Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in Political Science

at University of Ottawa Canada

The School of Music at the University of Ottawa is one of the country's leading music schools. It is the ideal place to nurture your passion for all things musical and to pursue the rigorous training needed for an active and successful career in the field. We maintain close ties with renowned institutions such as the National Arts Centre (NAC) and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. Our program boasts state-of-the-art music facilities and internationally recognized professors who perform around the globe and publish in leading academic journals.

Philosophy
Since it deals mainly with issues that have no simple solutions, philosophy emphasizes the exchange of ideas and debate, and thus cultivates an appetite for deep and serious reflection. By reading and discussing the works of the world's great thinkers on fundamental topics like truth, justice, morality and existence, you sharpen your own ability to think clearly, critically and independently. The Department's curriculum has a twin approach, historical and analytical, and covers political and social philosophy, ethics, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind and logic. 

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 University of Ottawa School of Music is among the few offering a full master’s in musicians’ health and well-being, particularly in prevention and treatment of pain and injuries, as well as performance anxiety. Through innovative research, professors apply academic rigour to music pedagogy.

The school has launched a Musicians’ Wellness Centre dedicated to clinical research and professional training, not to mention a network of health care services. You can complete an internship there to gain professional experience and work with experts in fields such as physiotherapy, yoga, Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Method, audiology and mindfulness meditation.

The Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) is offering a program leading to the Master of Arts (MA) in Bilingualism Studies. This program is intended to offer an advanced education in several areas of applied linguistics, including bi- and multilingualism, methodological and technological innovations in adult second language instruction, assessment of adult second language competence, as well as language policy and planning.

The program is offered in English and French. Students are required to take one of their two compulsory courses in English and the other in French. The electives can be taken in either language.

In accordance with the University of Ottawa regulation, students have the right to produce their work, their research paper, their thesis, and to answer examination questions in French or in English. The program is offered on both a full-time and a part-time basis. Two options are available for the program, the MA with thesis and the MA with research paper.

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.

Environmental Science is the interdisciplinary study of the environment, its functioning and its relationship to human activities. 

The Environmental Science program at the University of Ottawa focuses on the integration of traditional science disciplines (e.g. biology, earth sciences, chemistry, physics) to study the natural environment and the impact of human activities. The program consists of a core of basic science courses complemented by courses in various disciplines that address the scientific and societal aspects of environmental problems. In addition, the program offers three areas of specialization: conservation and biodiversity; global change; and environmental geochemistry and ecotoxicology. The final year entails an independent research project or equivalent units in advanced courses in the specialization.

The School of Information Studies, located in the Faculty of Arts, offers a graduate diploma in Information Management and a Master of Information Studies (MIS).

The master's program offers three options to complete the units required for the MIS degree. The three options include a course-based option, a thesis option, and a co-op option. Please note that the co-op option is available to full time students only, and that there are a limited number of work placement spots available to SIS students each year. In all cases, a minimum of 25% of the courses must be completed in the second language.

Graduates of the MIS program are prepared to take on many exciting career opportunities as controlled vocabulary specialists, digital curators, information architects, knowledge management analysts, library directors, metadata managers, privacy analysts, records managers and web content managers, to name just a few.

Environmental issues fill the headlines — climate change, the oil sands, species loss, to name but a few. Is it possible to grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time? Is our current economic path sustainable? The Honours Bachelor in Environmental Economics and Public Policy provides students with a multidisciplinary understanding of the environment, the economy and the interaction between the two. The program includes a CO-OP option, and students may also undertake a research internship in the public or non-profit sector in fourth year. All students undertake original policy research in a capstone course in either environmental or natural resource economics. The program opens doors to careers in environment-economy policy development and analysis in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

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.

Ours is the communication and information age. Analyzing how information is gathered, produced and distributed today helps us understand the communication processes that drive a variety of settings: social, cultural, political, organizational, economic and legal. In this program, you will develop critical and analytical skills in order to evaluate the nature and impact of technology and media on society, organizations and interpersonal relations. You will have the opportunity to be exposed to the latest developments in the field of communication (communication strategies, digital media, evolution of the media industry, advertising, crisis communications, negotiations, etc.). The Department of Communication offers courses in two main areas: media studies and organizational communication (internal and external communication in public and private organizations, health communication, organizational change, etc.). Combining theory and practice, our programs develop your critical and analytical skills and prepare you either for a professional career or for advanced studies.