Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies with (Specialization) Literature and Narrative

at Trent University Peterborough Canada

International Development Studies at Trent aims to equip students with the tools to understand and analyze societal transformation, and to act in ways that contribute to progressive social and political change. Here, you will learn from a range of experts, including anthropologists, political scientists, and economists, as you take courses that fuse theory and practical learning. You’ll explore wide-ranging themes such as global poverty, food systems, hunger, conflict, ecological degradation, industrialization, and cultural identity, as you better understand the sources and consequences of human development around the world. Your studies will pay particular attention to the world’s most vulnerable populations and their complex relations with states, corporations and international organizations.

Resume Boosters:

• Study and work in a developing country through the Trent in Ghana program – includes a 12-week placement with a development organization
• Translate learning into experience through our community-based research course, conducting an evaluation of a community organization in Peterborough or Haliburton
• Join the Student Association for International Development and contribute to the student-run Community Movements Conference

In this program, the first-of-its-kind anywhere in North America, you’ll study a unique mix of Indigenous knowledge and Western teachings, learning from Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty, elders, guest speakers and other scholars.

IES brings together the principles of both Indigenous knowledge and Western science. Here, you’ll explore complex topics such as climate change, sustainable communities and Indigenous health and environment. By applying a cross-cultural approach, you’ll learn to generate solutions to the complex local, regional, national, and international issues facing Indigenous peoples and communities around the world.

Resume Boosters:-

• Take hands-on environmental fieldwork courses in Trent’s 12 on-campus nature areas
• Lead a community-based research project and apply your knowledge to assist a local organization
• Volunteer with Trent Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge and Science youth outreach summer camp

Create a unique educational focus based on your passions and interests, with an interdisciplinary knowledge base
Trent’s joint major programs give you full license to create a degree that's uniquely your own, by combining courses in the arts, sciences, or professional programs. Have a passion for social justice? Combine your Politics degree with Gender & Women’s Studies. Interested in all things tech? Join Media Studies and Computing Systems. Mix and match programs that best appeal to your interests, preparing yourself for a future with more possibility.

Combine degrees. Expand your horizons.
At Trent, you have the flexibility to combine nearly any two programs of your choice. To help you narrow it down, here’s a list of some of our most popular combinations:

• Media Studies and Psychology 
• Anthropology and History 
• English and Media Studies 
• Biology and Psychology 
• Anthropology and Psychology 
• Environmental Studies and Biology 
• Anthropology and Sociology 
• Geography and Canadian Studies 
• Computing Systems and Media Studies 
• Economics and Philosophy 
• Economics and Psychology 
• English and Psychology 
• Psychology and Sociology 
• Computing Systems and Economics 
• English and Sociology 

You can also explore the popular joint major combinations within our professional programs like Business Administration and Forensic Science.

Forensics:-
Trent is the only university in Canada to offer students the chance to combine your study of forensics with one of several different academic disciplines. Choose a joint major in forensics in combination with a vast array of complementary areas of study in either the arts or the sciences. Interested in a career in forensics specializing in ballistics? A joint degree with Physics could come in handy. Want to analyze the mental state of criminals, or become a criminal profiler? Combine your Forensics degree with a B.A. in Psychology. The emerging field of computer forensics means a joint major with Computing Systems can help you stand out from the crowd. No matter what your forensic career ambitions are, you have plenty of options at Trent.

Business:-
You want to become an innovative business leader or entrepreneur. No other program will help you get there better than Trent’s exclusive Bachelor of Business Administration. By examining corporate, self-employment, online, small business, and other business models, you’ll learn the fundamentals of leadership and management, gaining a deep understanding of the organization of business and its role in today’s highly-digital world.

Resume Boosters:-

• Gain the diversity of knowledge today’s employers are looking by studying and specializing in not one, but two academic disciplines
• Hands-on learning experiences abound in all Trent programs – gain the competitive edge on your resume

You want to become an innovative business leader or entrepreneur. No other program will help you get there better than Trent’s exclusive Bachelor of Business Administration. By examining corporate, self-employment, online, small business, and other business models, you’ll learn the fundamentals of leadership and management, gaining a deep understanding of the organization of business and its role in today’s highly-digital world.

Niigaaniiwin - The Art of Leading (Specialization):-
Study in a specialization that brings together two knowledge systems– Western business practices and Indigenous ways of knowing and working – with a view to developing students’ ability to work skillfully in the 21st-century business environment.
This specialization brings together today’s business practices and Indigenous knowledge and ideologies, developing students’ ability to work with mindfulness and agility in the 21st-century business environment. Business majors have the unique opportunity to connect to their business education with a knowledge of lessons learned through the history of Indigenous economic development.

Trent’s B.E.S.S. degree is perfect for students who want to bring science and arts together to understand and solve key environmental issues. You’ll gain an understanding of the scientific aspects of contemporary environmental issues, how they’re linked to policy and planning decisions, and how that can lead to an environmentally sustainable future.

Climate Change Science & Policy (Specialization):-
Dive into the challenges and solutions for climate change—environmental, economic, political, social—and build a strong foundation of knowledge and skills that equip graduates for the growing number of climate-related careers.

Climate change is the leading global environmental issue, but its impacts extend beyond the natural world, into business operations, politics and policy development, social justice movements, law and more. If you find yourself trading the car for public transit, reviewing a company’s environmental initiatives or participating alongside millions of others in global Climate Marches, this specialization is for you.

Trent’s Climate Change Science & Policy specialization draws on faculty specialties in Trent’s School of the Environment (TSE) and from affiliated departments, providing students with a robust, well-rounded education that could lead to a variety of careers supporting climate solutions that can have profound impacts on societies for future generations.

Resume Boosters:-

• Graduate from one of only two climate change-focused programs in Canada
• Develop a broad-base of skills and background in the science of climate change and policy perspectives related to it
• Learn from and work alongside professors who are experts in their field and practicing climate change practitioners, such as the first-ever Canada research chair in environmental geoscience
• Study in the Trent School of the Environment, a research-intensive unit that nurtures collaboration with diverse faculty specialties and expertise as well as opportunities for applied learning
• Benefit from access to state-of-the-art labs and facilities in Trent’s DNA, Life & Health Sciences Building and Water Quality Centre

Politics impacts all aspects of life, and importantly, quality of life. In Political Studies at Trent, you will find yourself debating and exploring ideas around democracy and global politics as you examine power relations and relationships between the state, business, and citizens. It is exciting and enlightening to learn how these relationships influence each of our lives, and more broadly, political, economic, and social change nationally and internationally. Our small class sizes and interactive student-professor relationships build confidence, skills, and knowledge for a variety of careers.

Political Theory
Political Theory explores the ideas people use to understand and shape political life. Theoretical premises developed over centuries invest our assumptions, our choices and our rhetoric with meaning. Whether in a global or a Canadian mirror, we see ourselves as liberals, conservatives, neoliberals, socialists, Marxists, anarchists – perhaps postmodern or postcolonial - but always as members of a community. Political theory helps us grasp wider significance from the diversity of political ideas and events shaping our present and our future. Political theory also helps us invest those ideas with new and inspired meaning in the contemporary context.

Not only will you graduate with two degrees in just six years, but you’ll also have the chance to take your education global while you learn, travel, explore, and live abroad.

If a career in law is what you want, this is the program for you. In this one-of-a-kind program, you will undertake either a Bachelor of Arts Honours or a Bachelor of Business Administration degree at Trent – Ontario’s #1 undergrad university, while also obtaining a law degree from Swansea University’s renowned Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law in the UK – no need to write the LSATs.

How the Program Works:-
The first two years of your degree take place at Trent, where you’ll pursue your choice of 14 degree options. In third year, you’ll transfer to the coastal city of Swansea in Wales to complete three years of law studies, earning your Bachelor of Laws degree. Once your LL.B. is complete, you’ll return to Trent to complete your Honours degree credentials. By simultaneously taking several Canadian Law courses in your final year at Trent, you’ll be well-prepared for the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) exams, enabling you to take the required steps to practice law in Canada.

Degree Program Options:-
Business Administration*; Canadian Studies; Cultural Studies; Economics; English Literature*; Environmental & Resource Studies; Gender & Women’s Studies; History*; Indigenous Studies; International Development Studies; Media Studies*; Philosophy*; Political Studies; Sociology*

Resume Boosters:-

• Combining your law degree with your choice of B.A. or B.B.A. degree means that you will graduate with a unique set of skills and perspectives
• Meet and learn from top law professionals through our Visiting Lawyers in Residence program
• Join the Trent Law Society and benefit from field trips, workshops, and events, all with a focus on law and the legal system

Understanding mental and physical health is complex. Through this new program, you will gain a multidisciplinary understanding of the aspects that influence human behaviour and patterns of health, morbidity, and mortality. You will investigate the complex issues around attempting to change lifestyle and actions through evidence-based practices, and understand the biopsychosocial perspective of well-being.

Resume Boosters:

• Put theory into practice with a 12-week placement in your fourth year, where you’ll engage in real-life application of health promotion in various community settings such as public health, clinics, agencies, and schools
• Sharpen your research and communication skills through focused coursework, you can even choose to complete a research thesis on a health topic of interest
• Benefit from individual guidance and small class sizes as you work alongside faculty who are leaders in their field
• Gain the diversity of knowledge that today’s employers are looking for

You want to become an innovative business leader or entrepreneur. No other program will help you get there better than Trent’s exclusive Bachelor of Business Administration. By examining corporate, self-employment, online, small business, and other business models, you’ll learn the fundamentals of leadership and management, gaining a deep understanding of the organization of business and its role in today’s highly-digital world.

Entrepreneurship (Specialization)
For highly innovative B.B.A. degree students, the Entrepreneurship specialization is an excellent avenue for exploring an independent path in business leadership and enterprise. Learn how to plan and build your own business, develop online marketing strategies, and shape your groundbreaking ideas into a viable and thriving business.

With 220 million French speakers worldwide (projected to be more than 700 million by 2050), French language and comprehension has become a highly-sought after and important skill. In this program, you’ll immerse yourself in French, French Canadian, and Francophone literatures and cultures.

Courses in French and Francophone studies help students to learn basic communication skills, appreciate other cultures through language, and go beyond the study of language to achieve a deeper understanding of diverse peoples by way of their literatures and other modes of cultural production. Texts are read closely from a contemporary critical perspective with attention to their cultural and historical context. All courses are taught in French, except in the case of some courses cross-listed with other departments or programs, which may be taught in English.

French and Francophone studies aims at flexibility within a structure that affords a diversity of experience in Francophone culture and literature and continuous training in the use of the language. It provides effective preparation for graduate work but is not conceived as strictly preprofessional. The significance of French is highlighted by the College’s proximity to Quebec and by the large number of Franco-Americans who live and work in northern New England. In addition to France’s literary tradition, the Francophone histories and cultures of North Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean, and Quebec have produced writers and artists who have influenced the world broadly with their cultural and artistic dynamism and insight, making French and Francophone cultural production truly rich and varied.

Resume Boosters:-

• Enhance your language comprehension through French language events, public readings, and student-run mini-conferences
• Develop and refine your knowledge of French in a European context in our popular year abroad program in Nantes, France
• Access other language courses through the Trent Centre for Language and Linguistics - study Chinese, German, and Spanish, all with no background required