Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (Major)

at Thompson Rivers University - Kamloops Campus Canada

Horticulture is the culture of vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, turf grass, and ornamental plants. The settings for this culture may extend from the back yard grower to large commercial operations, such as green houses, orchards, vegetable farms, turfgrass operations, forestry seedling nurseries, garden centers, golf courses, municipal parks, landscaping, and landscape maintenance firms.

People working in the horticulture industry should have a strong interest in plants and like the hands on aspect of the work. Depending on the scope of work, many of the positions within the industry involve working outside in a variety of weather conditions.

Highlights
Cultivate a career in horticulture. Learn landscape maintenance techniques, equipment operation, pest management, landscape design and construction, plant identification, pruning techniques, plant propagation methods and basic irrigation hydraulics. On-site landscape development gives you hands-on experience to complement your coursework.

Acquire knowledge in the many facets of ecology and conservation biology. Students receive a strong grounding in all aspects of biology before specializing in terrestrial or marine ecology. The program involves extensive field and laboratory experiences.

Students will acquire a strong foundation in tourism studies including tourism experience marketing, environmental issues, community and cultural issues, applied research methods, and product development and innovation. Building upon this base, students will then explore tourism experience management topics such as understanding and influencing tourist behaviour, business strategy, small business management, information technology, and managing service operations in a global setting. Students will also gain valuable field experience with a two-semester consulting assignment in a tourism-related organization.

Some industry experts consider special events and conventions to be the fastest growing segment of the Canadian tourism industry. This program is designed to provide a practical overview of the function, skills and knowledge required to successfully plan, organize, manage, promote, and evaluate a festival, convention, trade show, or special event. Event planning is a very detail-oriented business. As a result, this program will appeal to individuals who have a high regard for details and the creative ability to manage special events and conventions from inception to fruition.

Obtain extensive exposure to the cutting edge of modern biology focusing on biology at the smallest scale. Build a strong foundation in all aspects of biology before specializing in biochemical techniques, regulation of gene expression, biotechnology, and microbiology. The program involves extensive laboratory experiences.

Students acquire a foundation in tourism related subjects including marketing, cultural issues, applied research methods, product operations and risk management. Students are then be free to explore a range of related topics such as rock climbing, surfing and skiing as well as programming, consulting and ecotourism.

Post-baccalaureate diploma will be of interest to students who have a non-business degree, and who want to return to university for one or two years to acquire a specialty in a functional area of business in order to enhance their employment opportunities. Students with a first degree in business, but who want to change their area of focus, may complete a post-baccalaureate diploma as well.

Study in British Columbia with Canada's premier Nursing program. Prepare yourself for the challenges and rewards of the nursing profession. The BScN program gives you the technical knowledge, human understanding and practical skills to administer responsible and client-centered care as a registered nurse (RN) in a variety of health care practice agencies (institutional, community and international) and with people who have a variety of health concerns.

Bachelor of Arts, Major in Communication
This four-year degree allows you to choose between two streams:

• Communication and New Media Studies
• Communication and Public Relations

Although there is some overlap in core courses, the two streams have different lower and upper level requirements.

Communication and New Media Studies
This stream covers the aesthetic, narrative and theoretical aspects of technology, as well as computer-mediated communication. If you have an interest in the ways technology, design and business interact, this program is for you.

Taking this stream will help you understand how "new" media fit in with forms and practices that are a part of "old" media. You will be able to anticipate developments in new media, and the genres and other patterns that they manifest — such as story and play in computer games; community, conversation and interpersonal communication with smartphones and social software; the way charisma, character and identity are communicated across a range of media.

Opportunities within the community
Three 3700 CMNS students tried their hand at deep mapping the Kamloops Art Gallery (KAG). Each played a different role on the team — social media/blogging, mapping and videography. Their objective was to deploy deep mapping as a strategy for TRU students and the Kamloops Art Gallery to co-placemake, to move away from just the consumption of the cultural products in the KAG to the creation of a community of producers and consumers where the distinction between the two is a little more blurred. One of KAG’s mandates is to create community, and one of TRU’s mandates is to connect with the community, so this worked well on so many levels. Please visit their website below. They were guided in their studies by their professor, Dr. Kathleen Scherf, employees and members of the KAG and by TRU webmaster Robline Forsythe.

Communication and Public Relations
This stream covers the practical and commercial application of communication. If you have business, tourism, entrepreneurial and public service ambitions, this program will show you how communication can enhance your business practices. Close ties with the Tourism and Business faculties offer the benefit of preparing you for a wide variety of business and event planning situations. No other such program exists in the Kamloops region.

This program offers graduates a background in communication history and theory, a wide reservoir of meaning-making skills (image-based, language-based, etc.), marketing knowledge and event planning. The communication courses offer training in strategies of communication design and the application of theory through pragmatic application. Public relations graduates should be well-rounded professional communicators who are prepared to enter the public or private sectors.

The Economics Major introduces students to the core body of knowledge in the discipline. In addition, students improve their abilities to conduct pricing, cost-benefit and program analysis, forecasting and industry analysis. They learn how economies interact which aids in all facets of business decision making. Finally, they learn to analyze the economics of the regulatory process and the reaction of businesses to the regulatory environment. Emphasis is placed on the application of basic economic tools to policy areas.

Learning objectives

• Upon completion of this program, students will be able to:
  • Discuss the theories and principles of microeconomics including trade and comparative advantage, the functioning of markets, consumer theory, uncertainty and risk, production and costs, market structure under varying competitive conditions, price theory, public good provisions, externalities and other market failures, environmental protection, taxation and welfare economics.
  • Discuss the theories and principles of macroeconomics including economic fluctuations, growth and development; unemployment; inflation, interest rates, deficits and debt, balance of payments and exchange rates, fiscal, monetary and various other polices using economic growth models, aggregate demand and supply as well as other applicable models.
  • Collect, analyze and interpret relevant economic information from multiple sources.
  • Demonstrate how quantitative/statistical methods and software packages can be used to examine economic data.
  • Describe the role of government and institutions in the economy including taxation, spending, regulation and production.
  • Integrate ethical concerns including efficiency, fairness, equity and individual freedom in policy development.
  • Analyze the behaviour of individuals, businesses and industries in market-based systems; social issues; and the challenges of developing economies using different microeconomic and macroeconomic theories and principles.
  • Assess and revise public policies addressing both market and non-market issues.
  • Apply economic theories and principles in a professional setting.