Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology

at St. Thomas University Canada

In Great Books students encounter different subjects, genres, and modes of inquiry. Each course is organized around a theme, like Freedom or Human Nature & Technology. Students read novels alongside philosophical treatises; they study law, politics, poems, works of history and autobiographies all in the same course. In addition, every course is team-taught by two professors to promote conversation and a diversity of views. Professors choose texts that will challenge and provoke you — books that might inspire or trouble you. Through these texts our students come to understand a good deal about themselves and the world they inhabit.

Students who are interested in Great Books often take the first-year Aquinas: Great Books Program, as it operates on similar principles. Our classes are team-taught by at least two different professors and sufficiently small (36 students maximum) to allow for discussion.

You might be interested in studying great books if...

• You are interested in understanding yourself and your place in the world
• You love to read and think about life's big questions
• You're interested in the history of ideas

Critical and transferable skills
Great Books classes require a great deal of reading, writing, and critical thinking. With two professors dedicated to each class, you receive a lot of one-on-one attention to help sharpen your reading and writing skills. Our classes are discussion based, not lectures. We want you to think about the questions posed by the texts and determine for yourself what an appropriate answer might be. Your capacities to think through arguments and to speak cogently and persuasively are developed by means of the discussion-based format.

Native Studies is designed to provide both First Nations and non-First Nations students with the opportunity to explore the cultural, historical, and contemporary issues of First Nations people of North America, with emphasis on Native cultures of the Canadian Atlantic region and the eastern United States.

The Native Studies program offers a selection of interesting courses. As an interdisciplinary major, it also draws on courses that are offered by various other disciplines. Upper-level courses include Native American Philosophy, the Role of Native Women, Native People and the Colonial Experience, and Native History of the Maine/Maritime region.

Language courses are another key component of the Native Studies Program. Courses in Maliseet and Mi’kmaq include introductory, intermediate and full-immersion levels.

In 1984 St. Thomas University became the first university in Canada to establish an academic Chair in Native Studies.

You might be interested in studying native studies if...

• You want to understand why bureaucracy, education, and the world economy operates the way it does and how it affects indigenous peoples

Critical and transferable skills
You will obtain invaluable insight into the relationship of First Nations individuals and communities and the immigrant societies across Canada. You will have the opportunity to study Maliseet/Passamaquoddy, as well as Mi'kmaq. You will develop the ability to think critically and responsibly about issues that relate to First Nations communities and the land.

Anthropology is unique in being a hands-on field of study. Anthropology can be done wherever people are, and wherever people were. As a student of Anthropology at St. Thomas, you can expect to get out there in the real world, interacting with people in a variety of social contexts, excavating artifacts, and analyzing bones in our anthropology laboratory.

Discovering Anthropology
Cultural anthropologists, social anthropologists, and linguists typically spend years living with particular groups of people, participating in their everyday lives. This process of long-term, small-scale, intensive and detailed study allows them to understand some of the most fundamental aspects of human existence which only reveal themselves in this way. Archaeologists also conduct long-term fieldwork examining human material culture, excavating, documenting, and analyzing artifacts as a means of answering the same questions about human existence. Physical anthropologists study human skeletal remains not only to understand our physical past and development, but also in modern-day criminal forensic investigations.

You might be interested in Studying Anthropology if...

• You’re a global thinker that’s interested in language, society, geography, and music 
• You’re interested in people and curious about different cultures 
• You want to understand yourself and your culture better

Critical and Transferable Skills
Living and working in today’s world increasingly means interacting with people from many different cultural backgrounds. The skills developed through completing a degree in Anthropology enables graduates to become critical thinkers and effective communicators who are able to generate relevant information and make informed decisions.

According to the American Anthropological Association, anthropological training concentrates on three transferable skill areas: “understanding human diversity, building research skills for collecting and making sense of information, and communicating effectively.”

The Law, Politics, and Society (LAPS) Program is a systematic but flexible interdisciplinary exploration of the relationship between law, political life, and Canadian society. It examines the nature of law and its influence on Canadians and their polity and explores how law is made and changed, and what forces shape it.

Students learn about the institutional character of law making and enforcement and also the social factors that shape and are shaped by law.

Given the growing centrality of law in Canadian society, attention is increasingly being paid to the nature and composition of the bar and bench, and the politics of judicial appointment increasingly make the front page.

Law, Politics, and Society is an interdisciplinary program, but is also a fine complement to studies in Human Rights, Political Science, Criminology, or Sociology.

You might be interested in studying law, politics, and society if...

• You want to learn about the way law works in advanced democracies
• You want to explore the influence of law on Canadian society
• You want to learn more about the types of law in Canada, the judicial system, or the legal profession

Critical and transferable skills
It is important not simply to know that Canada is a law-based polity; it is important also to know who makes and interprets that law and to know how the law affects citizens. In this program, you will learn about how law is made and changed, how it interacts with social forces like ethnicity, gender, and economic inequality, and how social and political change leaves its marks on laws and legal processes.

You will learn about the philosophical and institutional foundation of law and courts and become familiar with the factors that influence judicial outcomes—why judges decide cases the way they do. You will also develop a familiarity with how personal conditions and characteristics may bring someone into contact with the law.

Within the Bachelor of Arts, St. Thomas offers a unique English as a Second Language (ESL) program for students whose level of English proficiency is not high enough to pursue regular studies at an English-language university.

Students are provided the opportunity to begin university studies for credit while they continue to improve their language skills in a planned, individualized program of study.

In Economics, you will study how the economy works, where it came from, the challenges it creates for social equality, and how individuals engage to modify and change economic relations.

Discovering economics
The Department of Economics at St. Thomas brings the strengths of a critical liberal arts education to the study of the economy. We study different ways regions, large and small, manage their resources—whether those resources be financial, natural, goods, or services. The study of Economics takes a critical look at how regions trade, price, consume, and distribute. It is the job of an economist to be an expert in understanding the various economies in which she or he works and to prepare best practice advice for the benefit of his or her region. Our students investigate not only how the economy works, but where it came from, the challenges it creates for social equality and social justice, and how people engage to modify and change existing economic relations.

You might be interested in studying economics if...

• You are interested in the economy
• You want to become an informed citizen

Critical and transferable skills
As a student of Economics, you will learn to navigate through the ebb and flow nature of the economy in which you live and work. You will develop intelligence in making informed decisions and providing meaningful advice related to wealth and resources in your area. You will also sharpen your analytical skills and appreciate the value and limitations of evidence-based arguments and research. At the same time, you will gain advanced communication skills, especially in your capacity to read and analyze academic and technical writing.

Courses offered in the Japanese language focus on learning fundamental language structure and practicing communication skills. In the courses, reading and writing Hiragana and Katakana are essential, and some Kanji are introduced and practiced. Japan and Japanese culture are introduced and discussed.

Advanced courses develop the communicative skills necessary for everyday situations - focusing on conversation and writing systems, expanding vocabulary and sentence structures and teaching students to express themselves on a wide range of topics from daily life.

As students complete the beginner’s level of Japanese, they are prepared for the Level IV Japanese Proficiency Test offered by the Government of Japan.

Explore the culture of French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin. Study literature and media while developing skills in oral communication, grammar, and composition.

Discovering Romance Languages
The Romance Languages Department offers Minor, Major, Double Major and Honours Programs in French and Spanish, a Certificate in French Language Proficiency and the DELE in Spanish. Introductory and intermediate-level courses are taught in Italian and Latin. The department is comprised of dynamic and devoted faculty responsible for delivering ambitious programs both in second language acquisition and French and Spanish literary and cultural studies.

Due to its association with Francophone, Hispanic, and Italianate worlds, all having immeasurable intellectual and artistic impacts on the development of Western culture and humanism, the Romance Languages Department has a pivotal role to play in a liberal arts curriculum. The Department’s mission contributes directly to enhancing the goals of a liberal arts education that St. Thomas University seeks to promote.

You might be interested in studying romance languages if...

• You want to learn another language
• You want to learn about different cultures and their impact on today's society
• You want to become a global citizen

Critical and transferable skills
Our department seeks to foster global citizens by exposing students to the diversity of Francophone, Hispanic, and Italianate worlds via the study of literature, cultural media, cinema, and art. The strong focus that our programs place on the acquisition of advanced and superior levels of second-language literacy development (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) result in an increased awareness of the crucial role communication skills—oral and written—play in developing and expressing complex ideas and arguments. Courses in French, Spanish, and to a certain level Italian, offer rigorous programs in oral communication, grammar, composition, translation, literature, and cultural studies.

Students may choose to complement their language studies at St. Thomas with programs offered in Québec, Latin America, France, Spain, or Italy. Most importantly, students are made acutely aware of issues and questions that challenge humanity in different global cultures and regions. Students become less ethnocentric, more tolerant and gain an appreciation of alternate sociocultural practices, attitudes, and beliefs.

Our School of Education takes a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching and learning, while emphasizing inclusionary teaching approaches. We offer concentrations in elementary (K-5), secondary (6-12), or French second-language teaching through cooperative learning and teamwork, along with practical teaching techniques.

Our 11-month program includes two field placements in different schools and at different grade levels offer opportunities to put theory into practice and will prepare you for a rewarding career in education. 

Gerontology is the study of the changes that take place in the process of aging, how society defines aging, and how individuals understand their own later years.

At one time, talks of aging prompted images of failing health, isolation, and lack of purpose. Today, people are living longer, healthier, and more productive lives. Studying Gerontology at St. Thomas, you will explore the impact of the way society defines aging and how individuals actually experience and understand their own later years.

St. Thomas is also home to The Third Age Centre, an autonomous, community-based, non-profit organization to empower older adults to maintain healthy, independent, active lifestyles. The centre conducts research and public education on issues of particular concern to older adults. We are also affiliated with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Narrative. Students are often invited to be involved in projects undertaken by these centres.

You might be interested in studying gerontology if...

• You want to understand the process of aging from sociological, psychological, physical, and spiritual perspectives
• You want to learn more about the issues that concern older people

Critical and transferable skills
The study of Gerontology will give you academic skills, as well as self-care and self-exploration strategies. You will learn how to conduct interviews with older adults. You will learn how to design recreation and educational programs for older adults. You will learn critical thinking as you explore controversial and ethical issues in long-term care, end of life, work life, as well as images in the media and popular culture.