Bachelor of Arts (Joint Major) in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and Political Science

at University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) - Prince George Campus Canada

The Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Geography degree provides a broad background on the fundamentals of physical geography (climate, snow and ice, water, soils, ecosystems). It provides you with specialized expertise in geospatial analysis, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, statistics, and field measurement methods that are critical skills for professional geoscientists and environmental consultants.

The success of any company or organization rests on the commitment and imagination of the people who are its members. Effective human resources management enables an organization to build success through people. By attracting qualified employees, developing their talents through training, fairly compensating them for their efforts and protecting their health and safety, we create organizations that are productive, innovative, and satisfying to employees. We provide our students with the knowledge and skills to effectively manage the people in an organization. Human resources management is a professional field that is growing rapidly in Canada and there are many career opportunities within this exciting field. 

Students pursuing a BSc in Conservation Science and Practice focus on understanding and addressing the contemporary challenges facing the sustainable use and conservation of our environment. Navigating these challenges requires a strong scientific foundation, including the necessary appreciation for both the natural and human dimensions of conservation and management. This degree equips students with the knowledge to enter a solutions-based career that actively contributes to solving today’s conservation and management problems. Our goal is to provide students with the philosophical foundation, scientific theory, and technical skills to address the challenge of maintaining the functioning of ecosystems across developed, developing and still-wild landscapes.

The BSc in Conservation Science and Practice allows students to pursue one of two majors:

• Wildland Conservation and Recreation
• Landscape Conservation and Management

The major in Landscape Conservation and Management focuses on natural and human-modified systems across broad spatial scales. The emphasis in this major is on integrated landscapes that support a wide variety of values and activities, including the maintenance of biodiversity, the rights and practices of Indigenous Peoples, ecosystem services, and resource extraction. Courses in this major consider human activities across a range of ecological scales but with an emphasis on landscape and ecosystem-level processes. Graduates from the major develop the skills to work with cutting-edge tools and data that are necessary for the planning and management of multiple values across space and time. 

History
Historians study what people have thought, said, and done in the past. You will learn to think critically about the historical processes that shape the present. As a history major, you will develop the knowledge needed to pursue careers in law, education, journalism, civil service, politics, museum and library archives, or post-secondary professorship.

Women's Studies 
Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to studying the historical, cultural, literary, and societal role of women and gender. UNBC's program has strengths in areas such as women's and gender history; gender, literature, and literary theory; gender, colonialism, and postcolonialism; gender and globalization; feminism, justice, and ethics; gender and health; and gender and international studies.The Women's Studies program offers majors and minors in Women's Studies and, in cooperation with other programs, four joint majors. At the graduate level, the program offers a Master's degree in Gender Studies.

Explore the cause and effect of critical events throughout history such as warfare, activism, exploration, culture and science.

Historians study what people have thought, said, and done in the past. You will learn to think critically about the historical processes that shape the present. As a history major, you will develop the knowledge needed to pursue careers in law, education, journalism, civil service, politics, museum and library archives, or post-secondary professorship.

Program Details
This degree draws on almost every time period, theory and geographical space. Choose from a variety of subjects, including the record of First Nations in Canada, women in European medieval society, and history of law, or delve into religious, race and economic issues that span global borders.

Our faculty bring a mix of methodologies to their instruction—you are encouraged to follow your personal interests in course selection and independent research. The department offers specialized courses in the history of law, crime and punishment.

Anthropology 
This program applies a combination of science and humanities to understand a range of anthropological approaches. Utilize your knowledge at the graduate level or in pursuit of a career in education, law, social work, and more.

Geography
Geography studies the cultural, social, economic, and political connections between people and their environment. Examine the factors that shape the complex relationship between human societies and the built and natural landscape. Prepare for career opportunities in community development, land and resource management, or continue your graduate studies.

Economics
Economics is concerned with how societies provide for the well-being of their citizens and residents, along with public policies to promote well-being. Faculty members in the Department of Economics are excellent teachers and committed to providing students with an active learning and inclusive environment, and to developing knowledge of contemporary issues and practical thinking skills. Economics courses address a range of current issues, such as: what are the impacts of carbon taxes? How can health care be efficiently and equitably provided? Should water be privatized? What is the best portfolio choice to maximize my investment?

Global and International Studies
Global and International Studies examines the drivers and impacts of our planet’s inter-connectedness in technology, culture, sustainability, governance and economics. You will be prepared for a rewarding career in global and international organizations including governments, inter-governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations and international businesses.

The Computer Science program gives students a thorough exposure to basic areas like computer architecture, programming languages and methodology, algorithms and data structures, systems programming, operating systems and networking, knowledge-based and database systems, software engineering, and theory. The student will develop the advanced practical computing and problem-solving skills required for professional work in modern industry, based on a strong conceptual foundation and on insights into the nature of this rapidly changing field. Each student will use advanced development tools, and will be encouraged to approach problem-solving from a multidisciplinary point of view. The program emphasizes direct co-operation with industry. 

The Bachelor of Health Sciences degree is a four-year program consisting of a range of courses that relate directly to the science of health, in the recognition that health is a complex entity defying a simple explanation or a single disciplinary perspective.  The courses identified within the School of Health Sciences offer learning opportunities from a variety of disciplines, including the life sciences, social sciences, behavioural sciences, and ethics and law, to enable students to develop a body of knowledge and understanding relating to the dimensions of health.  Some of these courses are considered to be ‘core’ and therefore central to the basic understandings of health, while others offer the student opportunities to learn about a specific health perspective that is focused on one of three Majors:

1. Biomedical Studies,
2. Community and Population Health-Environmental Health, or,
3. Community and Population Health-Aboriginal and Rural Health.

Graduation from either of the Community and Population Health Majors enables students to embark on careers or graduate programs related to health care management, administration, information systems or public health.

Students pursuing the Biomedical Studies Major are required to complete a set of courses that enables them to be prepared for application to professional programs such as medicine, nursing, pharmacy, occupational therapy, dentistry, speech pathology or physiotherapy.  This major provides a foundational, multidisciplinary knowledge base that is focused on the natural,  physical, and social sciences, and includes population health and research methodology. Students interested in other fields requiring extensive biomedical laboratory skills may enroll in the degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BCMB).

Learn to be an effective agent of environmental, sustainability and social innovation as you promote the mitigation of, and/or adaptation to, environmental and sustainability challenges. A degree in Environmental and Sustainability Studies leads to a rewarding career in sectors such as government, Indigenous government and agencies, the non-profit sector, law (with additional training), international development, environmental consulting, environmental health and more.

Program Details
Study the natural environment, societal challenges and sustainable solutions to environmental and sustainability challenges, surrounded by the spectacular natural environment of UNBC.

Explore the social science and humanities perspective on environmental and sustainability issues. Study the concepts of environmental citizenship, societal relationships with ecology, sustainability initiatives such as carbon management and energy, global perspectives and more.