Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology

at York University - School of Continuing Studies Canada

York's Music program provides an uncommon opportunity to explore the depth and breadth of the art form through a remarkably flexible curriculum that enables students to pursue creative and scholarly work across a wide range of musical genres and traditions, tailored to each individual's unique talents and aspirations.

York's Music program is known for pioneering post-secondary studies in jazz, world, classical and digital music. Students may specialize or generalize according to their interests, developing expertise in a particular area of vocal or instrumental performance or composition, or working in a variety of musical practices and cultural forms. Options include solo, small and large ensemble performance; composition and arranging; education and community arts development; ethnomusicology; and the growing field of musoc media production for cinema, gaming and motion media.

All first-year Music students enter the BFA program. After first year, students whose interests centre on music history, criticism and scholarly research may choose to move to the BA program.

Program Highlights
Courses and workshops in popular music and in non-western performance traditions, such as South Indian, Chinese orchestra, Indonesian gamelan, Caribbean, West African drumming and Celtic Canadian, are a regular feature of the program.

Performance Opportunities
Presenting more than 100 student and faculty conerts a year, as well as master classes with renowned Canadian and international artists, the Department of Music offers countless opportunities to perform and collaborate. In addition to the many student-led ensembles, students can be part of numerous formal ensembles, including:

• Symphony Orchestra
• Jazz Orchestra and Choirs
• West African Drums
• Concert and Chamber Choirs
• Celtic Canadian Folk Ensemble
• New Music Ensemble
• Chinese Classical Ensemble
• Gospel Choir
• Wind Symphony
• Escola de Samba
• Rhythm & Blues Ensemble
• Chamber Strings

York's Portuguese & Luso-Brazilian Studies program covers not only the Portuguese language but also the culture, history and literature of the entire Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) world across all continents. Learn about and engage with a diversity of cultures – their art, literature, music, history and social and political landscapes through courses such as:

• Luso-Brazilian Cultures and Cinemas
• Cannibal Brazil: Cultural Encounters in Literature and Film
• Language in Context: Portuguese in the Greater Toronto Area
• Mapping Brazilian Identity Through Fiction: History, Race and Gender

The Portuguese language is the fourth most widely used language in the world, spoken daily by over 250 million people.

Its study will prepare you for work both nationally and internationally, offering you instant entry to Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, São Tomé e Príncipe, East Timor as well as numerous Lusophone communities around the world - Canada, USA, Germany, France, Switzerland, Australia, South Africa, Venezuela, Luxemburg  - and the territories of Macau and Goa.

We are the only university in Canada that offers a course solely dedicated to the region of the Azores. The Culture and Literature of the Azores delves into the uniqueness of this North Atlantic archipelago, whose natives make up the majority of the Portuguese immigrants in Canada.
Our program offers many opportunities for you to move beyond academics, exploring experiential education opportunities, and engaging in cultural events that will enliven your learning.

Solutions for 21st-century challenges involve complex systems that no single discipline can fully address. Mathematical Biology, a program in the field of Applied Mathematics, aims to represent biological processes using a variety of mathematical tools and techniques. Mathematical modelling has direct impact in areas such as disease prevention, the development of ecosystems and waste management. York offers Canada’s only degree in Mathematical Biology, and as a fourth-year student, you will have the opportunity to acquire real-life problem-solving skills in a required research project. Experience directly the intersection of math and the life sciences, as well as the role it plays in our everyday concerns. As a program graduate, you will leave with the tools and knowledge allowing you to help solve the problems of modern life. 

Crime, criminality, and criminal justice are central concerns in contemporary Canadian society. In politics, law, policy and popular culture, the problem of crime and what to do about it command increasing attention and interest. The Criminology program will provide you with an exceptional opportunity to pursue study in this evolving and expanding field. You will explore the ways in which concepts of crime, criminality and criminal justice have developed over time. You will also investigate how crime is understood legally, politically, economically and culturally.

The program’s interdisciplinary approach is reflected in complementary relationships with a number of other academic disciplines including anthropology, history, philosophy, political science, psychology, socio-legal studies, and sociology. Students are able to choose courses from these disciplines as well as from the core program courses, each of which draws from a range of disciplines and is devoted to making connections between different areas of study.

Note: Criminology is not a pre-law preparatory program.

The Criminology program will focus on the analysis of:

• Crime
• Criminality
• Processes of criminalization and social control
• Organized crime
• Systems of justice
• Criminal justice systems

Our innovative BA in Educational Studies program provides students with a broad understanding of how and why people learn, and the role education plays in society today.
Courses are clustered into three topical areas, which explore the understanding of education.

• Engagements — focus on the development of professional skills
• Values — focus on who and why we educate
• Representations — focus on understanding the idea of education

Students in this program develop the essential skills necessary to succeed in educational work outside of the traditional classroom and  benefit from the Faculty of Education’s strength in the study of education and York University’s strengths in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
There are highly skilled educators at work anywhere human beings share knowledge, contributing to their communities and succeeding in their chosen fields.. Upon graduation, you’ll have the skills and knowledge needed to educate outside of the classroom.

Experiential Education
During years 3 and 4 of the program, you will have an opportunity to experience your education through learning placements within the community or in related organizations. You’ll develop workplace-specific skills and enhance your professional networks. Our unique community-partnerships will provide you with opportunities to put theory into practice and to gain insight into the kinds of learning and advocacy that contribute to the well-being of society.
The BA in Educational Studies does not lead to teacher certification. Students accepted into the Bachelor of Arts, Educational Studies program may also apply for entry to the Concurrent Bachelor of Education program.

Political Science encompasses not only the actions of governments, political parties and the courts, but also political movements in society and in the power relations of everyday life.

Choose from a rich and diverse range of courses that allow you to focus on a number of topics such as:

• Global politics
• Political economy and political power
• Development and inequality in the Third World
• Social justice
• Ethics
• Law and democracy
• Violence and security

This breadth of choice will help you to gain a comprehensive understanding of critical issues facing our world and the political context in which they exist while acquiring in-demand analytical and communications skills.

• You will learn to conceptualize and to think critically about crucial dimensions of political life, both values and processes, especially those linked to such issues as the uses and abuses of power; the articulation of rights and responsibilities; and the intersections of community and nation-state with more globally-defined realities.
• Our first-year classes are taught by our most distinguished scholars who not only cover the essentials, but also design the courses with flair and expertise.
• Our Political Science professors are internationally known. Professor Leo Pantich is the Canada Research Chair in Comparative Political Economy and Professor Leah Voskos is the Canada Research Chair in Feminist Political Economy.
• We are well known in many areas including Canadian Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Theory and Women and Politics

The Cinema and Media Arts Program in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design is a unique interdisciplinary program combining traditional scholarship with extensive opportunities for engaged, hands-on learning in the field of Cinema and Media Arts.

The Cinema and Media Studies Program focuses on history, theory, criticism, curation, and producing of cinema and other media-rich arts, such as gaming and social media forms. Students learn to understand film, television and other moving images in relation to history, criticism, technology and aesthetics. They encounter a diverse world of cinema and media and learn vital skills that will help them become leaders in our future world – a world that is increasingly interconnected through modes of communication and interaction that relay cinematic and moving images.

Through coursework students will develop specialized knowledge and critical understanding of multiple fields of cinema and media studies including genre, authorship, national and transnational cinemas, technologies of the image, and cultural theory. Students wishing to pursue careers in the cultural industries will have the opportunity for engaged learning in the areas of producing, marketing, the business of film, curating, and festival programming. In addition to practice-based workshops and specialized assignments, students can expect opportunities for placements and internships with a broad array of organizations, such as local film and media festivals such as TIFF and Images Festival, independent distribution companies, the National Film Board of Canada, the Ontario Art Gallery, film magazines and journals, independent production companies, archives, and many more.

Challenge what is. Imagine what could be. Transform the Future. The Faculty of Environmental Studies provides a unique educational experience in an expanding field of study, research and employment.

Studying the environment has never been more important or complex. In order to make change, we need to recognize the impact we have on the world around us. Our program examines the interconnections of human life on our natural surroundings and explores the various perspectives, approaches and inequalities that exist in the world today.  An introductory first year allows you to expand your passion for environmental and social justice through a common core course approach. Then, specialize for your future career success in one of the following: Environmental Management; Urban & Regional Environments; Environmental Politics, Justice & the Arts.

Program Highlights
The Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) defines "environment" as everything that surrounds us. Environmental studies is, therefore, not only about natural environments, but also about built, social, cultural, political and organizational environments as well as all of the relationships between them.

After completing a common first year, you will have the opportunity to focus on one of three Areas of Concentration:

• Environmental Management
• Urban & Regional Environments
• Environmental Politics, Justice & the Arts

The Faculty of Science offers Bachelor of Arts(BA)and Bachelor of Science(BSc)degree programs in Applied Mathematics.

Applied mathematics or computational sciences encompasses the many analytical and numerical methods used to solve scientific problems. It is at the core of many disciplines ranging from engineering and science to business and economics. It is essential to be able to apply many different mathematical techniques and to handle problems involving statistical data. It is also necessary to be able to take a practical problem, from engineering for example, and turn it into a mathematical problem; this is referred to as mathematical modelling.

Applied mathematics includes the area of scientific computing, which involves many components of computational processes — numerical analysis, algorithms for machines with vector and parallel architectures, visualization, simulation and computer-aided design.

Applied mathematicians use equations and computer simulations to:

• design computer chips;
• set airfare and insurance rates;
• model electric power grids;
• study genetic engineering;
• create new automobile and airplane design;
• study global climate change.

It is mathematics used to model and solve practical, real-world problems.

The Applied Mathematics (BA) program aims to give students a solid base of knowledge of mathematics which has important applications in fields such as computer science, physics, earth and atmospheric science, chemistry, biology, psychology and also in economics and business. Bachelor of Arts students are given the opportunity to take electives in other areas of interest, such as business administration.

There are three streams within the Physics and Astronomy program:

• Physics
• Applied Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics

Physics is the most fundamental science discipline. It attempts to understand nature at its deepest level. It develops an understanding and description of all forms of energy and matter and can be said to occupy the middle ground between mathematics and engineering.

Astronomy is the science that deals with the origin, evolution, composition, distance and motion of all bodies and scattered matter in the universe. It includes astrophysics, which discusses the physical properties and structure of all cosmic matter. Participate in world-class research projects led by our professors in fields as diverse as atomic and molecular physics, laser physics, elementary particle and subatomic physics and engineering physics. Students from this program routinely win prestigious grants to support them in all areas of graduate research.

You will gain a strong grounding in physics, astronomy and computer-based physics with a strong experimental physics component. You will not only learn the subject matter, but also learn how to write scientific reports, and deliver oral presentations on a topic of your choice. The physical world is open to you!

• Work with professors in our research groups like those in experimental high-energy (particle) physics and astronomy and the Centre for Research in Earth & Space Science.
• It's natural to combine Physics with other disciplines, such as Earth and Atmospheric Science, Chemistry, Computer Science or Biology. Given that physics teachers for high schools are difficult to find, why not combine Physics & Astronomy studies with a teaching degree?
• York's Astronomical Observatory is actively engaged in a long-term variable star monitoring program. Although clear and dark skies are not as frequent as one would like in Toronto, the results from this on going research have yielded relatively "clean" and valid scientific results. Results are presented at the annual Canadian Astronomical Society meetings each year. Come to a public viewing on Wednesday night or take a virtual tour.
• The Astronomy Club brings together all those who look to beauty, those who seek knowledge and those who are simply curious to meet, discuss and learn about the cosmos in which we live.