Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre

at York University - School of Continuing Studies Canada

The French Studies program focuses on the study of language, linguistics and literature while exploring francophone culture around the world. We keep our classes small to give you plenty of opportunity to speak French and interact with professors and classmates. You will be taught oral and written production and comprehension, guided by teaching assistants from France.

The linguistics program exposes you to the many branches of linguistics (syntax, semantics, phonetics, sociolinguistics, etc.) through a variety of practical and theoretical approaches. You will have the opportunity to study linguistics as applied to translation and to second language teaching.

The literature program opens doors to the literatures and cultures of the francophone world with a particular focus on French and French Canadian literature. You will develop analytical skills through the analysis of texts using various theoretical and philosophical approaches.

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.

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.

Think about downloading music or popping a disc into your MP3 player. Imagine how tedious it would be if the data-download took 10 minutes! The specialized hardware and software must produce instantaneous results and for that you need lightening-fast algorithms — designed by computational mathematicians — to perform the task.

Computational Math uses computers to solve mathematical and scientific problems — deciphering the fundamental problems in science and engineering with potentially broad social, political and scientific impact. For example, computers can perform only the simple arithmetic processes: add/subtract, multiply/divide.

To solve complex, real-world problems, computational mathematicians focus on developing algorithms to perform more complicated math — differentiation, integration etc. Computational mathematicians are also concerned with simulating a physical process — such as genome sequencing — to validate theories beyond the laboratory.

York's program in Computational Math combines the study of math, computer science and specialized computer applications. It's a more specialized program in computation than Applied Math.

You will choose from three areas of concentration:

Applied & Industrial Math involves traditional applications of math to science and engineering.
Financial Math is geared to the need of the financial and banking sectors.

Ever wish someone listened to you as a child? Our Children, Childhood and Youth program focuses on the experiences, knowledge and concerns of children. You will learn ethnographic techniques specific to children and their cultures. You'll analyze children's voices in contemporary and historical contexts and gain an understanding of the human condition from the child's perspective. You'll also participate in community-based partnerships and be encouraged to take part in advocacy work.

Children, Childhood and Youth explores global childhood experiences in philosophical and social terms and their personal, societal and human consequences. Attention is paid to the nature and significance of children's culture – distinguishing between culture created by adults for children and the culture of children themselves. You will learn how to engage children, discern children's voices in historical and cultural contexts and come to understand the human condition from their perspective.

The Children, Childhood and Youth program is truly interdisciplinary, incorporating expertise and courses from programs such as sociology and psychology. Courses include:

• Introduction to Children, Childhood and Youth Studies
• Global Cultures of Children and Young People
• Research with Children and Young People
• Honours Research Project
• Internships / Practicums

Students in our program access to a variety of unique advantages:

• York is home to the Canadian Children's Culture Collection, a major archive of child-related materials including York-based studies and unique toy collections designed by children. York is also home to the LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research, which supports research in health, education, relationships and development of infants, children, adolescents, emerging adults and families. Additionally, York hosts the Alexander F. Chamberlain speaker series, which features lectures and seminars from leading scholars in the Children's Studies field.
• Learn with professors that are actively involved in research with children and young people in Canada and around the world, covering a range of topics from literature and ethnomusicology to critical race studies and the global cultures of children and young people
• You will have the opportunity to enhance your studies and add to your university experience by participating in an exchange program with the Children’s Studies program at the National University in Galway, Ireland. You also have the opportunity to explore the cultures of children and youth in international contexts such as Limpopo, South Africa, by taking an international field study course.
• Join a child/youth-centred club or association. Local chapters of the advocacy groups "Free the Children" and "Right to Play" are found on York's campus and play an important role in the program. The York student club Peace by PEACE works with children, empowering them to prevent, manage and resolve conflict peacefully.
• The Children, Childhood & Youth Student Association (CCYSA) offers students an opportunity to gain further knowledge of children and their cultures; to advocate for children's rights; to build lasting friendships and partnerships in the community through social and cultural events, advocacy projects, and information sessions; and to provide resources for its members such as mentoring, leadership training, and volunteer opportunities.

Violations of human rights occur across a broad range of social, economic and cultural areas as well as within the civil and political order. Today we are faced with local and global issues that, in one way or another, impact all of us: denial of education or basic health rights; surveillance and suppression of speech; polarization of incomes or denial of economic security; atrocities of military occupation and war.

Students in York's innovative Human Rights & Equity Studies program explore the roots of human rights violations as they occur across a broad range of social, economic and cultural areas. You'll tackle local and global issues, that, in one way or another, impact us all:

• Denial of education or basic health rights;
• Surveillance and suppression of speech;
• Polarization of incomes or denial of economic security;
• Atrocities of military occupation and war.

York's program investigates rights and equity concerns through a range of disciplinary lenses. Courses drawn from units across York confront problems of basic rights involving physical, emotional and economic security, cultural autonomy and freedom of political expression, viewing rights in relation to the whole person.

• Gain multidisciplinary knowledge by exploring human rights and equity in a diverse array of fields, including sociology, anthropology, philosophy, political science, social work, economics, health, education and the arts.
• Core professors are experts in social and cultural rights and equity concerns related to health and healthcare, economic inequality and poverty, work and unemployment, and social and labour policy.

Foster the skills of teaching and learning

Education is future-oriented — it's about development and growth even when we are studying the past. Education is giving or receiving knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgement, using inspiration, tapping into creativity, taking risks and developing emotional and intellectual resilience. In our society, education implies school and whether you teach others or are in the process of learning yourself, education focuses on knowledge and on the intellect. Through the fine art of bringing out what is latent in a person, we learn as we teach.

To foster the skills of teaching and learning, York offers several Education programs. Click on the program name below to learn more about the program.

The Bachelor of Education (BEd), Technological Education is a full-time, professional degree program held at York University's Keele campus. Graduates will be qualified to teach one of the following technological subjects at the Intermediate-Senior (grades 9 to 12) certification levels:

• Communication Technology
• Computer Technology
• Construction Technology
• Green Industries
• Hairstyling & Aesthetics
• Health Care
• Hospitality and Tourism
• Manufacturing Technology
• Technological Design
• Transportation Technology

York has Canada’s largest and most renowned team of scholars in labour relations, work and global political economy.

Work and Labour Studies explores the complex nature of work and employment, the impact of globalization and the role of trade unions. Work occupies much of our lives and it informs how we live and how we think about the world. Work & Labour Studies explores what work is, who decides who does what, how workers respond to the conditions of the workplace, and the relationship of capital, the state and labour.

Key factors include:

• The economy
• Globalization
• The changing nature of work and the workplace
• Industrial relations
• Gender
• Class
• Inequality
• How labour is portrayed by the media
• How politics is shaped by mass media and how workers' culture both informs and diverts class struggle

Our program's strengths include labour law and labour policy, the future of work and employment, women and work, globalization and its impact on work and workers, and our unique fourth year placement course. Labour Studies also offers courses in collective bargaining that will prepare you for contemporary and relevant workplace situations.

You will be well prepared for employment in the labour movement, private industry, government service, journalism, public or private administration, social work, law or teaching. Many students go on to graduate work in political science, industrial relations and labour law.

Crime, criminality, and criminal justice are central concerns in contemporary Canadian society. In politics, law, policy and popular culture, the problem of crime and what to do about it command increasing attention and interest. The Criminology program will provide you with an exceptional opportunity to pursue study in this evolving and expanding field. You will explore the ways in which concepts of crime, criminality and criminal justice have developed over time. You will also investigate how crime is understood legally, politically, economically and culturally.

The program’s interdisciplinary approach is reflected in complementary relationships with a number of other academic disciplines including anthropology, history, philosophy, political science, psychology, socio-legal studies, and sociology. Students are able to choose courses from these disciplines as well as from the core program courses, each of which draws from a range of disciplines and is devoted to making connections between different areas of study.

Note: Criminology is not a pre-law preparatory program.

The Criminology program will focus on the analysis of:

• Crime
• Criminality
• Processes of criminalization and social control
• Organized crime
• Systems of justice
• Criminal justice systems

Urban Studies at York stresses the importance of fieldwork when studying the social and spatial fabric of cities.

The city is among the most fundamental human institutions. Across history, cities have been sites of basic innovation in economic, political and cultural life — centres of trade, seats of empire and the locale of scientific, social and artistic creativity. Cities retain these roles today and are the home of a growing majority of the world’s population who increasingly live in large metropolitan regions of several million people. Often, as in many Canadian cities, these urban regions are marked by complex social diversity, striking contrasts of wealth and poverty and a challenging array of planning and environmental dilemmas.

Urban Studies is the attempt to understand cities and city life — how they function, the current and future concerns of their residents. This encompasses the political institutions, economic and social relations, physical landscapes and cultural frameworks that constitute the city.

As a student in Urban Studies, you will focus on cities as distinctive entities and explore the meaning and function of cities in the larger society. You'll be taking courses from a broad range of fields including:

• History
• Environmental studies
• Geography
• Anthropology
• Political science
• Sociology
• Psychology.

You will also examine the processes that produce certain patterns of human settlement and chart the changing relationships among areas shaped by urbanization, such as metropolis and countryside, city and suburb, municipality and region.

Designed to inspire, develop and enhance creative and critical thinking, the curriculum in AMPD's Department of Dance fosters deeply embodied and intellectual learning. Canada's largest and most comprehensive dance program educates innovative, thoughtful and articulate dance professionals, prepared to be engaged leaders in diverse environments. 

Program Structure:

Dance students take a common first year and then branch into one of two streams according to their interests and goals. Upper-year students may audition to join the department's resident company, the York Dance Ensemble. They also have the opportunity to gain hands-on training in lighting design for dance, to embrace emerging media and integrate technology into their dance practices, and to extend their professional experience through field placements, collaborative research and guest teaching. 

Streams:

Choreography/Performance:

This stream centres on studio work in contemporary/modern dance, with options in urban, contemporary/ballet and world dance forms. Students acquire specialized knowledge and skills in movement observation, production and performance, informed by an understanding of choreographic elements and principles, somatics and embodied storytelling. they learn to create and present original works in a variety of performance spaces incorporating professional production values and contemporay media technologies.

Dance Education:

Students in this stream explore practical and theoretical aspects of teaching dance in a variety of communities and settings, including innovative approaches and experience working with children, youth, adults in all stages of life, marginalized individuals and people with disabilities. Graduates are prepared to enter the field as educators in recreational, community-based and private settings.

Featured Facilities:

• Five spacious rehearsal studios
• Two choreography studios
• Black box dance theatre-studio
• A 600-seat thrust stage
• Strate Dance Studio Theatre
• Pilates conditioning equipment
• Extensive costume collection
• Audio and video recording facilities
• Extensive library collection of dance books and periodicals
• Dance-specific computer software and peripherals