Bachelor of Arts, Major in Economics

at EduCo - Western University Canada

Are you moved by crisis in Darfur? Do social movements such as the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street interest you? Do you want to work for a public service or a non-profit organisation? Then the Media and the Public Interest (MPI) program might be for you. The MPI program is the only one of its kind in Canada and connects issues of communication and media to social justice issues such as democracy, equity, class, race, and gender. Students in MPI examine social movements and how media can be used to further these causes. Some example courses in the MPI program include Alternative Media, Social Movements and Media, and Activism in Mainstream Media. A primary goal of the program is to connect media theory learned in the classroom to real world experiences. Students are encouraged to put what they learn to use. Many of the courses feature a service learning component or practicum that gives students the opportunity to volunteer in a community organisation.

Geography and Environment at Western centres around the following sub-disciplines; Physical Geography, Geographic Information Science (GIS), Urban Studies and Environment, Development and Health. This broad, integrative perspective makes Western geographers employable in a wide range of occupations.

Explore the dynamics that shape your everyday experiences as a gendered person in contemporary culture. In our courses you will learn how to develop a critical perspective that takes factors such as sex, gender, sexuality, race, class and (dis)ability into account. You might find your worldview transformed as you apply these perspectives to your study in other classes and to all aspects of your life. Our courses reflect an expanding field of feminist research including feminist theory, sexuality studies, health, queer and legal issues, philosophy, violence against women, women and equity in the workplace, and women and the creative arts.

Women's Studies and Feminist Research officially became a department at The University of Western Ontario in July 2006. The Women's Studies program was established in 1987 and is a department in both the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and the Faculty of Social Science. The Department offers a variety of degree modules and promotes feminist scholarship through provision for resident scholars, a Distinguished Speakers Series, faculty colloquia, annual conferences, and publications. It also has an active and lively Women's Studies Student Council.

The first year for all Bachelor of Music students includes courses in Music Theory, Music History, Music Skills (Sight-singing, Ear-training, and Keyboard Harmony), a half-course in music composition, teaching & learning, or popular music & culture, a half-course music or non-music elective and a half-course elective from outside the Don Wright Faculty of Music. Bachelor of Music students also receive weekly hour-long lessons plus regular masterclasses and ensemble experience.

In the Bachelor of Music (Honours) programs, a specific area of study is normally selected towards the end of the first year, when the student has had the opportunity to assess particular strengths and interests. It is also possible to continue in a general Bachelor of Music program without selecting a specific concentration.

Physics and astronomy involve the study of matter, forces, and energy as they relate to the understanding of our environment from Earth to the distant reaches of the universe. The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Western studies natural phenomena such as star formation, the Earth’s atmosphere, and meteors as well as applications of physics to medicine in the form of imaging, and radiotherapy and technology -specifically, nanofabrication, optoelectronic devices, and biomaterials.

Language is the chief means which members of the human species use to communicate with each other. Its scientific and humanistic study is called linguistics. The history of linguistics goes back to ancient times, and during the 19th and 20th centuries it flourished and came to be associated most strongly with the scientific study of individual languages of the world as well as with the search to identify those traits which are common to all languages.

The study of linguistics is indispensable for anyone interested in a particular language or in a discipline with a focus on language in general. Students in many different fields of study find that linguistics makes an interesting and engaging elective or optional course (when combined with the discipline of language study, it is excellent preparation for law school, for example). In terms of careers, this means that anyone interested in language teaching of any sort (such as a Bachelors of Education, or TESL certification), in communicative disorders (including both Audiology and Speech Pathology), in translation or in interpreting should be sure to include some linguistics courses in their undergraduate preparation. The addition of linguistics, the scientific study of language, further enhances your academic program with critical and analytical skills, while contributing to your better understanding of human language (English, French and others), not simply from a grammatical or spoken perspective but also from a scientific approach.

Civil engineers build and improve communities by providing essential infrastructure, solving environmental problems caused by industrialization and resource consumption, and by mitigating natural disasters. Learning in state-of-the-art Civil engineering facilities, you will take classes such as structural analysis, wind engineering, geotechnical design, international development and environmental engineering. This program prepares you to design and construct challenging structures, improve the environment and quality of life for the future and have a global perspective on development and sustainability

Earth Sciences is the science of the planet Earth. We seek to understand the Earth's internal structure and composition; its dynamic character (earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics); the processes that occur within it; the processes that shape its surface and the materials that constitute its surface layers; the origin, occurrence, extraction and conservation of the Earth's natural resources (minerals, fossil fuels, soils, and water); the place of the Earth within the Solar System, and the history of life on Earth. Earth Sciences puts the human race in planetary perspective within space and time. As our awareness of human interactions with the environment increases, our need for better understanding of the way the earth works becomes more urgent. Increasingly, a grounding in Earth Sciences is seen as essential for those concerned with care of the environment and assessment of natural hazards, as well as for those involved with utilising Earth's resources. Solutions to problems of pollution and waste disposal, to major civil engineering problems such as those encountered at dam sites, and to the effects of global change arising from human impact on the environment, must all be sought within the framework of Earth Sciences.

If you wish to learn about History, research and methodologies, and be able to critically understand and evaluate Historical texts, the History Major is for you. You will learn to communicate your ideas orally and in written form using the conventions of the discipline. You may earn an Honours degree by combining a History major with a Major in another discipline (a minimum 70% average is required in each discipline). The Honours Double Major is a valuable stepping stone to other professional programs such as Teacher’s College, Law School, Business School, Journalism and the like.

Do you wonder how our technology works? Physics connects the microscopic rules of quantum mechanics to the macroscopic properties of modern materials. Participate in developing new types of solar cells, studying the interface between cells and matrix material, or building lasers based on quantum dots. Our experimental physicists are looking for students to contribute to these and other projects.