Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric and Communications

at The University of Winnipeg Canada

he 4 Year BA in Indigenous Studies is more appropriate than the 3 Year BA in Indigenous Studies for preparing the student for graduate school. It allows flexibility of choice for students who want to sample a wide variety of courses; to develop a stronger understanding of Indigenous issues, peoples, and policies; and who wish to develop their skills in critical reading, writing, and thinking. Students will gain knowledge on Indigenous cultures, particularly Canada, much of it wish can be applicable in work situations in band, provincial, national and international settings as well as with non-profit and for-profit organizations.  It can be successful paired with any number of other majors – Indigenous Studies and Criminal Justice; Indigenous Studies and Politics, for example.

Because this program offers much freedom of choice, it is important for students to think carefully about their interests and goals when choosing courses. For Degree requirements, see the Course Calendar. For assistance in creating a coherent, valuable program, students should also consult an advisor in Aboriginal Student Services or Student Advising. The DIS faculty are also valuable sources of guidance. See Courses(undergraduate) for acceptable electives.

Become a highly-skilled communicator ready to take on public relations in both corporate and not-for-profit environments. With a broad foundation of PR and marketing-specific knowledge, this program emphasizes best practices, tackles current and emerging issues, and develops the skill set to be a leader in the field.

Objectives & Outcomes

• Identify, analyze and influence organizational objectives, communications strategies and key interest groups
• Guide management on key business and policy decisions
• Develop public relations strategies that create awareness and favourable perception, and/or promote your products and services and set measurable objectives from which to evaluate their effectiveness
• Build collegial and cooperative relationships with a variety of public interest groups, internal and external clients, and the media
• Design and implement a media relations strategy expanding your visibility in the community
• Analyze consume buying patterns, employ marketing tools and research methodologies to determine environmental and competitive factors affecting products and services, and develop new products and/or services meriting consumer interest and increasing market share
• Master public relations communications writing template including: a well-tooled press kit, news releases, annual reports, newsletters, brochure content, and personality profiles
• Plan and direct the crisis and change management process
• Coordinate and prepare material for internal and external promotional publications, including planning articles, editing copy, supervising print preparation, distributing publications
• Gain an understanding of digital communication technologies, their impact in traditional approaches to public relations and marketing, and how to adapt print-based collaterals for this new medium
• Exercise sound financial decision-making and budgeting skills

The Applied Computer Science major is designed to prepare students in the following core areas: Programming Fundamentals (object-oriented, event driven, algorithms), Information Management (database systems, data modeling, data warehousing, relational databases, query languages), Software Engineering (software requirements and design, software process, software project management), Operating Systems, Net-Centric Computing (Internet programming, networks, security), Human Computer Interaction (GUI Design and Programming), Intelligent Systems (Machine Learning). Our team-oriented courses are meant to strengthen communication skills, experience group dynamics, and foster self-confidence. The 4-year major includes the development of a team-based software project for a local IT organization. Our program will help develop analytical thinking and applied skills by blending theoretical and practical aspects of computer science. The Applied Computer Science major is designed to provide an excellent basis for graduate studies in either computer science or applied computing.

The Health Informatics (HI) major provides students with more focused courses in Health information needs, infrastructure, standards, and jurisdiction. This stream has been designed in close cooperation with Manitoba e-Health. Sample courses include:

• Principles in Information Systems (Health Centric)
• Health Information Systems
• Health Internship
• Applications of Database Systems
• Introduction to Internet Programming

The study of Geography is concerned with the Earth's surface in two ways - as the science of interaction between natural elements of the environment, such as weather, plants, soils and landforms; and secondly, as the science of the distribution and activities of the Earth's population in response to various social and environmental factors. Systematic studies in Geography examine the locations, distributions, arrangement, and association of a group of interrelated features. In contrast, regional studies examine the totality of geographic phenomena in a particular area. No matter what approach is taken, there are certain skills and techniques that are of particular geographic relevance.

As a reflection of the diversity that exists within the study of Geography and the special skills required, the Department offers courses within three fields of study - Cultural Geography, Physical Geography and Geomatics. You may attain either the General or Four-year Bachelor's degree in either Arts or Science, as well as the B.A. or B.Sc.Honours degree

Geography offers a considerable variety of career opportunities. High schools require a continuing supply of Geography teachers. Various federal and provincial agencies dealing with conservation, town planning, recreation, landscape architecture and the utilization of Canada's resource also provide opportunities, especially to those with Honours or graduate work in Geography. Undergraduate training in the subject is often required for certain business careers, especially in surveying, market assessment, and location and general commercial development.

Are you interested in issues affecting our environment? Environmental Studies and Sciences combines many different perspectives to understand the changes in our environment, while acknowledging human impacts and providing a framework to develop solutions for environmental programs. You can choose your course of study from six different subject areas including Chemistry, Forest Ecology, Forest Policy and Management, Global Environmental Systems, Issues in Sustainability, and Urban Environments

In the department of Modern Languages and Literatures, we offer the 3 or 4-year BA (Major or Combined Major) in German Studies with challenging courses where you will discuss topics of current interest, reflect on problems of the modern world, explore the culture of Germany, Austria and Switzerland and read literary and other texts dealing with the social and political issues of our time.

From the beginning to the advanced level, we offer up-to-date language instruction in an intimate learning environment. As you develop your command of oral and written German, you will also develop the cultural understanding that is needed in the global community through the study of literary and other texts.

Students without any previous knowledge of German can begin here with GERM-1001(6). If you have some prior knowledge, you can meet with a departmental advisor to select the appropriate level of course.

To major in German, you must take one required course, GERM-2109(3) Advanced Intermediate German I, as well as a set number of courses at the 3000-level. If you do not wish to major, but simply to pursue German studies out of interest, you are also welcome in our courses. Contact a departmental advisor to determine the right level for you.

Democracy began in Greece. The Roman Empire rose and fell. There were extraordinary achievements in art, literature, and philosophy in both Greece and Rome. All this is highlighted by the legacies of great writers such as Plato, Sophocles, Virgil, and Cicero. Ancient history is surprisingly pervasive in today's cultures, religions, movies, literature, politics, journalism, and advertising. If you have a desire to understand our modern world, studying Classics is an ideal way to begin.

Classics is the study of Greek and Roman culture, society, and history through a variety of disciplinary approaches: archaeology, philology (the study of Latin and ancient Greek), literature, art history, social history, political history and thought, philosophy, religion and mythology.

The Information Systems (IS) stream is aimed at students interested in focusing on information and business needs of IT industry. The new stream is intended to prepare students in information oriented courses, and also in system and Internet based technologies. Sample courses include: Internet programming, database design and development, software requirements and design, telecommunications, business application systems and eCommerce. One advantage of this stream is that students can easily combine this stream as a double major with another department for a Bachelors degree in arts or science.

The goal of physics is to formulate theories, or “laws,” which summarize our knowledge of the natural world. We don’t yet know all the basic laws of nature, or how many laws there are.

The famous physicist Richard Feynman said the first principle of science is that the test of all knowledge is experiment and experiment is the sole judge of scientific “truth.” But what is the source of knowledge? Where do the laws that are to be tested come from? Experiment itself helps to produce these laws in the sense that it gives us hints. We also need imagination to create from these hints the great generalizations: to guess at the wonderful, simple, but very strange patterns beneath them all, and then to experiment to check again whether we have made the right guess. Physics needs people with imagination and a thirst to understand the inner workings of nature.

Research in physics often gives rise to unexpected benefits, with revolutionary discoveries like galaxies, lasers, magnetic resonance imaging, fibre optic communications, and the transistor.

The University of Winnipeg has a nationally recognized Physics Department. Research is conducted on a variety of topics in both theoretical and experimental physics. The experimentalists study the nature of diamonds and semiconductors, medical uses of MRI, and the properties of subatomic particles, while the theorists imagine, deduce and investigate the inner workings of black holes, hot space, chaos, quantum computers, and quantum gravity. Students are encouraged to participate in these research activities through summer employment with research groups.

This program can lead to a Bachelor of Science degree (3-year, 4-year, or Honours). The 4-year and Honours programs have the options of Chemical, Computational, and Mathematical Physics streams.