Diploma in Liberal Arts

at University of the Fraser Valley - Abbotsford Campus Canada

A Bachelor of Arts with a Political Science major, minor or extended minor offers a range of lower and upper-level courses focusing on the fields of Canadian politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory.

Political Science major
UFV's Political Science major is designed to provide you with valuable skills in writing, communications, critical thinking, research, problem solving, and more.

In year one and two, you learn foundational skills in political science history and theory, statistical analysis, and research methodology. In year three and four, you round out your knowkedge by investigating relevant special topics and issues such as international relations, human rights, and public policy.

The Political Science major requires the completion of 18-19 lower-level credits and 30 upper-level credits. If you have research interests you can apply one Political Science Directed Independent Studies course towards your degree.

The Bachelor of Arts in History offers a Major, an Extended minor, and a Minor. A History Honours is also available for students who excel in the History Major. 

The program:

• Study the past to understand the present
• Gain a multitude of skills, including critical thinking, analysis, research, writing, and communication
• Be introduced to Arts-based methodology
• Work with an abundance of sources, whether written or oral
• Enhance your learning in other disciplines
• Learn about the diversity of perspectives on the past
• Enhance your understanding of other cultures
• Gain exposure to the history of people, places, cultures, and ideas
• Prepare for careers in fields such as teaching, public service, law, archives, public history, research, and journalism  

The Bachelor of Integrated Studies — UFV's most customizable degree program — lets you choose from over 100 courses from various disciplines and programs, so you can earn an undergraduate degree tailored to your personal career and academic needs. As part of the program, you draw on a mixture of in-class and online learning opportunities, field-based courses, and professional learning experiences to achieve competency in six core areas:

• Effective communications
• Scientific literacy
• Digital
• Use and analysis of numerical information
• Intercultural engagement
• Professional and applied skills

The Bachelor of Integrated Studies is an excellent option if you want to pursue interdisciplinary studies, combine minors, or change your educational focus partway through your degree. You can also include credits earned while completing a certificate or diploma at UFV or other accredited community colleges or universities.

UFV's multi-disciplinary Migration and Citizenship graduate certificate program uses real case studies to investigate human movement, resettlement, and belonging, both globally and with a particular focus on the Canadian experience.

1. As a Migration and Citizenship student, you will:
   • Examine human migration, whether voluntary, forced, permanent, or temporary, in transnational and intrastate contexts;
   • Investigate how this mobility is shaped by different governments and state institutions;
   • Learn about the experiences and identities of the migrants and the diverse forms of communities that they create.
2. You will also:
   • Explore the various meanings of citizenship in contexts of migration;
   • Analyze how they are shaped by legal, political, institutional, economic, social, and cultural dynamics of inclusion and exclusion and how they are created by migrant experiences, identities, and communities, and through policies, practices, and discourses.

The Migration and Citizenship graduate certificate is designed for employed professionals wanting to grow their skills or recent graduates wishing to enter the field of immigration and resettlement.

The program is scheduled to accommodate both working and full-time students, with classes offered in evening and weekend time slots. If you choose to study full time, you can complete this graduate certificate in eight months. But you can also opt to study part-time and take up to three years to earn your credential.

UFV's Mennonite Studies certificate offers solid foundational knowledge and professional experience to students who intend to pursue work or additional studies in fields such as peace and conflict resolution, sociology, history, religious studies, or social work.

In the first semester, you first explore the rich heritage of the Mennonites and connect their origins and development to socio-cultural, historical, economic, political, and religious contexts.

The second semester prepares you to become a critically-informed and socially responsible citizen. Through in-class lectures, course readings, participation in local events, and field work, you analyze and evaluate Mennonite contributions in relation to local and international relief work, development, and peacebuilding initiatives.

In addition to five required courses, elective options allow you to tailor your studies to suit your interests and career goals.

In your last semester, you gain real-life experience by completing a summer internship.

Upon graduation, you are well equipped to work in Mennonite-related fields, pursue relief work or peacebuilding initiatives. Alternatively, you may choose to apply to your credits towards a wide range of programs at UFV, including Peace and Conflict Studies.

UFV offers the first year of the Bachelor of Applied Science (Engineering) degree program for students wishing to transfer to the University of British Columbia or the University of Victoria. Upon completion of the UFV program, students may be allowed to enter the second-year Engineering programs at UBC and UVic without any additional qualifying courses, providing they meet the entrance requirements for the program at these institutions.

Students transferring to UBC or UVic from the UFV program with the minimum required GPA may be admitted to the UBC/UVic second-year program. Once admitted, all students, regardless of their first-year institution, then compete for seats in different specialties based on their GPA; popular specialties have higher GPA requirements than the entrance GPA. UBC also allows admission from General Sciences, but may require a higher entrance GPA.

UFV's Horticulture Crop Production and Protection certificate provides you with a solid foundation to prepare you to enter the horticulture industry. The program emphasizes principles and practices of horticultural crop production, protection, and maintenance that are in line with sustainability, food security, and environmentally responsible agricultural production techniques.

Topics include:

• Introduction to agribusiness principles
• Horticulture skills and techniques
• Plant identification
• Greenhouse production
• Nursery production and propagation
• Integrated pest diagnosis and treatment
• Fruit and vegetable crop production
• Soil analysis and fertility
• Farm and safety equipment

As a student, you are actively involved in practical, hands-on activities in the Agriculture Technology department greenhouses and on the UFV campus.

The one-year Horticulture Crop Production and Protection certificate transfers completely to the two-year Agriculture Technology diploma, Horticulture Crop Production and Protection option. Some credits may also transfer to other two-year programs in horticulture. Qualifying students may also be eligible to receive the equivalent of Year I apprenticeship in production horticulture.

Study Economics to gain the problem-solving, reasoning, and computer skills that employers value in government, business, or finance. Economics is the only discipline in the broad areas of Social Sciences and Business that is awarded the Nobel Prize. Many famous and successful people have an economics degree.

Economics Major
Develop your analytical and creative thinking skills in order to understand and communicate complex economic issues facing all levels of people - from individuals to entire nations.

During your first and second year, you are introduced to the concepts of micro and macroeconomics and learn to strategically evaluate the influences and decisions contributing to the economic issues.

In your third and fourth year, you hone your critical thinking skills and expand your knowledge of international markets, consumer demands, market structure, and more.

As an Economics student, you develop:

• Problem-solving skills
• Quantitative and computer skills
• The capacity for independent thought
• A firm grounding in modern economic theory
• Knowledge of finance and accounting
• Knowledge of the Canadian and world economy

FEATURES:

• Co-op semester(s) provide paid work experience in your field of study
• Emphasis on critical thinking and real-world problem solving to develop job-ready skills
• Program eligible for financial aid

UFV ten- to eighteen-month* Data Analysis post-baccalaureate program equips you with the practical skills needed to extract reliable information from large data sets.

By taking carefully designed courses with the right mix of computing and statistics, you gain the database skills you need to house, extract, manipulate and maintain data.

More importantly, you also learn the statistical techniques needed to collect data correctly, assess its quality, analyze it, and turn it into the business intelligence that companies and institutions highly value in the marketplace.  Beyond knowing how to use specific programming languages and tools, employers need you to identify meaningful patterns, so that you can draw actionable conclusions to guide decision-making.

A career in the criminal justice field is a dynamic and challenging one; UFV's 61-credit Criminal Justice diploma program prepares you for front-line/entry-level jobs in the field.
Gain a broad perspective on issues of law, justice, crime, and criminal behaviour with a well-rounded curriculum that includes subject matter from various disciplines, including criminology, psychology, sociology, communications, and political science.

Learn valuable skills in mediation, crisis management, and conflict de-escalation, and participate in a field work practicum that is designed to meet your career interests.
After you graduate, you may go directly into the third year of the Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice program. The diploma program also offers a transfer option to BCIT Bachelor of Technology in Forensic Investigation.