Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies and Business (Joint Majors)

at Trent University Peterborough Canada

Study in one of the only Environmental Careers Organization(ECO)-Canada accredited environmental science programs in the country, choosing from the broadest range of environmental courses available at any Canadian university.

Make your mark on this world in a thoughtful and sustainable way. You’ll acquire the knowledge essential to understanding our environment and creating a greener future. Choose to complete a B.A. degree and explore sustainable solutions to environmental challenges in courses such as environmental law and global environmental policy. With the B.Sc. option, you’ll obtain an advanced scientific understanding of the environment, addressing everything from environmental chemistry to restoration ecology.

Accelerated Master's Degree:-
Earn your M.Sc. in Environmental & Life Sciences (ELS) in only 12-16 months after graduating from your B.Sc.

Resume Boosters:-

• Conduct hands-on research in Trent’s 12 on-campus nature reserves
• Develop practical field and laboratory skills working with internationally recognized environmental scientists
• Spend a year studying abroad in a multitude of international research placements

Knowledge in both arts and sciences is key to understanding and embracing the challenges and complicated issues of today’s ever-changing world. As a top student whose intellectual curiosity is fueled by both the sciences and the arts equally, you will be drawn to Trent’s unique B.A.S. degree program by the chance to blend creativity, scientific analysis and opportunities to discover new knowledge along the intersections of disciplines. This expansive yet tailored degree enables you to explore a variety of scientific, social, and humanist perspectives, applying them to a range of diverse issues such as healthcare, climate change, human rights, and law. You also have the opportunity to apply knowledge, gain career skills, and explore professional pathways through the B.A.S. co-op stream. Getting work experience directly linked to this degree gives B.A.S. graduates unique qualifications to advance careers, whether at medical or professional schools, post-graduate study and research, or interdisciplinary and growing fields such as scientific journalism. Challenge yourself through the examination of multiple topics in the arts and sciences, and maybe choose to explore how these diverse subjects intersect in interesting and exciting

Resume Boosters:

• Explore your strengths and career interests, and graduate with 12 months of work experience (and income) through the new four-year B.A.S. co-op option, giving you the competitive edge for future job prospects.
• Get hands-on in labs and think critically as you cross disciplinary boundaries that prepare you for career success
• Gain professional experience performing and presenting independent research for the Arts and Science Colloquium
• Participate in a community-based research project with guidance from faculty members in a variety of disciplines
• Choose a single or double major and up to two minors to create a program and set of experiences as unique as you are – a bonus for any Resumé!
• Learn the foundations for academic and career success in the unique first-year course UNIV1000H with just 20 students and led by an esteemed leading prof

Create a unique educational focus based on your passions and interests, with an interdisciplinary knowledge base
Trent’s joint major programs give you full license to create a degree that's uniquely your own, by combining courses in the arts, sciences, or professional programs. Have a passion for social justice? Combine your Politics degree with Gender & Women’s Studies. Interested in all things tech? Join Media Studies and Computing Systems. Mix and match programs that best appeal to your interests, preparing yourself for a future with more possibility.

Combine degrees. Expand your horizons.
At Trent, you have the flexibility to combine nearly any two programs of your choice. To help you narrow it down, here’s a list of some of our most popular combinations:

• Media Studies and Psychology 
• Anthropology and History 
• English and Media Studies 
• Biology and Psychology 
• Anthropology and Psychology 
• Environmental Studies and Biology 
• Anthropology and Sociology 
• Geography and Canadian Studies 
• Computing Systems and Media Studies 
• Economics and Philosophy 
• Economics and Psychology 
• English and Psychology 
• Psychology and Sociology 
• Computing Systems and Economics 
• English and Sociology 

You can also explore the popular joint major combinations within our professional programs like Business Administration and Forensic Science.

Political Studies:-
Politics shape everything society touches, influencing what we believe, how we live and what we do to create order in a chaotic world. In this program, you’ll learn to make a positive impact through shaping and influencing social policy, focusing on Canadian politics, world politics and political theory. You’ll find yourself debating and exploring ideas surrounding democracy and global politics, closely examining power relations and relationships between state, business, and citizens.

Forensics:-
Trent is the only university in Canada to offer students the chance to combine your study of forensics with one of several different academic disciplines. Choose a joint major in forensics
in combination with a vast array of complementary areas of study in either the arts or the sciences. Interested in a career in forensics specializing in ballistics? A joint degree with Physics could come in handy. Want to analyze the mental state of criminals, or become a criminal profiler? Combine your Forensics degree with a B.A. in Psychology. The emerging field of computer forensics means a joint major with Computing Systems can help you stand out from the crowd. No matter what your forensic career ambitions are, you have plenty of options at Trent.

Resume Boosters:-

• Gain the diversity of knowledge today’s employers are looking by studying and specializing in not one, but two academic disciplines
• Hands-on learning experiences abound in all Trent programs – gain the competitive edge on your resume

Are you a high achiever with a dream of working as a medical professional? Through this unique program, you will graduate career-ready with the broad range of interdisciplinary skills needed for a career in the medical and healthcare sector. Broaden your perspective as you spend your first two years exploring a range of scientific, social, and humanist theories and issues as a BAS student at Trent. From there, you will head across the Atlantic to complete a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Honours degree at Swansea University in the UK in one of their dedicated medical pathway programs, including Applied Medical Sciences, Medical Biochemistry, Medical Genetics, Medical Pharmacology, and Population Health and Medical Science.

The Dual Degree Advantage
Globalize your degree as you prepare to graduate with both a Bachelor of Arts & Science (B.A.S) and Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in just four years, preparing you to be a well-rounded candidate for your guaranteed interview with Swansea’s prestigious School of Medicine.

Graduates who meet academic requirements will be guaranteed an interview into Swansea’s prestigious School of Medicine. High achieving students, interested in taking their education further, also have the option of completing a graduate degree at Swansea, transferring to a Master of Science in Medical Biochemistry or Medical Genetics.

With 220 million French speakers worldwide (projected to be more than 700 million by 2050), French language and knowledge of Francophone cultures has become a highly sought after and valuable skill. French & Francophone Studies is about more than just learning a language. It’s also about understanding the world and culture that the language reflects. In this program, you’ll examine the diversity of Canadian and International Francophonies. Through explorations of history, literature, cinema and contemporary topics, you will discover where the words, phrases and slang you speak come from and reaffirm yourself as a French-speaking citizen.

Resume Boosters:

• Enhance your language comprehension through French language events, public readings, and student-run mini-conferences
• Build global connections in Trent’s longest-established study abroad program as you refine your French skills in a European context in Nantes, France.
• Study languages more in-depth through a Concentration in Linguistic
• Access other language courses through the Trent Centre for Language and Linguistics – study Chinese, German, and Spanish, all with no background required

Geography at Trent is more than learning in a classroom. It’s an expedition. You will learn about real-world issues and critical perspectives related to both human and physical geography. You will explore complex issues such as the causes and impacts of climate change, health geography, water resources, and the historical roots of geopolitical conflicts. At Trent, we believe the best way to learn geography is through an interactive environment. Small group learning and experiences outside of the classroom are pillars of the program.

Climate Change Science & Policy (Specialization)
Dive into the challenges and solutions for climate change—environmental, economic, political, social—and build a strong foundation of knowledge and skills that equip graduates for the growing number of climate-related careers.

Climate change is the leading global environmental issue, but its impacts extend beyond the natural world, into business operations, politics and policy development, social justice movements, law and more. If you find yourself trading the car for public transit, reviewing a company’s environmental initiatives or participating alongside millions of others in global Climate Marches, this specialization is for you.

Trent’s Climate Change Science & Policy specialization draws on faculty specialties in Trent’s School of the Environment (TSE) and from affiliated departments, providing students with a robust, well-rounded education that could lead to a variety of careers supporting climate solutions that can have profound impacts on societies for future generations.

Resume Boosters:-

• Graduate from one of only two climate change-focused programs in Canada
• Develop a broad-base of skills and background in the science of climate change and policy perspectives related to it
• Learn from and work alongside professors who are experts in their field and practicing climate change practitioners, such as the first-ever Canada research chair in environmental geoscience
• Study in the Trent School of the Environment, a research-intensive unit that nurtures collaboration with diverse faculty specialties and expertise as well as opportunities for applied learning
• Benefit from access to state-of-the-art labs and facilities in Trent’s DNA, Life & Health Sciences Building and Water Quality Centre

Through this one-of-a-kind degree, you will combine skills in mathematics and business to learn the science behind investing, preparing you for a successful career in business finance, banking, investment, or another path.

Canada’s financial industry has a growing demand for graduates who possess quantitative analytical skills beyond crunching numbers – skills that help guide businesses and individuals with their most important investment decisions. Combining mathematics, statistics, economics, business, and computing, this one-of-a-kind degree program will teach you to analyze investment industry trends and implement real-world data models, setting you up for an exciting career in an increasingly complex financial world.

Resume Boosters:

• Gain industry insights, explore your strengths and career interests, and graduate with 12 months of work experience (and income) through the new four-year B.Sc. co-op option, giving you the competitive edge for future job prospects
• Construct your own financial models based on real-world financial data
• Work alongside leaders from Trent’s prestigious School of Business and the Departments of Mathematics and Economics
• Extend your knowledge beyond the classroom with a range of career-boosting experience
• Make fast-paced decisions participating in ‘virtual trading floor’ competitions
• Experience using industry-standard software

The Specialization in Small-scale Farming provides students in Trent’s one-of-a-kind Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (B.A. or B.Sc.) program with a comprehensive background and hands-on experience in growing food and contributing to resilient regional food systems.

Through a new, intensive hands-on field course, that covers the principles of vegetable and field crops in terms of sustainable management on the Trent Model Farm, students study the principles to cultivate crops including field preparing, soil and nutrient management, seeding, pest management, irrigation techniques, harvest and post-harvest.

Resume Boosters:

• Get your hands dirty as you gain firsthand insight into the principles of vegetable and field crops including field preparation, soil and nutrient management, seeding, pest management, irrigation techniques, harvest and post-harvest by working on the Trent Farm.
• Put theory into practice at one of Trent’s on-campus food and farming assets, the most extensive in the area, including the Trent Farm, Market Garden, Vegetable Garden, Apiary, First Peoples House of Learning Medicine Garden, and the Seasoned Spoon.
• Work alongside leading experts and thought leaders in agriculture businesses and community organizations and gain diverse experiences in the practice of small-scale farming.
• Make your mark in our engaged student community by joining the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Society, Trent Apiary, or Food Services Sustainability Committee.

What does it mean to be an Indigenous person today? How do history and politics, the land and the law, culture and contemporary issues shape relationships amongst and between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities? Students in Trent’s Indigenous Studies programs develop a complex understanding and appreciation of Indigenous experiences in Canada and around the world.

For more than 50 years, Trent has been committed to advancing a multidimensional understanding through Indigenous Studies. Here - in the first program of its kind in Canada - you’ll explore the interdisciplinary nature of a program with a distinct sense of community as you immerse yourself in diverse Indigenous Nations, including all aspects of the Indigenous experience and their many contributions to Canadian society.

Resume Boosters:

• Explore your strengths and career interests, and graduate with 12 months of work experience (and income) through the new four-year B.A. co-op option, giving you the competitive edge for future job prospects.
• Build career connections by getting involved with annual events that take place on campus like the Elders Gathering, Pine Tree Talks, CINSA, and the Indigenous Women’s Symposium
• Develop your own Indigenous language skills as you study Nishnaabemowin or Mohawk
• Engage in hands-on research projects with agencies and organizations that make a difference in local communities
• Become an expert in the art of Indigenous performance as you take place in productions hosted in Nozhem: First Peoples Performance Space, the only publicly-funded space of its kind in Canada.
• Study abroad and learn about Indigenous peoples in the USA, China, Thailand, New Zealand or Mexico.

International Development Studies at Trent aims to equip students with the tools to understand and analyze societal transformation, and to act in ways that contribute to progressive social and political change. Here, you will learn from a range of experts, including anthropologists, political scientists, and economists, as you take courses that fuse theory and practical learning. You’ll explore wide-ranging themes such as global poverty, food systems, hunger, conflict, ecological degradation, industrialization, and cultural identity, as you better understand the sources and consequences of human development around the world. Your studies will pay particular attention to the world’s most vulnerable populations and their complex relations with states, corporations and international organizations.

Resume Boosters:

• Study and work in a developing country through the Trent in Ghana program – includes a 12-week placement with a development organization
• Translate learning into experience through our community-based research course, conducting an evaluation of a community organization in Peterborough or Haliburton
• Join the Student Association for International Development and contribute to the student-run Community Movements Conference