Bachelor of Arts (Joint Honours) in Philosophy and Political Science

at University of Ottawa Canada

Geography addresses highly relevant issues like climate change and human adaptation; water resources and their management; community organization and evolution; social interaction in urban space; and northern development in permafrost environments. 

Our programs provide you with the knowledge, tools and technical skills that make you highly employable as soon as you graduate. What's more, emerging technologies such as computer cartography, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) are an integral part of the curriculum, as are unforgettable field experiences in Canada's north land, in the Great Lakes basin and in the Appalachians.

The Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine is located in the Faculty of Medicine and offers graduate programs leading to the degrees of Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Neuroscience.

The programs help students develop their theoretical knowledge as well as their capacity for critical analysis. This is achieved through reading and critiquing the scientific literature, conducting experiments in the laboratory, analyzing the data and results generated, and presenting their results in the form of research seminars or posters. The programs prepare candidates for a variety of careers in teaching and research both within and outside of academia.

Graduates of the program will acquire autonomy in conducting research and in preparing scholarly publications and grant applications. A comprehensive set of courses, state-of-the-art research facilities and outstanding research opportunities ensure a career in neuroscience.

The Department is a participating unit in the collaborative program in Human and Molecular Genetics and in Pathology and Experimental Medicine at the master's and doctoral levels.

In the three-year Bachelor of Social Sciences program, students cover the fundamentals of the social sciences while studying three specific areas of their choice, including at least two from the following areas: anthropology, criminology, economics, political science, psychology, public administration, sociology and women’s studies. In addition, the Bachelor of Social Sciences is an excellent springboard to studies in law or education.

Besides providing an excellent base for professional careers, a degree in English literature can offer you unmatched intellectual challenges and rewards. The Department provides courses in all major historical periods and national traditions of literature in English. It also offers courses in creative writing and literary theory, along with general interest courses in such topics as literature and film, children's literature, science fiction, graphic novels, and literature and the environment. The Undergraduate English degree lays a foundation for the pursuit of graduate studies, and is also an excellent preparation for professional degrees like Law, Business and Education.

Mathematics and statistics are not only powerful problem-solving tools, but also highly creative fields of studies that combine imagination with logic, and precision with intuition. 

Mathematics is much more than numbers! Its basic goal is to reveal and model general patterns to help explain our world, whether they be found in electrical impulses in the human nervous system, the evolution of animal populations in their habitats, fluctuations in stock-market prices, or electronic communications. Mathematics reaches far beyond science and engineering into medicine, business and the social sciences. 

Advances in mathematics and statistics lie behind many discoveries that are now part of our daily lives, such as MRI scanners, digital compression of music and video, secure electronic communications, data mining, genomic algorithms, futures pricing, and many other innovations. 

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers Honours, majors and minors both in mathematics and in statistics. Our Honours program in statistics is accredited by the Statistical Society of Canada, allowing graduates to earn the A.Stat. professional designation. Moreover, the Department offers a joint honours program in mathematics and economics, a joint honours program in mathematics and computer science, as well as a multidisciplinary program in financial mathematics and economics. All our honours programs also include the co-operative education option.

The Honours Bachelor of Science in Nursing is a four-year program. It is offered jointly with two Ottawa-area colleges, and in both official languages. It seeks to prepare the next generation of nurses to offer quality nursing care and to assume leadership within the health care system. Its mandate is to prepare generalist nurses (a) who can work in any place offering nursing care, (b) who have developed effective communication skills, (c) who use their critical thinking and analytical skills at work and (d) who are open to lifelong learning. These programs also lead to graduate studies (MSc, MSc — PHCNP, PhD) in nursing sciences at the University of Ottawa.

Building on a solid foundation of traditional engineering skills, this program covers many different aspects of computer software and hardware design, and allows for more specialized studies in microprocessor-based systems, computer architecture, programming concepts, real-time operating systems, software engineering and robotics. This program provides multiple paths to a variety of careers.

Recent discoveries and new technologies are revolutionizing the biological sciences, placing increasing emphasis on integrating knowledge across all levels of organization, from molecules to ecosystems.  Our programs give students both the intellectual tools and the hands-on experience they need to pursue careers in fields as diverse as conservation and endangered species; land-use management; ecotoxicology; academic, industry or government research; or health care.  Learning takes place through traditional classroom instruction, innovative laboratory projects with state-of-the-art technologies, field-based courses around the world, and a strong research program in which undergraduate students of all years are intensively mentored in a research lab.

The honours program in biology allows for in-depth study in one or more biological disciplines. Students can concentrate on a particular area by choosing one of three options: Cellular and Molecular Biology, Physiology, or Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour. This route includes a compulsory independent research project to equip students with advanced research, analysis and communication skills applicable to diverse careers.  Alternatively, they can pursue diverse interests by selecting a general course of study that includes a number of advanced courses, and they can gain work experience while studying through the Co-Operative Education Programs.

Economics
Ever wonder why some countries are richer than others? Ever question why income inequality has been growing? Ever wonder why Canadian politicians worry when other countries may be going bankrupt? Economics can answer all these questions. 

Economics examines how individuals and society make choices in a world where resources are limited. It focuses on the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Two important themes are efficiency (the absence of waste in the use of resources) and fairness. Since making choices is central to all human activities, studying economics often helps explain why people and governments behave in certain ways.

Political Science
Politics is omnipresent in our lives. Political science seeks to describe, analyze, understand and assess the principles and power relations that govern social life. It revolves as much around the structures and institutions that define these relations and principles as around the ideas and practices that drive them. It studies everything that influences political life and institutions (ideologies, groups, social movements, etc.) on a local, regional, national and international scale.

Our programs offer in-depth training in political science and encourage critical reflection on pivotal issues like citizenship, identity, political participation, globalization and development, governance and the state, and ethics and democracy. A discipline open to many theoretical and methodological approaches, political science constantly exchanges and shares with other fields. At the University of Ottawa's School of Political Studies, you build your knowledge in four subfields of political science: political thought, Canadian and Quebec politics, comparative politics, and international relations and global politics.

The MPH is a course-based program with an experiential learning component (Public Health Practicum) and a culminating experience (Applied Public Health Capstone Project) which demonstrates integration and synthesis of public health skills and knowledge. It is to be completed full-time over 4 terms.

The MPH builds on SEPH’s existing strengths in global health, population health risk assessment, and empirical public health sciences. The content and structure of the program are also consistent with the Canadian Guidelines for MPH programs developed by the Network of Schools and Programs of Public and Population Health, the entity which represents the professional and academic public health community in Canada.

Areas of Focus
Students will opt into one of four areas in which to focus their learning:

• Public Health Practice
• Public Health Policy
• Global Health
• Population Health Risk Assessment.

Enhanced Policy Training
We are partnered with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs so that the MPH program can offer enhanced policy training to all enrolled students, and a policy stream that is unique in Ontario. This program will create leaders in the practice of public health and in public health policy analysis.

Program Goals
The MPH program will produce professionals who are competent, flexible, and ready to respond to diverse and changing population, disease, and political contexts in Canada and globally. In short it will prepare candidates for meaningful professional careers in the field of public health. 

The program has three goals:

• Prepare leaders for strong and professional public health practice and policy work in Canada and globally.
• For graduates planning a professional public health practice career, ensure a superior understanding of the policy perspective
• For graduates planning a public health policy career, ensure a superior understanding of the scientific evidence perspective.