Bachelor of Arts in Political Science - Public Affairs and Policy Analysis

at Carleton University Canada

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.

This stream includes courses on artificial intelligence, machine learning and neural networks. Transportation, finance, business, manufacturing and agriculture are being transformed by artificial intelligence and machine learning. LinkedIn witnessed a 190% increase from 2015 to 2017 in terms of skills required for AI-based jobs, and reports project 20 million jobs in artificial intelligence by 2023. Machine learning is also today’s highest-profile research area in computer science.

Neuroscience is a new, exciting, and rapidly expanding scientific discipline that aims to understand how physical processes in our brains underlie complex functions such as movement, sensation, memory, emotion, consciousness and thought. Faculty and students in Neuroscience and Biology are particularly interested in how diseases that affect the brain lead to mental health problems, with the focus of our research including depression, Parkinson’s disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease and concussion. Our research, like our academic programs, integrates information from many disciplines including medicine, molecular biology, psychology, immunology, genetics, chemistry and epidemiology.

Carleton’s Bachelor of Health Sciences (BHSc) is a wide-ranging and career-focused program that will provide you with the skills required to succeed in the rapidly changing worlds of medicine, biomedical research and healthcare research. You will gain a strong foundation in the scientific knowledge and methods involved in the study of human health, along with the capacity to engage in broader multidisciplinary, multi-sector, and multicultural approaches to finding solutions to some of the most crucial health issues of our time.

Environment and Health
his concentration explores the influence of our environment on our health, from toxins we are exposed to in our daily lives to the effect of climate change on global patterns of infectious disease. You will learn about the chemistry of environmental toxins, their effect on our cells and DNA, and our immune responses to them, including how multiple factors can make individuals either more vulnerable or more resilient to illness. You will also study issues related to the prevention and treatment of environmentally linked illnesses such as cancer, asthma, and neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

Historians of art and architecture study visual communication. In Carleton’s Art History program, we study the great monuments of Western culture—painting, sculpture and buildings—but we also study Asian and other non-Western art, North American Indigenous art, photography, printmaking and popular culture as well as the institutions of art itself: museums, galleries and exhibitions.

Our material ranges from the prehistoric to the present day. Our students come away from the program with direct experience of collections of art here in the National Capital Region and a historical framework for understanding imagery, as well as an awareness of the multiple possibilities for interpreting art, architecture and other visual phenomena.

Specifically, we examine how representations work. We analyze the products of the human imagination and the visual expressions of different societies. Such analyses produce a historical awareness as well as an understanding of modes of expression in different cultures. This knowledge provides students with the intellectual tools that allow them to function as informed and thoughtful individuals in and increasingly visual and globalized society.

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

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 BA program, you will obtain intensive 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 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. Geomatics applications include the analysis of problems involving environmental and resource planning, land cover and vegetation mapping, market analysis, hazard mapping and education, amongst many others.

Carleton’s Department of French makes it easy to integrate French into your studies, whether you wish to major in French, expand your BA with a minor in French or enrol in a single course. The department’s comprehensive approach allows students to benefit from language courses that are culturally grounded in the francophone world. Our course structure spans beginner to advanced levels, targets both oral and written proficiency, and focuses on students’ full development as competent readers, speakers and writers. Courses in our BA programs in French offer students the opportunity to specialize in literary studies or French linguistics. You may engage academically with topics ranging from emerging voices in Quebec literature to writers from Africa and the Caribbean to the social dynamics of language. Exchange opportunities are available to students majoring in French.

The science of biochemistry seeks to understand how organisms function by investigating enzyme reactions, mechanisms of gene regulation, chemical signaling pathways, and cellular structure at the molecular level. Biochemists study how animals, plants and bacteria make use of energy to grow, compete with other organisms and reproduce. Many of the biochemist’s findings are of direct relevance to humanity—they help us understand and treat disease, improve food production and find new techniques to produce valuable products such as vitamins and antibiotics.

Greek and Roman Studies (Classics) give a brilliant chance to find out about the antiquated foundations of human advancement and to watch the effect that the old world had on later periods. The program inspects the writing, language, history, theory, folklore, religion, social and financial life, innovation, craftsmanship, engineering and archaeology of the old world, encircled by the effect on the Mediterranean bowl of the city-conditions of Greece and the Roman Republic and Empire. 

Not with standing finding out about the historical backdrop of human advancements that have had a permanent effect on the cutting edge world, you will have the chance to get familiar with the old Greek and Latin dialects, to contemplate antiquated writing in the first dialects or in interpretation, and to profit by the ability of Carleton researchers who have a rich assortment of premiums and regions of claim to fame. The program is characteristically interdisciplinary: the investigation of Classics gives balanced training, creating graduates who can reason, contend, and convey-basic abilities for any field. A minor in Archeology is additionally accessible.