Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in Criminology

at University of Ottawa Canada

Economics
Ever wonder why some countries are richer than others? Ever question why income inequality has been growing? Ever wonder why Canadian politicians worry when other countries may be going bankrupt? Economics can answer all these questions. 

Economics examines how individuals and society make choices in a world where resources are limited. It focuses on the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Two important themes are efficiency (the absence of waste in the use of resources) and fairness. Since making choices is central to all human activities, studying economics often helps explain why people and governments behave in certain ways.

Political Science
Politics is omnipresent in our lives. Political science seeks to describe, analyze, understand and assess the principles and power relations that govern social life. It revolves as much around the structures and institutions that define these relations and principles as around the ideas and practices that drive them. It studies everything that influences political life and institutions (ideologies, groups, social movements, etc.) on a local, regional, national and international scale.

Our programs offer in-depth training in political science and encourage critical reflection on pivotal issues like citizenship, identity, political participation, globalization and development, governance and the state, and ethics and democracy. A discipline open to many theoretical and methodological approaches, political science constantly exchanges and shares with other fields. At the University of Ottawa's School of Political Studies, you build your knowledge in four subfields of political science: political thought, Canadian and Quebec politics, comparative politics, and international relations and global politics.

History is the discipline that focuses on the diverse and complex ways that individuals and groups have created and adjusted to change over thousands of years around the world. In studying change over time, history students learn to interpret evidence of human thought and behavior, in order to understand the impact of individual and collective decision-making, the changing relationships among people and societies, and between humans and their environment.

The Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) is offering a program leading to the Master of Arts (MA) in Bilingualism Studies. This program is intended to offer an advanced education in several areas of applied linguistics, including bi- and multilingualism, methodological and technological innovations in adult second language instruction, assessment of adult second language competence, as well as language policy and planning.

The program is offered in English and French. Students are required to take one of their two compulsory courses in English and the other in French. The electives can be taken in either language.

In accordance with the University of Ottawa regulation, students have the right to produce their work, their research paper, their thesis, and to answer examination questions in French or in English. The program is offered on both a full-time and a part-time basis. Two options are available for the program, the MA with thesis and the MA with research paper.

Students will acquire knowledge and have opportunities to apply what they learn in the various capacities of a kinesiologist. Kinesiology involves the application of principles from biomechanics, physiology, and motor behaviour to improve peoples’ functional movement, motor performance, and to manage and prevent injury and disease. Students will be offered courses oriented towards the core competencies required by the College of Kinesiologists of Ontario to pursue a professional career as a Registered Kinesiologist (R Kin). Students will gain theoretical and practical training, and will acquire skills to critically examine literature in the biophysical sciences of human movement.

Students will acquire knowledge, competencies and techniques for assessing and promoting performance and functional capacity, and for preventing and managing injury and chronic disease. They will obtain practical skills in exercise prescription to enhance performance and health, and for the treatment of individuals with compromised function. Students will have opportunities to gain training in how to use exercise in the management of injury, chronic disease, and in rehabilitation. They will have opportunities to gain training in ergonomics to critically assess and design equipment and workplaces to optimize performance and minimize musculoskeletal injury risk. They will gain applied counselling skills in principles of behaviour change to help individuals become more physically active and to help them enhance their health and well-being. Students will acquire knowledge in class settings and in laboratory-based and field practicum. In these rich practical experiences, they will learn to interact with different populations, from either different age groups (preschoolers, youth, young adults, the aged) or from groups of varying functional levels (e.g., athletes, sedentary people, persons with chronic disease, people in rehabilitation). Our students will gain practical experiences that better prepare them to pursue a career as a kinesiologist.

Our graduates are eligible to challenge the professional licensing examination for the College of Kinesiologists of Ontario, the external regulatory body for the profession of kinesiology and the R Kin designation. Applied Studies in Kinesiology enable graduates to pursue various career-paths in different occupational roles. For example, our graduates can become strength and conditioning coaches in high-performance training facilities and professional sport organizations. They can work among allied health professionals in community health centres and outpatient hospital programs, prescribing exercise treatments to help people manage chronic conditions. Our graduates can also find roles in rehabilitation clinics prescribing exercise and mobility protocol to facilitate injured persons’ return to work. They can work for occupational health and safety companies, conducting ergonomic assessments and re-designing spaces to enhance how people move in the workplace. They can become physical activity counsellors in family health teams or community health centres. Our graduates can initiate start-up enterprises in private kinesiology services. They can also work toward employment as certified ergonomists and pursue post-graduate certification in advanced ergonomics studies. Many of our graduates receive certification as Certified Exercise Physiologists from the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP-CEP) and others pursue accredited membership with La Fédération des Kinésiologues du Québec. Our graduates can also pursue advanced degrees in allied health and rehabilitation fields (e.g., physiotherapy, occupational therapy).

Physics
Why is our world the way it is? How can we understand and explain what we observe around us, from the smallest sub-atomic particles to the largest galaxies? How can we apply this understanding to manipulate our world? Studying physics gives insight into the fundamental laws of nature. 

But an education in physics gives so much more. The rigorous training our students receive in analyzing and understanding complex problems is valuable in many future careers. While many of our graduates have established careers in universities and in the high tech sector as research and development scientists, others have used their physics degrees as a springboard to careers in finance, administration, medicine, management or education. The range of career opportunities is perhaps wider than for any other students with a science education. 

Physicists have revolutionized the way we live our lives, with groundbreaking discoveries and new technologies, transferable to other fields such as biology or finance. Our professors and graduates are an important part of this chain. Many of our professors have also been recognized for their teaching and are seen as world-class researchers in their fields of expertise. 

The research conducted by the professors in the Department of Physics is concentrated in several sub-specialties, including the physics of biological and complex systems, condensed matter physics, photonics and the physics of geomaterials. Depending upon your choice of program, you have the opportunity to take courses and participate in research projects in these specialized areas. 

In addition to the Honours BSc in Physics, we offer three other Honours BSc programs. The first is in physics-mathematics, which provides enriched mathematics training within a physics program. The second is the option in photonics, which gives students a solid training in physics and a more applied and industry-related training in photonics. The third is the option in biological physics, which teaches students to apply a rigorous education in physics to various areas of life sciences. We also offer a Major in Physics that can form the core of an Honours BSc when combined with a major or a minor in another discipline in the Faculty of Science, or in another faculty. Finally, starting in fall 2016, we will offer a five-year integrated program in physics (BSc) and electrical engineering (BASc), jointly with the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (SEECS). This unique program will offer a full education in physics and electrical engineering. Graduates will be sought after by industry and academia, as they will have the capacity to develop technology from a basic physics idea to the final product. 

The Department of Physics also has strong graduate programs, leading to an MSc or PhD. They give students the opportunity to work on cutting edge science in a research group led by one or more department professors.

Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering is at the heart of today's exciting advances in technology. With five technical specializations—communications, systems, electronics, microwave and photonic, and power and sustainable energy—our curriculum will enable you to influence how the world communities communicate, generate sustainable energy and heal diseases. As an electrical engineer, you will work with other engineers or scientists on emerging technologies. 

The option of Engineering Management will prepare you with necessary skills to pursue entrepreneurial activities and start your own technology-related business. The double degree program—BASc in Electrical Engineering and BSc in Computing Technology—will put you at the intersection of the two areas that propel the waves of technological development.

The School of International Development and Global Studies (SIDGS) offers interdisciplinary programs leading to a Master of Arts (MA) in International Development and Globalization and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in International Development.

The master’s program is offered in collaboration with the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Law (common law and civil law), and the Faculty of Social Sciences and includes a co-op option.

The SIDGS offers an interdisciplinary MA program that exposes students to a broad range of development theory, policy and practice, while also permitting specialization in one of four fields: Conflict, Transitions and Peace; Growth, Private Sector and Social Inclusion; Livelihoods, Resources and Sustainability; and Social Movements, Equity and Human Rights.  Students have opportunities for hands-on practice through Co-op and international internships, as well as for networking with development policymakers and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the federal capital.

Geology is a modern, dynamic and diverse science that involves investigating the composition and evolution of Earth and other planetary bodies.

Geologists and Earth scientists study the Earth, including its chemical, physical and biological evolution. Our programs teach students how to analyze Earth materials, probe the Earth from surface to core and model the processes that produced and shape its oceans and continents. The Ottawa region is a natural laboratory where students investigate resources (water, metals, minerals, petroleum), hazards (earthquakes, tsunamis, eruptions, landslides) and a variety of geological environments.

The Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences offers programs in geology and, along with the Department of Physics, a program in geology-physics. These programs balance field-based learning with theoretical and analytical investigations directly relevant to the needs of society. The final year involves an independent research project or equivalent units (credits) in advanced courses in the discipline.

The honours requirements meet the professional accreditation requirements of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and l’Ordre des géologues du Québec.

The graduate studies in law are a joint endeavour of the Common Law and Civil Law Sections. We welcome law graduates from both legal systems and from countries around the world. Courses are offered in English or in French, and occasionally in both languages. Students may readily complete their graduate studies while learning something of Canada's other legal and linguistic traditions.

The MHA program has close links to other faculties including the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculty of Medicine to assure relevance to clinical practice for health service administration.

The MHA program also has close links with hospitals, long-term care institutions, community health agencies, psychiatric institutions, federal and provincial governments, and international, national, and provincial health organizations to assure curricular relevance and excellence.

Moreover, the program maintains close ties with the Canadian College of Health Service Executives, the American College of Health Service Executives, and other professional bodies across North America. The emphasis in this program is on proactive management with a vision of humanistic leadership and public service in a period of intense change in health care systems around the world.

The MHA aims to prepare students for the managerial and leadership responsibilities faced in rapidly changing health care environments.

The MHA program was designed with working professionals in mind. Spread over a period of 24 months, students can expect to complete 9 units per semester. All courses are taught in English. The MHA requires that students complete either an administrative residency of at least 16 weeks or a consulting project of approximately 200h. The goal of these experiential learning activities is to expand the students' experience in health care or health policy and awareness of the applicability of the material covered in the academic portion of the program to the practical world of management of health care. Students can do their administrative residency or their business consulting project, in English or in French, at any recognized and approved health agency.

Psychology
Psychology is the science that studies human behaviour and mental processes, and it is one of the richest fields of scholarly and scientific research. The BA in psychology deals with the fundamentals of psychology with a particular focus on how we learn, communicate and interact with one another, preparing you for graduate studies in experimental psychology, clinical psychology, in health sciences, in education or in administration. 

Linguistics
Where does language come from? How does language work? What is the nature of language structure and how is meaning encoded into language? Advances in research and new technologies are revolutionizing the way we try to answer these questions. Using the latest equipment and investigative approaches, our research laboratories make it possible for you to analyze spoken sounds, track eye movement and brain activity during language processing, explore language variation and acquisition, and probe dozens of other theoretical and empirical aspects of language including unfamiliar languages. 

These programs can serve as an entry point for a master's degree in either speech-language pathology or audiology, as well as for subsequent graduate study in theoretical and empirical linguistics.