Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in Political Science

at University of Ottawa Canada

The period known as the European Middle Ages has endowed the Western world with a rich architectural, musical, poetic, theological, literary and linguistic heritage. Our vision of the world has its origins in the Long Medieval period, so studying this era that starts at the end of Antiquity and reaches the Modern times introduces you to your past in all its dimensions: linguistic, cultural, historical, political, philosophical and religious. These multidisciplinary programs include courses in history, philosophy, music, theatre, English, French, Italian, and Latin literatures.

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 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.

Ethical issues are taking on a greater importance in society and in our lives. Think, for example, of the questions raised by medical advances that challenge our concepts of life and death, or the privacy issues created by the growing use of the Internet. This multidisciplinary program in ethics is both theoretical and applied. You reflect on fundamental issues in moral and political philosophy and come to understand the nature of ethics issues in health care, business, law, communication, criminology, social work, public affairs and other areas.

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.

History
History is the discipline that focuses on the diverse and complex ways that individuals and groups have created and adjusted to change over thousands of years around the world. In studying change over time, history students learn to interpret evidence of human thought and behavior, in order to understand the impact of individual and collective decision-making, the changing relationships among people and societies, and between humans and their environment. 

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.

Physics
Why is our world the way it is? How can we understand and explain what we observe around us, from the smallest sub-atomic particles to the largest galaxies? How can we apply this understanding to manipulate our world? Studying physics gives insight into the fundamental laws of nature. 

But an education in physics gives so much more. The rigorous training our students receive in analyzing and understanding complex problems is valuable in many future careers. While many of our graduates have established careers in universities and in the high tech sector as research and development scientists, others have used their physics degrees as a springboard to careers in finance, administration, medicine, management or education. The range of career opportunities is perhaps wider than for any other students with a science education. 

Physicists have revolutionized the way we live our lives, with groundbreaking discoveries and new technologies, transferable to other fields such as biology or finance. Our professors and graduates are an important part of this chain. Many of our professors have also been recognized for their teaching and are seen as world-class researchers in their fields of expertise. 

The research conducted by the professors in the Department of Physics is concentrated in several sub-specialties, including the physics of biological and complex systems, condensed matter physics, photonics and the physics of geomaterials. Depending upon your choice of program, you have the opportunity to take courses and participate in research projects in these specialized areas. 

In addition to the Honours BSc in Physics, we offer three other Honours BSc programs. The first is in physics-mathematics, which provides enriched mathematics training within a physics program. The second is the option in photonics, which gives students a solid training in physics and a more applied and industry-related training in photonics. The third is the option in biological physics, which teaches students to apply a rigorous education in physics to various areas of life sciences. We also offer a Major in Physics that can form the core of an Honours BSc when combined with a major or a minor in another discipline in the Faculty of Science, or in another faculty. Finally, starting in fall 2016, we will offer a five-year integrated program in physics (BSc) and electrical engineering (BASc), jointly with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS). This unique program will offer a full education in physics and electrical engineering. Graduates will be sought after by industry and academia, as they will have the capacity to develop technology from a basic physics idea to the final product. 

The Department of Physics also has strong graduate programs, leading to an MSc or PhD. They give students the opportunity to work on cutting edge science in a research group led by one or more department professors.

Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering is at the heart of today's exciting advances in technology. With five technical specializations—communications, systems, electronics, microwave and photonic, and power and sustainable energy—our curriculum will enable you to influence how the world communities communicate, generate sustainable energy and heal diseases. As an electrical engineer, you will work with other engineers or scientists on emerging technologies. 

The option of Engineering Management will prepare you with necessary skills to pursue entrepreneurial activities and start your own technology-related business. The double degree program—BASc in Electrical Engineering and BSc in Computing Technology—will put you at the intersection of the two areas that propel the waves of technological development.

The graduate studies in law are a joint endeavour of the Common Law and Civil Law Sections. We welcome law graduates from both legal systems and from countries around the world. Courses are offered in English or in French, and occasionally in both languages. Students may readily complete their graduate studies while learning something of Canada's other legal and linguistic traditions.

Students will acquire knowledge and have opportunities to apply what they learn in various types of organizations and contexts related to sport, leisure and physical activity. They will gain theoretical and practical training in governance and management principles, related to planning, policy making, marketing, entrepreneurship, and communications. Students will critically examine the impacts of organizations, sport events and festivals, and learn to evaluate the influence of policy relating to sport, leisure and physical activity, on individuals and society.

Students will acquire the management skills needed to understand the Canadian sport system, its organizations and people. For example, they will gain an enriched understanding of governmental, for-profit, and non-profit organizations in sport and leisure, ranging from local to international organizations in professional sport, municipal recreation departments, sport events, and the commercial sector. Students will receive training informed by social sciences (e.g., management, sociocultural, leisure studies, psychology). Management courses will give students opportunities to gain competencies in the planning, organizing, marketing, leadership, and evaluation of sport, leisure and recreation organizations and events. Students will acquire cutting-edge knowledge and skills related to the latest developments in branding and marketing a sport, leisure or recreation organization, and managing volunteers in a sport event or festival. Sociocultural courses will enable students to learn about historical and contemporary issues affecting how people interact in organizations and in society. Students will have opportunities to understand the reasons behind current situations and gain skills in critical inquiry they can use to facilitate change in organizations.

Graduates will have developed management skills allowing them to better integrate into the workplace upon graduation and contribute to their organization and society. They will have acquired skills to provide advocacy and recommendations to policy and decision-makers at all levels of the sport system, from the municipality to Sport Canada, and international sport organizations. Our graduates will also have gained interpersonal, networking, and critical thinking skills, which will benefit their job marketability. They can pursue career-paths in various segments of the sport, leisure and recreation industries (government, non-profit or for-profit) at the local, regional, national and international levels. The emphasis of our program on both foundational knowledge but also how knowledge translates into action enables our graduates to pursue different occupational roles. For example, our graduates can take on leadership, management, and governance roles in local and national amateur sport organizations (e.g., sport clubs, university athletics department, Olympic sport organizations), event organizations (e.g., FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015), professional sport teams and government departments (e.g., Sport Canada, provincial and municipal recreation departments). Our graduates can also pursue research-based or professional-based graduate degrees.

The University of Ottawa offers a rich academic environment to study mathematics and statistics under the supervision of professors who have gained an international reputation for their research. Most major fields of research in mathematics and statistics are represented within the Department of mathematics and Statistics. Moreover, the Department is a participating unit in the master's level collaborative programs in bioinformatics and in biostatistics.