Bachelor of Arts in Honours Arts - Social Development Studies

at University of Waterloo Canada

Learn to wow your audience as you explore theatre and performance in one of Canada’s most creative drama programs. Go beyond art history books and collaborate with professors, visiting artists, and other students to make high quality work that contributes to a just society. You'll learn by doing, covering performance to management, design to critical studies, and creation to technology. 

In the classroom, courses in performance, production, design, direction, and management will give you the technical tools to excel at your craft. Meanwhile, complementary courses in politics, race, gender, theory, technology, and aesthetics will help you decide what messages matter. You can apply your knowledge to co-op placements too.

By the time you graduate, you’ll have a rich portfolio to take into the world of theatre, plus a range of creative, analytical, and management skills that will serve you well in any number of roles, on stage or off.

Behind just about every advance in information, power, and energy, you’ll find an electrical engineer. Join the ranks of those innovators with a degree from Waterloo, whose electrical engineering program is ranked in the top 75 internationally (Shanghai World University Rankings 2020).

You’ll study the fundamentals of electromagnetism, circuits, algorithms, and instrumentation. You'll also gain hands-on experience starting right in first year, thanks to paid co-op work terms and some of the best electrical engineering student labs in North America.

When you graduate, you’ll have hundreds of career paths open to you: from designing power stations and aircraft control systems to pioneering the future of microprocessors and telecommunications systems.

What is co-op?
Co-op lets you explore careers and gain paid work experience while earning your university degree. What could be better than that?! As a co-op student at Waterloo, you’ll normally alternate between four months in school and four months as a full-time employee of the organization you're working for. It's an amazing way to learn to successfully interview for jobs, see how your degree relates to real-life problems, graduate with up to two years of valuable experience – and make money!

Use your understanding of mathematical concepts to solve complex problems in engineering, medicine, business, and science, from the behaviour of ocean waves to the structure of space-time.

In Applied Mathematics, you’ll deepen your knowledge of calculus and differential equations: the foundation for most mathematical models. You’ll have lots of opportunity to put those tools to work on real-life problems — in the classroom and, if you choose co-op, during your work terms.

Many of our Applied Mathematics graduates work in research, development, and consulting. Others pursue graduate studies in applied mathematics, computer science, engineering, or physics.

Public Health has some of the smallest class sizes in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences at Waterloo. This means that you will get to know your professors really well—and they'll get to know you too—which will position you for success in your studies.

Gain a new perspective on illness and health
Biology isn't the only thing that determines health... social, cultural, political, and geographical conditions play a pivotal role in individual and population health. In the Public Health program at the University of Waterloo you'll learn how to improve human health by understanding these determinants and seek innovative ways to prevent diseases from occurring in the first place.

We recognize that the world is constantly changing, and so too should the policies, practices, structures, processes, and tools we use to improve health and health care. With this systems-thinking approach, you'll be able to tackle some of the world's toughest health challenges.

What will I get out of the Public Health program?

• Understanding of how and why social, political, economic, geographic, and biological factors interact to determine health
• Skills in using policy, advocacy, human engagement, mediation, communication, and community development and mobilization to implement change
• Ability to fully participate in the process of knowledge exchange, and to retrieve, interpret, and use research as the foundation for action
• A well-rounded education that will prepare you for a variety of pursuits when you graduate. Some students may go on to graduate and professional programs (e.g., Master of Public Health) while others will go straight into the workforce

You can also add additional areas of interest and expertise by including one or more of the areas of focus within the program.

• Gerontology
• Health Informatics
• Health Research

Choose courses from a wide variety of subjects to tailor your program towards your own area of interest. Experience community through small classes and engaged professors. Explore the theory and practice of conflict resolution, human rights, and international development, and get some first-hand experience through co-op placements or a Peace and Conflict Studies internship.

Understand the factors that drive conflict and violence. Think critically about how peace can be built in complex situations to move towards a healthy society where communities and individuals flourish.

You’ll learn from renowned specialists in peacebuilding who bring both academic and practical expertise. Build even closer ties to your classmates and professors by joining the Peace and Conflict Studies Living-Learning Community at Conrad Grebel University College, located on Waterloo’s main campus.

What is co-op?
Co-op lets you explore careers and gain paid work experience while earning your university degree. What could be better than that?! As a co-op student at Waterloo, you’ll normally alternate between four months in school and four months as a full-time employee of the organization you're working for. It's an amazing way to learn to successfully interview for jobs, see how your degree relates to real-life problems, graduate with up to two years of valuable experience – and make money!

Choose courses from a wide variety of subjects to tailor your program towards your own area of interest. Experience community through small classes and engaged professors. Explore the theory and practice of conflict resolution, human rights, and international development, and get some first-hand experience through co-op placements or a Peace and Conflict Studies internship.

Understand the factors that drive conflict and violence. Think critically about how peace can be built in complex situations to move towards a healthy society where communities and individuals flourish.

You’ll learn from renowned specialists in peacebuilding who bring both academic and practical expertise. Build even closer ties to your classmates and professors by joining the Peace and Conflict Studies Living-Learning Community at Conrad Grebel University College, located on Waterloo’s main campus.

What is co-op?
Co-op lets you explore careers and gain paid work experience while earning your university degree. What could be better than that?! As a co-op student at Waterloo, you’ll normally alternate between four months in school and four months as a full-time employee of the organization you're working for. It's an amazing way to learn to successfully interview for jobs, see how your degree relates to real-life problems, graduate with up to two years of valuable experience – and make money!

Use insights from the natural, physical, and social sciences to help solve some of the world’s biggest environmental challenges — from water scarcity to pollution to loss of biodiversity.

Learn about conserving and restoring ecosystems, and explore issues in environmental governance. And thanks to our small classes, you’ll develop a real sense of community right from first year.

When you graduate, you can apply your knowledge in a growing number of fields, from green technology to ecological consulting to environmental law. And if you want an early start, you can also apply that knowledge to paid co-op work terms.

Life Sciences is the study of living organisms, ranging from the very tiny world of microbiology and genetics to the physiology and zoology of the world’s great mammals – with plants, botany, and more in between!

At Waterloo, Life Sciences is a group of related majors. The four Life Sciences majors (Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedical Sciences, and Psychology) bring together disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, and math to help you learn how living systems work and interact. When you apply to Waterloo, you'll select one of the majors and get to do labs and experiments starting right in first year. You can choose the co-op program or the regular system of study 

Biology
Explore all aspects of life and living creatures – from cells and genes to species and diversity.

Some of the greatest scientific discoveries have occurred within the field of biology, including the mapping of the human genome, identifying the structure of DNA, and how photosynthesis works. All of these revelations happened because dedicated scientists looked at the world a little differently.

At Waterloo, you’ll dive into your Biology major right from day one. And with more than 80 biology courses available, you’ve got plenty of options. From microbes and genes to plants and zoology, we've got something for anyone who's passionate about living systems.

You’ll graduate ready for a career in laboratory or field research, environmental assessment, education, health professions, or industry. If you enrol in co-op, you'll also have up to two years of paid work experience to add to your resume.

Philosophy has long been a central component of a liberal arts education — and with good reason. It teaches you critical reasoning like no other discipline. It’s also an excellent addition to studies in mathematics and the sciences. 

In the Philosophy program at Waterloo, you’ll explore enduring dilemmas of human existence, learn the fundamentals of formal logic, and apply philosophical reasoning to highly topical issues and current events. And have the opportunity to apply it all in your co-op work terms, too.

Once you graduate, you’ll have a wide range of options. A philosophy degree is ideal for a career in law and valuable preparation for just about any field that demands breadth of thinking, careful reading, thorough analysis, and clear argumentation.

Earn a Bachelor of Science degree and your Commercial Pilot Licence through the largest aviation program in Canada.

Your core science education will be supplemented with courses that include cartography, climatology, geographic information systems, aerodynamics, and remote sensing. Our curriculum also emphasizes the organizational and communication skills you’ll need to succeed in the working world.

Aviation and aerospace industries demand a new breed of specialists who have well-developed analytical and decision-making skills, along with an understanding of complex aircraft systems.

Waterloo’s Science and Aviation program equips you with that expertise.

Program highlights

• Log 200+ flight hours. You’ll spend lots of time in the air — flight hours that count toward your Commercial Pilot Licence with aviation courses through the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre.
• Build valuable skills. When you graduate, your combination of a university degree and a pilot’s licence will set you up for a wide range of airborne and ground-based careers — and give you a distinctive edge over your competition.

What will you learn?
First-year courses
In your first year, you'll take a mixture of Aviation, Geography, and science courses to give you the foundations for your upper-year classes. After first year, most of your classes will be Aviation and science courses with some Mathematics and Geography courses.