Associate of Arts in English

at Langara College Canada

Biology is the study of life in all its variety and richness. It includes many aspects of your everyday experiences: your relationships with the environment, the foods you consume, the way your body works. In fact, functioning in the present world without biological knowledge is a distinct handicap, since biological advances are at the forefront of social change.

When you study biology at Langara, you will examine all aspects of living things: from the molecules that make up your cells to entire ecosystems. You will get an excellent grounding in a broad range of biology topics. You will also be able to choose courses in numerous specialties, such as ecology, microbiology, genetics, as you focus more closely on your personal interests and career goals.

Information about the living world and opportunities for Biology graduates have grown rapidly over the last few decades. Your career options will depend on your specific interests and educational focus, but could include research, education, journalism, law, public health, conservation, forensics and much more.  Some biology sectors such as biotechnology and environmental sciences are among the faster growing areas of the Canadian economy.

The Langara Biology Department has a firm commitment to providing the practical aspects of a science education. All our university-transfer Biology courses include 2 or 3 hours of lab or field work per week. We have five well-equipped lab rooms, including a dedicated Microbiology laboratory.  Our excellent team of lab demonstrators has a broad range of biology expertise and is available to assist students in the labs and during office hours. Also, a study space for second year students is available in the Biology lab area for biology students to work independently on assignments and projects throughout the term.

The Social Service Worker program is closed for applications as the Fall 2020 intake is now full. We will re-open for applications on October 1, 2020 for the Fall 2021 intake. 

Langara College’s Social Service Worker Program prepares students for immediate entry into all social service sectors, as well as for further education in Social Work and other helping professions. Program participation and employment in the social services field require commitments of physical and emotional energies.

Students who successfully complete the nine-month program earn a Social Service Worker Certificate. They also have the option of adding 30 Arts and Sciences credits to the Certificate to earn a Coordinated Diploma.

The Certificate Program consists of two semesters of full-time studies. There are two practicum placements, including a five-week full-time block placement at the end of the second semester. 

Langara College Film Arts is a 1-year, intensive, collaborative, and comprehensive program for students wishing to work in today’s film industry as actors, writers, or directors.

The development and inspiration for the Film Arts program grew out of Langara's well-known Theatre Arts/ Studio 58 program and its successful conservatory approach to training actors and production personnel in theatre. The Film Arts program offers post-accreditation certificates in three streams of study; Writing, Acting, and Directing.

Film Arts - Acting

Within the Film Arts Acting Certificate, students will collaborate with directors and writers in a unique program for actors set apart by the focus on real production. You don't just take acting classes in Film Arts, you produce two festival quality films in which you also have an on-screen role. You will also produce the year-end Film Arts Festival screening event that showcases your talent and will be a launch pad for the films that your team will promote and screen worldwide.

Acting Stream students will learn to:

• Create a demo reel of their signature “hits”.
• Create a voice demo tape of narration, voice over, and animation auditions.
• Research, prepare for, and approach their film auditions with confidence.

Now, more than ever industry, governments, and health and safety groups are focusing on a proactive way to prevent workplace injury, ensure workplace compliance, and understand and produce effective processes for creating a safe workplace. Our two-year, full-time Post-Degree Diploma program prepares university and college graduates for careers in this in-demand profession.

The Health Safety and Environmental Compliance Post-Degree Diploma program is designed to provide the necessary skills to focus on workplace compliance, including labour, inspection and auditing, public and worker safety, and environmental protection. The program provides a comprehensive combination of training in all aspects of health and safety as well as environmental compliance to make you job-ready. This program is open to international students, Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

Graduates of the program can find work in the following professions:

• Workplace safety experts in numerous industries
• Private contractors in Health and Safety, establishing policy and procedure
• Safety expert in construction or development
• In-house health and safety manager
• Private contractors in Health and Safety, establishing policy and procedure
• Government roles (from municipal to federal) as inspectors, park rangers, work safety policy experts, etc.
• Professional liasion between industry and government agencies

Recreation professionals help people improve their quality of life. It is a profession that builds people and by this action builds communities. This program is the first 2 years of the Recreation Management Degree program. If you already have a diploma or 60 credits of university transferrable courses, you can start as a third year in the Degree program.

The two-year Recreation Leadership Diploma Program is the foundation required to be successful in both academic studies in Recreation Management and in a career in the field. The program is for students who excel at working with people and are looking to improve the quality of life in their communities through active, healthy and engaged connections.

• Planning and running recreation programs and special events
• Marketing and promoting recreation programs
• Recreation facilities operations management
• Organizing and staffing recreation programs and facilities
• Public speaking skills
• Facility design and operation
• Professional presentation skills
• Basic business skills
• Leadership skills
• How to partner with community groups, organizations and businesses

Collecting large amounts of biological data is becoming easier and more affordable and as a result biology has become a data science. Examples of biological data include genetic sequences, genomes, epigenomes, proteomes, metabalomes and microbiomes. These large data sets require specialized and powerful computational and statistical tools for analysis. Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary science that applies computational and statistical methods to biological information in order to make new discoveries and to solve complex biological problems.

The discovery of thousands of disease-causing genes since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 exemplifies the power of early bioinformatics methods. Bioinformatics tools are now routinely used to study the underlying cause of disease and to find more effective treatments as well as to study biological patterns and develop biological and chemical models.

Whether you are studying to be an astronaut, accountant, social worker, scientist, marketer, nurse, school teacher, engineer, manager, computer scientist ... almost every career requires mathematics and/or statistics. Mathematics and Statistics are a part of everyday life, from analyzing the stock market to reading the newspaper to trusting the bridge you drive on. Our goal is to help all our students develop a command and appreciation of the power, beauty, utility, and recreational value of mathematical and statistical ideas.

During their time at Langara, most students will register for at least one Mathematics or Statistics course, as a program or degree requirement or out of interest and enthusiasm for these subject areas. Langara offers a wide range of mathematics and statistics courses, many of which are university-transferable and can be applied towards the first two years of a university degree. Some of our courses are specifically designed for students who did not complete math in high school. Langara’s Math and Stats Department has an excellent track record of students successfully transferring to universities such as UBC and SFU. Moreover, our students typically do well in their third and fourth years because smaller class settings, greater number of contact hours, and approachable instructors prepare them for the transition into university.

Langara’s Health Care Assistant program's Fall 2020 intake has been suspended. Please contact the department chair at [email protected] to ask about future intakes.

The Health Care Assistant certificate program offers theory courses and practicum placements that equip you with the skills and knowledge needed to provide safe and compassionate care to clients.

Explore new opportunities and broaden your knowledge in the health care field while you apply your skills in patient-centred care environments. Gain experience by promoting the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of clients.

Students in this program will develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to function effectively as front-line caregivers and respected members of the health care team. Upon completion of the program, graduates are prepared to work in a variety of settings including home support, assisted living, residential/complex care, special care units, other home and community care settings, and some acute care settings.

Data Analytics focuses on the entire lifecycle of the data analytics process. The Mathematics and Statistics Department offers two data analytics programs. Both programs cover the entire life-cycle of data from extraction, transformation, analysis of data to the presentation of results. Students in the program will work with industry-standard software applications to analyze data and gain skills to effectively communicate their findings.

Post-Degree Diploma in Data Analytics
This two-year full-time diploma program is designed for anyone who like working with data and interpreting results to support technical and strategic business decisions. The cohort-based program ends with a capstone project to apply their knowledge before starting a new career. Students will have the opportunity to develop strong project management and team building skills.

Data Analytics equips graduates with the skills and tools to divide and conquer massive data sets. Through collaboration with industry partners, students will gain experience handling real-life data from fields such as telecommunications, finance, and health care industries.

This Post Degree Diploma in Marketing Management (PDD-MM) is for students who hold a bachelor’s degree and wish to pursue a career in business. It is student-centred, and its primary aim is to give graduates real business skills – the skills that employers are looking for.
This PDD-MM is a two-year program consisting of three semesters of in-class studies plus a one semester experiential work term which provides students with a career experience work placement.  This program will be offered in the daytime during weekdays.