Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies / Classics

at York University - School of Continuing Studies Canada

The Financial & Business Economics program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies is specifically designed for students who are interested in understanding the workings of financial markets, such as the stock market and the financing of companies. You'll gain a broad understanding of the economic framework upon which financial theory is based and gather the tools needed for navigating financial markets and business decisions.

The program combines a rigorous quantitative and analytical approach with practical application. Through a blend of economic theory and applied tools of modern finance, you will develop a solid knowledge of the microeconomic principles underlying financial markets and instruments, the macroeconomic role of finance, and the quantitative tools commonly used for analyzing financial markets.

You'll take courses such as: Corporate Finance, International Monetary Economics and Financial Econometrics to gain insight into important subject areas including:

• Budgeting
• Saving
• Investing
• Borrowing
• Lending
• Insuring
• Hedging
• Diversifying
• Asset management.

Your degree will prepare you for careers in the financial sector or graduate studies in finance or financial economics.

• You'll study with professors who are actively engaged in the theoretical and empirical analysis of financial markets.
• This highly structured and focused program equips you with highly marketable skills, readying you for a career in the financial sector.

York's Music program provides an uncommon opportunity to explore the depth and breadth of the art form through a remarkably flexible curriculum that enables students to pursue creative and scholarly work across a wide range of musical genres and traditions, tailored to each individual's unique talents and aspirations.

York's Music program is known for pioneering post-secondary studies in jazz, world, classical and digital music. Students may specialize or generalize according to their interests, developing expertise in a particular area of vocal or instrumental performance or composition, or working in a variety of musical practices and cultural forms. Options include solo, small and large ensemble performance; composition and arranging; education and community arts development; ethnomusicology; and the growing field of musoc media production for cinema, gaming and motion media.

All first-year Music students enter the BFA program. After first year, students whose interests centre on music history, criticism and scholarly research may choose to move to the BA program.

Program Highlights
Courses and workshops in popular music and in non-western performance traditions, such as South Indian, Chinese orchestra, Indonesian gamelan, Caribbean, West African drumming and Celtic Canadian, are a regular feature of the program.

Performance Opportunities
Presenting more than 100 student and faculty conerts a year, as well as master classes with renowned Canadian and international artists, the Department of Music offers countless opportunities to perform and collaborate. In addition to the many student-led ensembles, students can be part of numerous formal ensembles, including:

• Symphony Orchestra
• Jazz Orchestra and Choirs
• West African Drums
• Concert and Chamber Choirs
• Celtic Canadian Folk Ensemble
• New Music Ensemble
• Chinese Classical Ensemble
• Gospel Choir
• Wind Symphony
• Escola de Samba
• Rhythm & Blues Ensemble
• Chamber Strings

York's Biophysics program draws on the long-established strengths of our Biology and Physics programs, with uniquely interdisciplinary courses highlighting their interfaces.

Biophysics is an exciting discipline at the intersection between physics and biology. It is an interdisciplinary field in which the laws, methods and techniques of physics are applied to biological processes and organisms. Biophysics applies the knowledge of physics to explain biological questions, such as the transmission of nervous impulses or muscle control.

For example, the DNA of salmon has been found to improve the performance of light emitting diodes, and areas of nanotechnology are founded upon the unique mechanical and electrical properties of DNA. Biophysicists study organisms at all levels of biological organization from the macroscopic (e.g. movement, muscle contractions, breathing) to the microscopic (e.g. cell division, molecular motors, energy generation and conversion, cellular reactions to physical stimuli).

Unique to the program is a scope sufficiently broad to expose you to knowledge and techniques applicable not only to humans but also to plants and animals, providing a solid background for positions in the environmental and agricultural sectors.

• York offers the opportunity to work side-by-side with professors through the more than 40 summer research and work-study programs offered each year.

Biophysics is an exciting interdisciplinary frontier of science in which the principles and techniques of physics are used to study living things and how they work. For instance, biophysicists have applied laser physics to map cells in three dimensions and reveal bacteria in drinking water, and have developed or improved techniques for analyzing organisms such as EM (Electron Microscopy), CT (Computer-aided Tomography), MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), and X-ray crystallography. Studies of biological systems can also find applications to problems in physics. For example, the DNA of salmon has been found to improve the performance of light emitting diodes, and areas of nanotechnology are founded upon the unique mechanical and electrical properties of DNA. Biophysicists study organisms at all levels of biological organization from the macroscopic (e.g. movement, muscle contractions, breathing) to the microscopic (e.g. cell division, molecular motors, energy generation and conversion, cellular reactions to physical stimuli).

York’s Biophysics program is strong in both physics and biology, with uniquely interdisciplinary courses highlighting their interfaces. The program has a scope sufficiently broad to expose students to knowledge and techniques applicable not only to humans but to all of the kingdoms of life. Students acquire a theoretical and practical understanding of biology, physics, and supporting fields through both lecture- and lab-based courses.

Statistics is a field that provides the foundations and techniques to collect, analyze, and present information in an effective and efficient manner. Recent trends involve a resurgence of interest in methods for informal exploratory analysis of data. This relies increasingly on friendly computing environments supported by efficient algorithms. York's Statistics program is an exploration of the nature of measurement, chance variation, probability, uncertainty, inductive logic and inference, and combines naturally with studies in the life and social sciences.

An increasingly important aspect of modern statistics is the design of experiments and surveys — as well as analyzing the resulting data — in areas of application ranging scientific studies to the insurance industry. Statisticians use surveys to predict the patterns of behaviour of large groups based on relatively small samples.

Through its applications in almost every branch of modern professional life and research, statistics is a fast-growing discipline that provides a statistician with a variety of career opportunities. Statistics is offered as both a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science options. Why take one instead of the other? All Mathematics students (Mathematics, Applied Math, Statistics, Math for Commerce) take common first- and second-year courses. It is in the third and fourth years that the programs begin to differentiate.

If you're interested in a Bachelor of Arts (BA) math degree, you will combine your math courses with other Arts courses such as psychology or economics.

In Classical Studies, we explore the worlds of ancient Greece and Rome, and their enormous impact on the world as we know it today. Some might think that these languages and cultures are dead, but the Greeks and Romans were concerned with many issues that remain fascinating, relevant and important today - love, death, fate, the individual and society, religion, justice, law and so on. Their works form the basis for much of what we know and understand about the world around us today.

The program will introduce you to the richness of thought and expression of the cultures that have shaped the Western intellectual tradition. You'll study the religion, politics, mythology, art, literature, history, archaeology, architecture and philosophy of Greek and Roman society.

Classical Studies is a truly interdisciplinary subject of great breadth. The program allows a broad range of choice of courses in:

• Greek and Roman languages and literature
• Greek and Roman history
• Greek and Roman philosophy
• Greek and Roman archaeology, art and architecture

Our courses will introduce you to and deepen your understanding of a range of analytical approaches, including literary, linguistic, historical, philosophical and aesthetic approaches to classical culture.
Majoring in Classical Studies is an excellent way to develop critical, analytical and logical reasoning skills. You'll learn how to make rational arguments and express them lucidly. You'll gain a thorough understanding of some of the greatest accomplishments in human thought and art.

Streams within the program include:

• Classics – This stream focuses on the ancient Greek and Latin languages.
• Classical Studies – This stream focuses more on the historical and social/cultural aspects and ancient Greece and Rome.

Specialize in one of these streams: Atmospheric Science, Geomatics Science or Space Science. Atmospheric Science explores meteorology from the turbulent micro-scale to the large synoptic-scale weather systems. Geomatics Science delivers the knowledge and skills to work with terrestrial, aerial and space-observing platforms. Space Science explores the near-Earth space environment, as well as other planets. 

What You’ll Learn
Atmospheric Science explores meteorology from the turbulent micro scale to the large synoptic scale weather systems. In our program, you will learn how we use computer models to forecast the weather and will develop a deeper understanding of the processes that drive severe weather, climate and climate change. You can top off your degree with a Certificate in Meteorology.

In Geomatics Science (formerly Earth Science), you will study about modern geophysics, Earth’s gravity field, satellite geodesy, reference systems, plus surveying and mapping with emphasis in the areas of geospatial science and applications. Our program provides you the knowledge and skills to work with terrestrial, aerial and space observing platforms. Add depth to your degree with a certificate in Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing.

Space Science explores the near Earth space environment as well as other planets. You will learn how to investigate and establish new satellite programs for optical aeronomy, dynamics and chemistry of the upper atmosphere and monitoring the recovering ozone layer.

This program is offered by the Faculty of Science on the Keele Campus.

The Mathematics program provides an excellent background for many occupations demanding skills in mathematical reasoning and techniques. The program emphasizes the understanding of concepts, abstraction and reasoning; these then become the tools for problem-solving, as well as the language and environment in which problems are solved.

Pure mathematics focuses attention on basic concepts and then takes those concepts and creates a practical application for them. Finance and cryptography are current examples of areas to which pure mathematics is applied in significant ways.
All Mathematics students (Mathematics, Applied Math, Statistics, Math for Commerce) take common first- and second-year courses. It is in the third and fourth years that the programs begin to differentiate.

• If you're interested in a Bachelor of Arts (BA) math degree, you will combine your math courses with other Arts courses such as psychology or economics.
• For a Bachelor of Science (BSc) math degree, you will combine your math courses with other science courses such as physics, earth and atmospheric science, biology or computer science.

Our innovative BA in Educational Studies program provides students with a broad understanding of how and why people learn, and the role education plays in society today.
Courses are clustered into three topical areas, which explore the understanding of education.

• Engagements — focus on the development of professional skills
• Values — focus on who and why we educate
• Representations — focus on understanding the idea of education

Students in this program develop the essential skills necessary to succeed in educational work outside of the traditional classroom and  benefit from the Faculty of Education’s strength in the study of education and York University’s strengths in the arts, humanities and social sciences.
There are highly skilled educators at work anywhere human beings share knowledge, contributing to their communities and succeeding in their chosen fields.. Upon graduation, you’ll have the skills and knowledge needed to educate outside of the classroom.

Experiential Education
During years 3 and 4 of the program, you will have an opportunity to experience your education through learning placements within the community or in related organizations. You’ll develop workplace-specific skills and enhance your professional networks. Our unique community-partnerships will provide you with opportunities to put theory into practice and to gain insight into the kinds of learning and advocacy that contribute to the well-being of society.
The BA in Educational Studies does not lead to teacher certification. Students accepted into the Bachelor of Arts, Educational Studies program may also apply for entry to the Concurrent Bachelor of Education program.

The Professional Writing Program in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at York University offers students a unique opportunity to study and to acquire practical expertise in a wide range of written expressions that inform and shape our culture. The combination of knowledge and expertise is highly sought after by employers who recognize the spiralling need for effective communications in today’s and tomorrow’s economy. Students in our program develop inventive approaches to writing that keep pace with cultural, social, and technological transformation in the contemporary world.

Why Professional Writing at York?
York’s Professional Writing Program is unique.  As a program of the Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Faculty, we strive to connect and complement the traditional strengths of a Liberal Arts degree with practical, professional experience.  Our program core provides a firm grounding in the history, theory, and critical investigation of writing practices while providing  hands-on experience in the creation, management, and presentation of dynamic, responsive writing.

In AMPD's Department of Cinema and Media Arts students experientially learn to understand, think and work in the language of the moving image across all media. From idea to screenplay, camera to screen, screen to critical inquiry, our integrated curriculum offers exceptional training across the spectrum.

The BFA in Production offers a comprehensive curriculum in all aspects of filmmaking. Courses in the creative crafts of cinematography, editing and sound are offered alongside studies in the concepts and practices of screenwriting, directing and producing. Students work in a full range of digital and film formats, utilizing industry-standard production and post-production facilities, to produce work of fully professional calibre.

The program combines in-depth technical instruction with a strong emphasis on the creative aspects of film as a medium of storytelling, social engagement, and self-expression.

Small classes, ranging from 25 students in first year to 10 – 15 students in third and fourth year, allow for strong mentoring by the department's internationally recognized faculty.

The rich Cinema and Media Studies component included in the BFA in Production gives students an edge, developing their ability to not only make moving images but to think, talk and write about cinema and other screen-based media, and to understand the historical and theoretical framework in which they are produced.