Bachelor of Arts in Indigenous Studies

at York University - School of Continuing Studies Canada

With its unique interdisciplinary approach that bridges studio production, art history and curatorial practice, AMPD's Department of Visual Art & Art History offers students the opportunity to become well-rounded professionals in the field, able to lead in the creation, exhibition, critical understanding and communcation of visual culture in diverse environments.

The Honours BA in Art History emphasizes the relationship between visual art and its social contexts, including global cultural exchange. The curriculm focusses on modern and contemporary art, indigenous and settler art of the Americas, Asian art, western art and architecture, art criticism and curatorial studies. Students have hands-on access to original works of art to explore prectical applications of museum and gallery studies.

Geomatics Engineering blends the knowledge of science and engineering with information technologies to solve complex, real-world problems. The diverse issues tackled by the field range from tracking a vehicle’s location within a city to determining land use from a satellite image. Geomatics engineers focus on the science and technologies related to positioning and navigation, sensors, measurements and mapping, as well as on spatial awareness and intelligence. 

Our Geomatics Engineering program is accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB).

What You’ll Learn
We will get you started with the basics in geomatics, surveying and mapping, navigation, sensors, and measurements to assist in building a strong foundation in the discipline.

In third and fourth year, you will take Geodesy, Advanced Surveying, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Measurement Theory and Estimation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry, Survey Law and Land Registration Systems, Advanced 3D Techniques, Mobile GIS and Location-based Services, Sensor Integration and Advanced Field Surveys courses. You will learn and use advanced state-of-the-art instruments while putting your professional skills to the test.

To top it off, the co-op program after second year allows you to gain professional experience, giving you a head start towards becoming a licensed Professional Engineer.

Urban Studies at York stresses the importance of fieldwork when studying the social and spatial fabric of cities.

The city is among the most fundamental human institutions. Across history, cities have been sites of basic innovation in economic, political and cultural life — centres of trade, seats of empire and the locale of scientific, social and artistic creativity. Cities retain these roles today and are the home of a growing majority of the world’s population who increasingly live in large metropolitan regions of several million people. Often, as in many Canadian cities, these urban regions are marked by complex social diversity, striking contrasts of wealth and poverty and a challenging array of planning and environmental dilemmas.

Urban Studies is the attempt to understand cities and city life — how they function, the current and future concerns of their residents. This encompasses the political institutions, economic and social relations, physical landscapes and cultural frameworks that constitute the city.

As a student in Urban Studies, you will focus on cities as distinctive entities and explore the meaning and function of cities in the larger society. You'll be taking courses from a broad range of fields including:

• History
• Environmental studies
• Geography
• Anthropology
• Political science
• Sociology
• Psychology.

You will also examine the processes that produce certain patterns of human settlement and chart the changing relationships among areas shaped by urbanization, such as metropolis and countryside, city and suburb, municipality and region.

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.

The health of the environment has become an urgent global concern. As we better understand how human survival and well-being depend on a healthy environment, public interest and awareness of the impact of human activities on other organisms and ecosystems is increasing.

This program focuses on the biology of environmental issues, integrating ecological theory and practice to predict, quantify, and address the impact of stressors such as habitat loss, pollutants, climate change, resource harvesting and invasive species on living systems. A capstone course in fourth year prepares you to be a practicing environmental biologist, exposing you to cutting-edge experimental design and methodology. A key objective of this program is the development of communication skills, to give our graduates a competitive edge.

What makes Environmental Biology at York unique?
Learn from preeminent environmental biologists such as Bridget Stutchbury and Lawrence Packer
Combine a major in Environmental Biology with second major or a minor in a complementary discipline such as International Development, Geography, Earth and Space Sciences, Chemistry, Sociology, Health Policy or Environmental Studies.

In AMPD's Department of Cinema and Media Arts students experientially learn to understand, think and work in the language of the moving image across all media. From idea to screenplay, camera to screen, screen to critical inquiry, our integrated curriculum offers exceptional training across the spectrum.

The BFA in Production offers a comprehensive curriculum in all aspects of filmmaking. Courses in the creative crafts of cinematography, editing and sound are offered alongside studies in the concepts and practices of screenwriting, directing and producing. Students work in a full range of digital and film formats, utilizing industry-standard production and post-production facilities, to produce work of fully professional calibre.

The program combines in-depth technical instruction with a strong emphasis on the creative aspects of film as a medium of storytelling, social engagement, and self-expression.

Small classes, ranging from 25 students in first year to 10 – 15 students in third and fourth year, allow for strong mentoring by the department's internationally recognized faculty.

The rich Cinema and Media Studies component included in the BFA in Production gives students an edge, developing their ability to not only make moving images but to think, talk and write about cinema and other screen-based media, and to understand the historical and theoretical framework in which they are produced.

With its unique interdisciplinary approach that bridges studio production, art history and curatorial practice, AMPD's Department of Visual Art & Art History offers students the opportunity to become well-rounded professionals in the field, able to lead in the creation, exhibition, critical understanding and communcation of visual culture in diverse environments.

Through intensive studio training supported by studies in the history and theory of art, students receive a thorough grounding in the production of art works and comparative cultural analysis across a wide range of traditional and contemporary media. In the initial foundation year, students take courses in all artistic media -- painting, sculpture, print media, drawing, photography and interdisciplinary art -- and then can choose to specialize in one or more areas. At all levels, students are mentored by faculty mambers who are highly regarded artists with active professional practices.

York's Visual Arts students are supported in their exploration and creation with access to facilities unrivalled in Canada, including the Joan Goldfarb Visual Arts Study Centre; the L. L. Odette Centre for Sculpture; spacious, state of the art studios; five student-run exhibition galleries and the award-winning Art Gallery of York University.

Software is used to control many aspects of the modern world, ranging from medical devices, nuclear power plants and airlines to Google and Amazon. It is valuable in developing software for prosthetic limbs to improve mobility or write the code for the next breakthrough in mobile communications. Software engineering makes the complex systems possible, safe and reliable. 

Our Software Engineering program is accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB). 

What You'll Learn
Lassonde’s Software Engineering program prepares students for a career using state-of-the-art computing labs, a full suite of software development tools, and hands-on experience in the design and development of software products.

In a capstone project, you work with a team to design, test and deploy a significant and exciting product using all the knowledge and skills you have gained.

After second year, you can take part in the co-op program, giving you an early start to becoming a licensed Professional Engineer.

Some Courses You'll Take:

• Advanced Object-Oriented Programming
• Software Development Project
• Design and Analysis of Algorithms
• Operating System Fundamentals
• Software Design
• Software Engineering Testing
• Mission Critical Systems
• Building E-Commerce Systems

Linguistics is concerned with discovering the organizing principles of human languages and applying these principles to the description of individual languages. Using systematic descriptions of language and language usage, linguists also investigate how language interacts with intellectual and cultural life. Linguistics has applications to teaching, speech-language pathology and the applied sciences of communication engineering and computer science.

York's focus is on sociolinguistics and as a result, the program can provide you with a social and cultural perspective on almost every aspect of the humanities and social sciences.

• Take advantage of our smaller class sizes and get to know your professors.
• Focus both on core aspects of linguistics (phonology, syntax, morphology, and semantics), as well as sociolinguistics, linguistic variation and change, discourse analysis, psycholinguistics, and language acquisition.
• The Department offers more than 20 different courses a year which investigate the relation between language and society and between language and thought.

Glendon's Economics and Business program combines studies in business administration and economics with a focus on international business.

Your degree will provide you with the fundamental principles of economic theory and managerial and accounting skills for the business world. The professors’ real-world expertise combines well with Glendon's liberal arts setting, resulting in skills that are highly sought-after in the workplace: communications, analytical thinking, problem solving, adaptability and knowledge that is both broad and deep. Interested in internships? Those offered at Glendon provide practical work experience in capital investment agencies, corporations, banks, accounting firms, the insurance industry and more. Several of our courses are accredited by the Certified Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA).