Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering (Co-op optional)

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Computation is now fundamental to scientific discovery and engineering design alike. The Boeing 777 Dreamliner, for instance, was conceived mostly on a computer, complete with detailed calculations of aerodynamic and control properties. Drugs can also be designed on computers as can modern materials. To become an expert in the algorithms behind these innovations, take our Scientific Computing and Numerical Methods program.

The BA (Major in Popular Music Studies) is a module unique to Western that engages students with the interdisciplinary nature of the study of popular music.

The program incorporates three dimensions:

• Practical subjects, including songwriting and analysis of popular songs and recordings
• recording practice
• Critical study of musical styles, recordings, artists, and genres in their broader historical and cultural contexts.

In addition to courses in popular music and culture, the program includes post-1945 popular music, musical theatre, jazz, and more advanced courses indigenous musics and musics of the world, film studies, literature, and sociology. Introductory and advanced courses in songwriting and desktop music production allow students to compose, produce, and record their own music.

High Energy Physics
Topics of interest to high-energy physicists include the phenomenology of elementary particle interactions, quantum field theory, the dynamical breakdown of quantum field theoretical symmetries, the quantization of gravity, string/brane models underlying known-interaction physics, and the unification of fundamental interactions of nature.
The high-energy physicists in our department participate in the Collaborative Ph.D. Program in Theoretical Physics, and have strong ties with the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in nearby Waterloo, Ontario.

Materials Physics
Water droplet graphicAt the other end of the spectrum, materials physics is a research area that connects physics with chemistry and computational mathematics. The Material Physics group in our department uses computer simulations of nano-scale phenomena to make important discoveries about the properties of materials we use every day.
Overall, the research in theoretical physics is devoted to the study of soft condensed matter physics, physical chemistry and fluid mechanics. Research topics include microfluidic devices, colloidal systems, nanotribology including friction in biological systems, ceramics under high pressure, quantum-mechanical many-body systems, quantum chemistry, polymers, liquid crystals, disordered systems, phase transitions, wave propagation and nonlinear interactions.

When you can dive into a many-layered narrative and surface holding the threads of revelation—what it means to be gendered, how love and will can transform hell into heaven, or how simply to go on—those are threads with which you can weave your life.

Studying literature nurtures, strengthens, and matures the skills needed in every profession:

• Communication
• Balancing complexity
• Empathy across differences
• Persuasion
• Storytelling

Not to mention the ability to track, analyze, and critique long collections of words! At Western, we study Canadian, British, American, global, and Indigenous literature. You can start with the earliest classics, like Beowulf. You can follow a contemporary novel, like Room, as it is adapted to stage and screen. English Studies at Western will make you a stronger professional and a clearer citizen, and it will support your humanity throughout your life.

Anthropology is the study of humans in all our social, cultural, linguistic, and biological diversity and complexity.  The four subfields of Anthropology (Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, and Sociocultural Anthropology) are united by shared perspectives on how we study the full breadth of humanity. 

Medical Biophysics is best described as a discipline that improves people’s lives. And it draws on many research areas, techniques and technologies to improve human health. In studying medical biophysics you will apply the principles of biology, mathematics, physics and engineering to solve problems. When you study Medical Biophysics, you learn how to apply your knowledge of mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics to areas such as medical imaging, cancer therapy, biomechanics and cardiovascular disease.

Medical Biophysics students take basic principles from mathematics, the physical and biological sciences, and computer science, and apply them to improving medical diagnosis, treatment and patient health. The experience of students in Medical Biophysics goes beyond “textbook knowledge” and places them in settings where they solve real-world problems such as: how blood flows in arteries and veins, designing a better joint replacement, improving lung ventilation in asthma, how MRI forms images of the brain, and targeting radiation therapy in cancer to protect the healthy surrounding tissue.

Study art and visual culture in its social and political context. Western’s Art History program focuses on global networks of cultural exchange and is committed to interdisciplinary approaches informed by critical theory. This field of study develops cross-cultural understanding and a global perspective from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, in Mesoamerican, Hispanic American, Canadian, and Contemporary Art, Architecture, and Design, as well as Photography, Film and New Media.

If you are interested in studying American history, literature, culture, and politics from an interdisciplinary perspective, the major in American Studies is a good choice. Students take courses from a variety of disciplines towards their degree. Students may also consider combining their American Studies major with a major in another subject, such as English, History, or Political Science. An Honours double major is an excellent stepping stone to graduate studies, law school, or teacher's college.

The Honors Specialization in Health Sciences with Biology is designed for students who want to combine the socio-cultural perspectives on health offered in Health Sciences courses with the life sciences (Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biology). This module is ideal for students who want to pursue careers in medicine and dentistry. Approximately half of the module’s courses cover key Health Sciences topics such as health ethics, health promotion, childhood and adolescent health, health in aging populations, and anatomy. The other half of the module is made up of core life sciences courses, covering topics such as organic chemistry, biochemistry, and genetics.

Genetics is the study of the process and implications of trait inheritance which is linked explicitly to the concept of the gene and the molecule DNA. The Department offers four modules in this foundational area of biology that are built upon its research and teaching strengths. In the area of molecular genetics students will be able to take a range of courses focused on gene structure, function and regulation that introduce modern 'omic' approaches (e.g. genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics) that are taught using a range of animal, plant and microbial systems. Related topics such as genetic engineering and developmental genetics form the basis of additional courses. Building on research expertise in other subdiscipline there are courses in behavioural genetics, and evolutionary genetics.