Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Science - Comparative Politics & Area Studies (Global North) (Co-op, Internship)

at Carleton University Canada

From Google Maps to GPS navigation to global vegetation and water monitoring, geomatics deals with the acquisition, management, analysis and display of geographic information. In our Geomatics BSc program, you will obtain intensive science-based training in geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing (imaging from satellites and aircraft) and cartography, including web-based applications. You will apply advanced computer software and techniques to the challenge of understanding the Earth’s physical and natural systems, addressing environmental problems and planning human interventions. Our program combines hands-on learning, using the latest in laboratory facilities, with opportunities to gain field experience and do work placements. Science based geomatics applications include the modeling and mapping of the physical and natural environment, resource planning, land cover and vegetation mapping, and hazards mapping, amongst many others. The BSc in Geomatics includes training in associated physical or natural sciences and computer sciences.

Where better to study politics than the nation’s capital? Our location in Ottawa provides you with numerous chances to see politics not only nationally but internationally. You will examine such topics of study as international relations, transitions to democracy, parties and elections, globalization and social movements, and the culture and ideas of politics.

International or local exchanges are an exciting possibility during your third year, and you may also choose to undertake an internship of your choosing, with permission of the undergraduate supervisor. In fourth year, an internship with the Washington Center is an option for consideration.

Economics may be a specialized area of knowledge, but it is relevant to almost every aspect of our lives. At its core, it is the study of reasoned choice in the context of scarce resources and competing interests. The need to make such choices pervades the day-to-day lives of all of us—as individuals and in society as a whole.

In Carleton’s Bachelor of Economics (BEcon), you will study the operation of market-based economies, examining the causes of economic growth, inflation, unemployment and international trade.

Environmental engineers ensure that we have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, clean soils to grow our crops, and clean energy to sustain our growth. The goal of environmental engineering is to offer sustainable and green solutions to many of the issues and challenges facing our society, and to provide a clean and healthy environment for us and our ecosystem. Environmental engineers use engineering and science principles to design innovative treatment technologies that help to minimize our environmental footprint, prevent pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, ensure drinking water safety, and achieve environmental sustainability.

The Bachelor of Architectural Studies (Urbanism) program explores architecture as a component of the larger built environment. The curriculum is designed to promote stewardship of communities by examining the forms they take, the forces that produce them, and the ways they affect us. Courses explore the impact of demographic, ecological, economic and social changes on the urban core and the expanding periphery. Students analyze patterns of human settlement over time in relation to culture, climate, technology, political systems, infrastructure, economic forces and global ecology. 

Drawing and computer modeling courses in the lower years prepare students to explore urban design in upper-level studios. In addition to designing individual buildings and spaces, Urbanism majors explore architecture and urban space at the scale of the block, neighborhood, city and region.  Projects challenge students to consider the architect’s role in accommodating diversity, contributing to the quality of life, and promoting the health of society and the natural environment.

In addition to courses common to all BAS majors, Urbanism students take specialized courses  including several in Geography, History, and Canadian Studies. Upper-level studios include a Directed Studies Abroad (DSA) option. As with all BAS majors, Urbanism students may opt to participate in the Co-Op program. The Urbanism program prepares graduates for advanced studies and careers in Architecture, Planning, Urban Design, Landscape Architecture and other disciplines

The Earth Sciences program at Carleton offers you the opportunity to study the Earth’s systems, incorporating knowledge from other sciences including physics, biology and chemistry. You will learn about processes (such as evolution, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, plate tectonics and mountain building, formation of hydrocarbon reservoirs and mineral deposits) influential in the Earth’s geologic past that establish our present and future global development. The program offers the opportunity to participate in hands-on field courses that can take you to sites throughout Ontario, across Canada and around the world.

This disciplinary specialization provides a good general understanding of the economic forces invoked by government intervention and helps students gain familiarity with current best evidence on the magnitude of these forces. The program’s relatively non-technical approach will give students with diverse backgrounds the opportunity to learn about issues related to economic globalization, international and public-sector economics, and the ways in which associated challenges might be resolved for the improvement of people’s well-being. This specialization will be of particular interest to students who aspire to work in economic policy institutions such as central banks, government finance ministries, trade policy institutions, financial regulatory agencies, macroeconomic think tanks, and international lending institutions.

Anthropologists study human beings, globally and cross-culturally, and recognise that each way of life is but one possibility among many. In a pluralistic world, where people from different places and backgrounds frequently interact, anthropology is an important tool for helping us understand each other and the rapid changes going on around us. Anthropology offers the potential to broaden our understanding of what it means to be a person, to question what passes as “normal” or “natural”, and to examine the world we inhabit as interconnected by environmental, political, economic, cultural and social forces.

While anthropologists have traditionally studied in small scale, non-Western societies, today we apply our participatory research methods and a combination of humanistic and social scientific perspectives to all kinds of situations: if people do it, you can study it as an anthropologist.

Carleton’s anthropology program specializes in socio-cultural anthropology, which is the study of contemporary societies and cultures through direct engagement, participant-observation and other qualitative methods. Our faculty work in various contexts and communities in Alaska, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Thailand, the Andes, and Sub-Saharan Africa, among others. Our faculty specialize in a range of topics including:

• The study of Indigenous people’s lives in context (e.g. indigenous-state relations; governance & colonialism; language; urban indigenous communities).
• Environmental issues (e.g. human-environmental relations; subsistence politics; the Anthropocene; climate change; natural resources)
• Transnational & global issues (e.g. transnational adoption; development; migration; diaspora; sex tourism)
• Race, ethnicity, and nationalism (e.g. ethno-history; ethno-politics)
• Selfhood, personhood, subjectivity, identity, psychiatric anthropology, and phenomenology;
• Genders and sexualities (e.g. motherhood; reproductive health; gendered childhood; feminist theories/methodologies).
• Political economy (e.g. global capitalisms; processes of commodification; capitalist and non-capitalist societies)

Co-op
A co-operative education option is available to students registered in the B.A. Honours Anthropology program. Students in the B.A. Honours Anthropology program must successfully complete three work terms to obtain the co-op designation.

Applied Physics is the basis of modern technology, including modern telecommunications, photonics, computer technology, medical imaging and cancer therapies.

Our Honours Applied Physics program combines studies in modern physics, optics and electronics, math and computer science. As part of your credits for this program, you may opt to take courses in finance, organizational management and entrepreneurship and earn a minor in Business in addition to your degree in Applied Physics.

Psychologists study the mechanisms that underlie our thoughts, emotions and behaviours. They examine a diverse range of topics, such as how we think and learn, how we interact with others and how we can promote healthy development and wellness. This is accomplished by conducting research so that the knowledge gained can help us to better understand the human mind, enhance well-being and performance, and generate additional research questions.