Bachelor of Arts in History

at St. Francis Xavier University Canada

In the StFX History Department, you can count on distinguished historians to offer you excellence in teaching and historical scholarship. The department offers fascinating courses on themes such as war, empire, myth and memory, religion, gender, sexuality and race. Taking courses in history will prepare you to be an engaged and informed citizen and provide you with a variety of marketable skills for today’s job market - from analytic thinking to communication and research expertise.

WHY STUDY HISTORY AT STFX?
With small class sizes, a broad course selection, and a team of committed academics, you can apply what you learn to your lives and the lives of those around you. In a place where history itself is part of the academic experience, StFX is an ideal atmosphere in which to explore the past and its relevance to the present and future.

As a pioneer in jazz education in Canada, StFX Music is a community where you can expand your creativity as you become a skilled and literate musician in jazz and popular music.

At StFX, you will receive individual attention from some of Canada’s leading music educators in studio, classroom and rehearsal environments, honing your jazz instrumental (or vocal) performance and compositional skills.

MUSIC AT X
As a student in the StFX Music Department, you have close contact, including direct face-to-face private sessions, with talented and passionate music faculty. This incredible resource creates community as faculty get to know you and mentor your talents. Additionally, opportunities to perform with faculty members is an ideal way to learn and stretch your horizons.

Peer-to-peer learning with fellow students in performances and practice rooms is another hallmark of the continuous learning environment.

The Visiting Artist Program brings internationally-known performers to campus for clinics, concerts and workshops, giving students exposure to learn from the world’s best jazz musicians.

Economics explores issues of central importance to the human condition at the local, national and global levels. These issues include unemployment, inflation, poverty and inequality, pollution and environmental degradation, sustainable economic development, depletion of fish stocks and other resources, international economic interactions, budget deficits and national debts.

WHY STUDY ECONOMICS AT STFX?
You will join an intimate learning environment where you explore some of the most challenging topics within your field. Small class sizes in upper year courses facilitate maximum interaction with your professors and peers and promotes a student-centered environment.

You can also participate, through groups like the Economics Society, in the intellectual life of the department by being involved in the choice of speakers and other activities.

Whether you’re interested in getting your Bachelor of Education or pursuing graduate work, our programs will prepare you to take your place in front of any classroom, anywhere in the world.

Our faculty is dedicated to helping prepare those with a passion for teaching by combining theory and practice to prepare you for the classroom. We make sure you are job-ready by exposing you to a range of electives, from literacy to music to computers, and doing so in a personalized way.

Our two-year B.Ed. program integrates teaching, research and service within an innovative learning environment. You’ll learn from professors who are themselves accomplished educators. B.Ed. students get the opportunity to get hands-on experience teaching abroad in their second year. Our students have done their practicum in destinations including Norway, Australia, Kenya, Iceland and Scotland.

As the only university in North America offering four years of Scottish Gaelic, and one of the few universities offering the study of Celtic languages, literature and history of the Celts from about 800 BC to present, you will have unique opportunity to learn in this broad field.

Celtic Studies has as its core the languages, literatures, and histories of Celtic-speaking peoples, from the Continental Celts of ancient Gaul to the modern survivals in Scotland, Ireland, the island of Man, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. It extends into a range of topics, including archaeology, art, music, literature, folklore, religion, dance, immigration and ethnic studies.

Why study Celtic Studies at StFX?
Situated in the Highland Heart of Nova Scotia, you will study in a department where the working language is Scottish Gaelic, and where a wide variety of courses are offered in Celtic civilization and in the Gaelic folklore of Ireland and Scotland. You’ll learn from faculty who are leading researchers in the history, language and literature of Gaelic communities in North America and Scotland.

StFX undergraduate and masters students produce research papers and dissertations, and creative projects, such as audio and video recordings. They have become leading lights in the revival and development of Gaelic in both Scotland and Canada. The Celtic Student Society (‘An Comunn Ceilteach’) is one of StFX’s most active societies.

StFX is home to the largest and most important collection of Scottish Gaelic manuscripts, publications, and recordings in Canada, particularly in the substantial holdings of the Celtic Collection of the Angus L. Macdonald Library.

Chemistry holds the key to all scientific career paths, and helps broaden our understanding of the world and how it operates. Known simply as the central science, it is impossible to work in any scientific field without an understanding of Chemistry.

As a StFX chemistry student, you will evolve academically under the instruction of award-winning professors who will work closely with you to help achieve your goals and create an exciting learning environment.

WHY STUDY CHEMISTRY AT STFX?
Class sizes are small, particularly at the junior and senior level, providing for a good deal of faculty-student interaction and academic flexibility. As science has evolved, so has the Chemistry Department at StFX. It now emphasizes nanoscale and catalytic chemistry balanced with all major components of this field: the physical, organic, inorganic, analytical and biochemistry. You will learn in some of the most modern, state-of-the art laboratories and classrooms in the country. We combine a traditional focus on one-on-one learning with advanced technology application to produce graduates who excel in the field.

StFX students often attend regional and national chemistry conferences, receive prestigious awards, and are published in major academic journals.

Over 80 years of outstanding education in health care has allowed the Elizabeth and Thomas Rankin School of Nursing at StFX University to evolve into one of Canada’s most respected nursing programs. Graduates are known around the world for their caring, competency, and commitment to the field.

WHY STUDY NURSING AT STFX?
As a student in StFX’s B.Sc.N. program, you will have excellent learning opportunities that support best practice experiences.

StFX offers diverse clinical experiences in community health, mental health, acute care, maternal and child care, pediatrics, and international service learning opportunities. This diversity creates a dynamic learning environment that produces graduates who understand the complexity of nursing practice and the multi-level interventions required to address the needs of patients, families, communities, and populations.

Sociologists explore the way human interaction shapes our culture, and employ the ideas of leading social theorists for comprehensive answers. As a StFX Sociology student, you will be introduced to innovative methods of looking at the social world, human behavior and societies.

WHY STUDY SOCIOLOGY AT STFX?
Sociology students are among the most active at StFX, a fact often attributed to the professors who give you the tools you need to ask tough questions, make informed social choices and become personally engaged in change.

You will explore different vantage points and gain access to in-house expertise in areas including social movements, the environment, the various forms of social inequality, and theories concerning racial equality, identity and the self, media and cultural studies, rural sociology, fisheries, criminology, disability studies, deviance, social difference, gender identity and more.

Development Studies at StFX is a program for those wishing to understand how different ideas about development influence socio-economic well-being and environmental sustainability, as well as how to engage with these issues both locally and internationally.

WHY STUDY DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AT STFX?
The StFX Development Studies Program grows out of the rich tradition of the Antigonish Movement, a social movement grounded in community-based social and economic development. You will work with faculty members and with development professionals from the Coady International Institute. You will meet community leaders from Africa, Asia and Latin America enrolled in programs at the Coady, which for over 50 years has been promoting community self-reliance through education programs for such leaders.

You will have opportunity for real-world experience through service learning placements in the local community. You could undertake a 3-4 month internship in Canada or elsewhere in the world. This combination of academic courses and hands-on experience provides you with the means to make your own contribution to local and international efforts to solve development problems, reduce inequalities and change our world for the better.

Whether students plan to work in the finance industry or pursue higher studies in finance, the Finance stream provides students with solid foundations in finance to help them excel in the future.  Courses within the Finance stream cover a broad variety of topics including:

• corporate finance
• investments
• portfolio management
• derivatives
• financial institutions
• international finance
• personal finance

Our curriculum is rigorous as well as fun, allowing students to learn through problems, cases, spreadsheets and guest lectures. Beyond theory courses in finance, every student in the Finance stream has the opportunity to participate in training within our state-of-the-art Finance Trading Lab, equipped with professional software for trading and research that includes Thomson Eikon, Datastream, and Stockguide.