complex functions such as movement, sensation, memory, emotion, consciousness and thought. Faculty and students in Neuroscience are particularly interested in how diseases that affect the brain lead to mental health problems, with the focus of our research including depression, Parkinson’s disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease and concussion. Our research, like our academic programs, integrates information from many disciplines including medicine, molecular biology, psychology, immunology, genetics, chemistry and epidemiology.

The study of history allows us to recognize and understand the complex issues that shaped the contemporary world. The History Department offers courses in African, American, Asian, Canadian, Caribbean, European, Latin American and South Asian history. Some courses trace the history of social, political and cultural change of a region or period. Others are thematic and may examine women’s history, the histories of science, sexuality, food and drink, or slavery. In the Public History concentration, Honours students explore how history appears in our everyday lives, not just in museums and monuments, but also in movies, reality television, video games, music and the stories families and communities pass from one generation to the next.

In first year, history students may choose a small seminar class or a larger lecture course with a tutorial group. Both formats foster debate and discussion. All history courses encourage student research which may draw on the rich array of libraries and archives in the national capital, including Carleton’s own valuable collections and resources.

Cognitive science involves the study of cognition, perception, and emotion from a wide range of perspectives. Despite the many different methodologies they use, cognitive scientists are united in their interest in the mind—and the brain.

Researchers in our program (students and faculty members) study the mind by combining the methods and theories of five disciplines: psychology, philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience and computer science. This interdisciplinary approach allows unique insights into human understanding, thought, perception, language and emotion.

The Bachelor of Cognitive Science is offered as an Honours program with either a thesis or coursework option, and as a three year degree.

Carleton’s English program ranges from some of the most famous names in English writing to lesser-known authors, taking into account regional, national and global perspectives. You will have a chance to discuss the pressing issues and enduring ideas behind literature, as well as examine the ways in which books spring from cultural contexts and fit into the arc of literary history. You will explore how British and Canadian literary traditions have evolved and how alternative, underground and non-Western voices trouble and enrich those traditions. You may take workshops in creative writing and drama, either as electives or in the context of the department’s concentrations in Creative Writing and Drama Studies. We also offer a minor in Professional Writing, as well a minor in Drama Studies.

Media and communication technologies are engines of globalization, and shape the rapidly changing social, political, economic and cultural environments in which we live. Global media and communication affect how we access, share and exchange information, how we work, and how we see the world and our places in it. They transform relations between states and blur the boundaries (real and imagined) separating people and communities. In this specialization you will explore global media and communication in historical and contemporary contexts, drawing on a range of perspectives that will provide the knowledge and skills necessary for working in global and international settings as communicators, researchers, analysts or advocates.

Economics may be a specialized area of knowledge, but it is relevant to almost every aspect of our lives. At its core, it is the study of reasoned choice in the context of scarce resources and competing interests. The need to make such choices pervades the day-to-day lives of all of us—as individuals and in society as a whole.

In Carleton’s Bachelor of Economics (BEcon), you will study the operation of market-based economies, examining the causes of economic growth, inflation, unemployment and international trade. Students who wish to focus their studies in particular areas may choose to complete one or two of the eight available concentrations:

• Computational Analysis
• Development
• Economic Theory (recommended for students intending to pursue graduate studies in economics)
• Economic Data Science
• Financial Economics
• International Political Economy
• Mathematics and Quantitative Economics
• Natural Resources, Environment, and Economy

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.