Art History & Art Conservation
The Art History program offers degrees at the undergraduate and graduate level. Art History courses offer students a unique opportunity to develop the essential skill of visual literacy -- learning to look carefully and think critically about the visual images and material objects that surround us. Encompassing global art traditions from prehistory to the present, courses introduce students to a range of interdisciplinary methods, topics, and media. We explore how visual and material culture shapes human society across time and around the world. Queen's Art History students can take advantage of experiential learning opportunities in Venice (Venice Summer School/Venice and Its Biennale) and at Bader College, our 15th-century castle in England, in addition to internships for course credit at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre on campus and in other museums across Canada. Research opportunities abound at Queen's which is home to the magnificent Bader Collection of European art as well as collections of contemporary, Indigenous, African, and Canadian art. Through field trips, internships, and other activities in and out of the classroom, students gain first-hand experience in analyzing and interpreting works of art and architecture in preparation for careers in museums and archives, academic institutions, heritage preservation and tourism, journalism, art business, art law, and cultural policy.
The Art Conservation program is offered at the graduate level only. It is the only Master of Art Conservation program in Canada. Art conservation is an exciting and challenging multidisciplinary field that involves the examination, interpretation, analysis, and treatment of cultural, historical, and artistic objects. Professional conservators rely on their knowledge of both the humanities and the sciences in order to understand the creation and production of material culture in the past and present and to ensure its preservation for future generations.
Biology
Queen's Biology students have the opportunity to explore the full breadth of biology: the inner workings of cells; the integrative biology of organisms; the interactions between organisms in ecological communities; and the central roles of genetics and evolution in shaping the diversity of life. Hands-on laboratory exercises, field courses offered locally at our renowned Queen’s University Biological Station and around the world, and independent research opportunities in professors’ laboratories on selected topics are hallmarks of a Degree Plan in Biology. The mission of Queen’s Biology is to prepare graduating students to be engaged, independent, and critically thinking citizens, well-prepared for further study and with a variety of career options.
Chemistry
As one of the top chemistry teaching and research departments in Canada, we offer a stimulating learning environment for undergraduate and graduate students. Queen’s Chemistry programs have rich practical laboratory components, where you will put into practice key concepts learned from your lectures. In upper years, you can specialize in one or more of the fundamental branches of chemistry – analytical, inorganic, organic, physical, and theoretical – or explore new applications such as environmental, materials, biological, computational, or polymer chemistry.
Classics and Archaeology
Classics refers to the study of the Greek and Roman worlds. Multi-disciplinary in approach, it involves the studies of history, literature, archaeology, religion, mythology, drama, and philosophy, in addition to the ancient languages of Greek and Latin. Today our understanding of Greek and Roman culture is further enhanced by the latest digital techniques that increasingly pervade studies in archaeology, epigraphy, papyrology, and ancient science and medicine. At Queen’s, students have the opportunity to get hands-on experience in the latest techniques by participating in one of two archaeological excavations supervised by our own faculty, or through a variety of projects and assignments.
Computing
The School of Computing offers many broad, flexible Plans, each providing you with a solid foundation in the science and principles of computing. Theory and application are balanced as you put your knowledge to work under the guidance of award-winning researchers. Choose from a Computing-specialist Plan (Computer Science, Software Design), a multi-disciplinary Plan (Biomedical Computing, Cognitive Science, Computing and the Creative Arts, Computing and Mathematics), or design your own program by incorporating a Major or Minor Plan in Computing with another Plan in the Creative Arts, Humanities, Languages, Social Sciences, or Natural and Physical Sciences.
Drama & Music
The Dan School of Drama and Music at Queen's University strives to earn its reputation as one of the world's preeminent centres for the study and creation of drama, music and music theatre. We offer a range of undergraduate, graduate, and community outreach programs, including both practice and theory, and both the traditional and the innovative. In principle, the Dan School embraces all the many disciplines that collaborate to realize the professional performing arts. While studies and research in drama and music have comprehensive representation within the Dan School, the intersection of these two disciplines is given particular focus in the area of music theatre where there are opportunities for research, creation, and performance in repertoire ranging from opera to Broadway.
Economics
The Economics Department at Queen's has a long tradition as one of Canada's leading teaching and research centres in economics. The undergraduate programs we offer promote a comprehensive investigation of many aspects of the subject, with an emphasis on contemporary analytical principles and methods. Those who pursue a concentration in economics or applied economics will take courses in advanced economic analysis, statistical techniques, the historical background of today's economies, and the application of economic theory to public finance, international relations, natural resources and the environment, business cycles, labour markets, and the economic systems of other countries. Economics students at Queen's acquire a diverse portfolio of analytical, quantitative, computational, and communications skills that provide excellent preparation for a wide range of post-graduation education and career opportunities. Our recent graduates have pursued graduate studies in economics and professional programs such as finance, business administration, public administration, law, industrial relations, information technology, and resource management, and they have embarked on careers in the private sector, with non-governmental organizations and with the public sector in key positions of responsibility at all three levels of government.
Employment Relations Studies
The study of employment relations has a long tradition at Queen’s, with several programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels providing a broad foundation in the field, including labour-management relations, labour and employment law, conflict management and negotiations, economics, human resources management, organizational behaviour, and labour policy.
English
The Department of English offers a comprehensive undergraduate program that exposes students to English literatures from a large range of communities, historical periods, and geographical regions. All three English Plans (Major, Joint Honours, Minor) attempt to balance the study of canonical writers, literary forms, and traditions with the study of previously marginalized or unknown writing. The program fosters cross-cultural and historical literacies by encouraging students to engage with literatures from diverse histories and traditions through a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches.
Environmental Studies
In the School of Environmental Studies, you will acquire an appreciation of the scope and complexity of environmental systems, the ability to deal with the socio-economic dimensions of an issue, and the fundamental knowledge to adapt to changes in the future. Students will study environmental systems from both the perspective of the natural and physical sciences, while recognizing the human and cultural dimensions of the issues.
Film and Media
In the Film and Media Department at Queen’s, you will examine modern forms of film, video, television, and emerging varieties of digital culture. You will study the forces that have shaped film and media communication, explore the history and theory of film production, and engage directly in the production of film and video. For students interested in collaboration between the fields of drama and film, there is a Specialization Plan in Media & Performance Production.
Fine Art
Queen’s Bachelor of Fine Art (Visual Art) Program is a small visual art program admitting 30 students per year. The intensive studio training, taught by instructors that are active in their field, alongside visiting artists from across the country and internationally, is complemented by lecture and seminar courses in Art History. The small class sizes and high professor-to-student ratios create an interactive learning environment focusing on three main areas of fine art: painting, printmaking and sculpture/new media. The Fine Art (Visual Art) Program is well equipped with studios and workshops that create an atmosphere where learning and research can flourish. Optional field trips are made to exhibitions and workshops, including annual trips to New York.
French Studies
At Queen’s you can choose from a variety of courses dealing with oral and written French, literature and culture of France, Quebec and francophone countries, linguistics, and business French. You will have opportunities to study or work in a francophone context either in Quebec or Europe, through academic exchanges or work/study programs.
Gender Studies
The Department of Gender Studies at Queen’s is distinguished by the centrality of the study of race and colonialisms across all its courses, and by a focus on how to apply knowledge within work for social change. Our curriculum is organized around six key themes: feminist, queer, trans, anti-racist, Indigenous, and postcolonial theories and methodologies; activism and social justice; political economy; representation, art, literature, and creative work; and oral histories and community memories.
Geography and Planning
The Department of Geography and Planning is an integrated department that studies the earth's places, societies, environments and landscapes. The Department is unique in bridging the social sciences and humanities (i.e., human geography) and planning with physical geography. Geography and Planning puts this understanding of social and physical processes within the context of places and regions - recognizing the great differences in cultures, political systems, economies, landscapes, and environments across the world, and the links between them. In physical geography we study natural processes, their interactions, and both naturally and human-generated environmental issues. In the social sciences we study a variety of social problems, with a special focus on the uneven distribution of resources and services at scales from the local to the global. In humanities research we explore how human beings have made, and continue to make, the places (physical, social and metaphorical) in which they live. In all these areas, Queen’s Geography and Planning has scholars and teachers of international repute who are dedicated to making a dynamic and innovative research and teaching environment and a warm and supportive interpersonal environment for our students and faculty.
Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering
Geoscientists are the interpreters of our natural world. They bring methods such as geophysics, geochemistry, geobiology, and field geology together to understand the modern and ancient Earth. Clues concealed in rocks and fossils, minerals and fluids, mountains and sediments, glaciers and volcanoes are marshaled to understand and explain the Earth system at all scales. Managing water, mineral, and energy resources, developing sustainable strategies for industrial growth, and coping with natural and anthropogenic hazards facing increasing global populations, including climate change, all depend on a deep understanding of natural processes. Our graduates study the Earth in this context, with careers in diverse fields including, but not limited to, research, mineral and oil exploration, policy analysis, environmental science, and resource management. The programs offered by this Department focus on the whole planet and global processes as a dynamic and integrated system.
Global Development Studies
Global Development Studies is an interdisciplinary degree program that empowers students to better understand and shape the driving forces of change in our interconnected world. To open up a wide range of career choices and options for further study in Canada and internationally, the program connects big-picture analysis with problem-solving approaches based on deep empirical knowledge. This unique combination gives students skill sets that help them realize their commitment to making the world a better place. Through careful analysis of contemporary challenges in the fields of poverty and livelihoods, cross-cultural communication, environmental sustainability, human rights, and indigenous studies, we help students appreciate development as a relationship rather than as a characteristic of particular places and people.
History
The History Department offers a wide range of courses that span from the pre-modern past to the contemporary era. Geographically, History courses circle the globe and draw from the histories of Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, South Asia, and the United States. Thematically the curriculum builds on a number of disciplinary vantage points, including cultural, economic, environmental, gender, global and transnational, Indigenous, intellectual, labour, legal, political, and religious history. Apart from the core curriculum, students have the opportunity to undertake a variety of independent research, community projects, experiential learning, and internship opportunities. The focus on humanistic education and the emphasis on analysis, critical thinking, research, communication, and writing skills prepare history students for careers in law, education, public policy, business, museum and archives, publishing, research, and media.
Industrial Relations Centre
Queen’s University Industrial Relations Centre (IRC) is a leading provider of premium professional development programs in labour relations, human resources and organization development. IRC programs are designed for busy practitioners, delivered by subject matter experts, and grounded in adult learning principles.
As a result of continuous practitioner-focused research and more than 80 years of experience, we have identified the core competencies every organization development, human resources, and labour relations practitioner needs to be successful. Each of our programs focuses on one of these essential skills.
Jewish Studies
Jewish civilization has a recorded global history of 4,000 years. Drawing from texts spanning from the Hebrew Scriptures to post-modern writing, the study of the Jewish diasporas in their transnational historical and cultural contexts provides students with insight into the complexities of global culture, identity, religion, and politics. All Jewish Studies courses are offered in the History Department.
Kinesiology and Health Studies
The Kinesiology Specialization Plan is a multi-disciplinary, science-based program that focuses on human movement in the applied exercise-science fields of study such as biomechanics, ergonomics, exercise physiology, and physical activity epidemiology. While the Plan is primarily science-based, students also learn about human movement in the context of exercise and sport psychology, health promotion, and the socio-cultural aspects of physical activity. The B.Sc.(Hons.) Kinesiology Plan has been designed to meet the minimum accreditation standards for Kinesiology programs accredited by the Canadian Council of University Physical Education and Kinesiology Administrators (CCUPEKA). Admission to the Kinesiology Specialization Plan, leading to a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree, is by direct-entry from high school.
The Health Studies Plan is a social science concentration that addresses subject areas bearing on human health. For the public health care system in Canada to function effectively both the social and physical determinants of health at the individual and societal level need to be understood in the context of health education, health policy, community health, and epidemiology. The core competencies of the Plan include health processes (e.g., implementation of programs and policies), health content (e.g., nutrition, sexuality), and supporting knowledge and concepts fundamental to the evaluation of health (e.g., behaviour, lifestyle choices). Major, Joint Honours and Minor/General Plans in Health Studies are all available, leading to a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree, with admission based on first-year standing and grade in the foundational social determinants of health course (HLTH 101).
Languages, Literatures and Cultures
The Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures is a multidisciplinary unit that offers students the opportunity to learn languages, develop an understanding of literary and cultural traditions, and pursue studies in the field of Linguistics. The Department offers language courses in Anishinaabemowin, Arabic, Chinese, German, Hebrew, Inuktitut, Italian, Japanese, Mohawk, Oneida, Portuguese and Spanish, Degree Plans in: German Studies; Hispanic Studies; Indigenous Studies; Italian; Languages, Literatures and Cultures; Linguistics, Spanish and Latin American Studies; and World Language Studies, and a Certificate in Indigenous Languages and Cultures. Learning a language prepares students to travel, live, or work internationally and makes them more linguistically competent in Canada’s multicultural environment. The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures also offers over 50 courses in English on various cultural and literary topics. These are open to non-LLCU students and can be taken as electives. A degree focusing on languages, literatures, and cultures, or focusing on Linguistics, provides students with valuable transferable skills that are increasingly important in our global world, especially intercultural competencies which are becoming ever more relevant in today’s global work environment. The Department encourages students in all our disciplines to participate in one of the many international study opportunities supported by Queen's.
Mathematics and Statistics
The Department of Mathematics and Statistics offers degree Plans designed to appeal to a broad range of students, including those interested in pure mathematics, applied mathematics, the physical and the biological sciences, teaching, actuarial studies (science), probability, and statistics. Our instructors include leading researchers and many winners of national and university teaching awards. The Department offers various plans in Mathematics and in Statistics, leading to either a BA, BA (Hons.), BSc or BSc (Hons.) degree. A Plan in Mathematics and Engineering is also offered through Smith Engineering. For full details of this program, see the Calendar of the Smith Engineering.
Philosophy
Philosophy will help you develop critical reasoning, as well as effective written and oral communication skills. You will be able to read critically so that you can find hidden assumptions, identify core premises, and evaluate arguments. You will study a range of key ideas and look closely at the work of a number of central philosophers from Plato to the present.
Courses become more focused and go into more depth as you move through your upper years of the program. You will be able to choose from a range of types of courses: from historical to contemporary, and from broad, theoretical investigations to more specifically problem-based inquiries.
Our classes create many opportunities for discussion, whether in small break-out groups or in our senior seminars. Students taking our Major or Joint Honours Plans will be well prepared for graduate work in Philosophy or in other professional programs.
Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy
Through studying Physics at Queen’s, you will be trained in observation and experimentation, in applied mathematics and model building, and will develop the confidence to tackle new and intellectually demanding problems. This will place you at the leading edge of research and development in science and technology. This program deals with the properties of matter and energy, from everyday concepts such as force, heat and electricity, to the abstract ideas of relativity and quantum mechanics. The Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy also offers a Specialization Plan in Astrophysics, and jointly with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, a Specialization Plan in Mathematical Physics.
Policy Studies
The School of Policy Studies offers a rich and rewarding learning experience that is unsurpassed in Canada and matched only by the best public policy programs in the world. Through high quality interactive teaching and integrated learning, we enhance leadership in public policy by providing students the inspiration, skills, competencies and connections to become better contributors to the public good. The MPA curriculum includes core courses in economics, policy analysis, governance, management and quantitative methods. Through elective courses, students apply their skills to the analysis and resolution of concrete policy and management problems.
Political Studies
The Department of Political Studies at Queen’s offers a full curriculum in all areas of political sciences, designed to take you on different and exciting intellectual journeys. You might explore the foundations of early democratic thought, examine integration in the European Union, study how states make the transition to democracy, analyze sources of conflict and cooperation in the international system, investigate trends in voting behaviour, or explore the impact of welfare reforms on single mothers. You will develop critical thinking and writing skills, which are not only useful for a variety of pursuits after graduation, but crucial for citizenship in a democracy.
Psychology
In Psychology you will learn about basic processes of cognition and behavioural neuroscience, including the effects of brain damage or drug-induced changes on behaviour, how various neurochemicals affect behaviour, mechanisms of memory, motor control, and how we solve problems. You will also learn about child development, personality differences, how people act in groups or organizations, health-related behaviours, and various aspects of typical and atypical behaviour. Three plans are available that will lead to a BSc (Hons.) degree: the Major (Sciences) in Psychology and two interdisciplinary Plans, the Biology-Psychology Specialization and the Cognitive Science Specialization. Three plans are available that lead to a BA (Hons.): the Major (Arts), Joint Honours (Arts), and Minor (Arts). Students in all Major, Joint Honours, and Specialization Honours plans are required to complete courses in both the social and natural science branches for breadth, as well as core courses in statistics and research design.
Religion
Religion plays a major role in shaping and influencing various cultures and historical and political movements around the world. Thus, understanding religious traditions and their impact on diverse modern issues is vital preparation for building a career in the global marketplace. Studying religion involves examining the history of religious traditions, comparing the ideas and values of different religious systems, and understanding the place and function of religion in society. Students of Religious Studies investigate why people are religious, where religion comes from, and how it should be defined and understood.
Sociology
In Queen’s Sociology Department, you will consider theories about how societies are organized and experienced, use social research methods to critically investigate what is happening, and explore areas such as crime, law and deviance, communications and media, gender and race, and culture and consumption. We place a major emphasis on how to study a broad range of social processes, throughout the life course, from global systems to personal life.