Bachelor of Arts (BA) Updated March 27, 2017

Residence Requirement:

In the ★120 to complete the degree, the following must be included:

1. a minimum of ★63 offered by the Faculty of Arts;
2. ★60 must be successfully completed at the University of Alberta;
3. a minimum of ★30 must be taken while registered in the Faculty of Arts; and
4. a minimum of ★6 selected from courses offered by the Faculty of Science or used by the Faculty of Science as Science courses (see Details of Courses  for appropriate subjects).
5. a minimum of ★15 at the senior level applied to the major and a minimum of ★6 at the senior level applied to the minor must be completed with courses offered by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta (except Science minors, see below).

Course Load Requirements:

Students will normally complete ★30 in each Fall/Winter period and complete the program in four academic calendar years.

Program Requirements:

The BA degree requires students to successfully complete ★120 including the following:

• Basic Requirements (★36)
• A major subject of concentration and a minor subject of concentration, or two major subjects of concentration. Students who declare a double major are not permitted to declare a minor.

1. First Year: Each year consists of ★30 credited to the program. Within the first ★30, students should complete courses from the basic program requirements. The Faculty recommends that junior (100-) level courses be taken in the first year; and that the English/Writing requirement be completed within the first ★60.
   Students should enrol, if possible, in a course in the Major Subject(s) in first year. Students are also encouraged to obtain required prerequisite courses early in the program. Students in the BA degree should seek advice and program approval from the Advisor in the Department of their major concentration or if appropriate, the Interdisciplinary Program advisor.
2. Basic Requirements: (See Arts Chart 1.)
   The Basic Requirements (★36) are designed to give the foundation of a liberal Arts education. It is strongly advised that students complete the following requirements in the first two years of their programs.
   Note: No one course may meet more than one of the basic requirements. Senior-level courses in the area of major or minor which meet a basic requirement must also be counted toward the major or minor requirements.
3. Major: Students must declare either a single or a double major. Students who declare a single major must also complete a minor. Students who declare a double major are not permitted to declare a minor. See Programs and Certificates  for a list of subjects which may be declared as majors in the BA.
   Each major must include a minimum of ★30 to a maximum of ★48 at the senior level (i.e., additional courses in the major may not be taken as options). At least ★6 must be at the 400-level; some departments may require specific courses and/or more than the specified Faculty minimums. Where a double major is declared, the same Faculty minimums and maximums apply in both majors. See below for specific requirements by subject. A minimum of ★15 at the senior level toward the major must be completed with coursework offered by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta.
   Senior-level courses in the major subject(s) taken as part of the basic program requirements must also count toward the major(s).
   Students must declare their major(s) to the Undergraduate Student Services Office following the accumulation of the 60th unit of course weight of their BA program, though it is to a student’s advantage to declare the major(s) as soon as possible.
4. Minor: Students who have declared a single major must also declare a minor. See Programs and Certificates  for a list of subjects which may be declared as minors in the BA.
   A minor must include a minimum of ★12 to a maximum of ★42 at the senior level in an approved subject outside the single major. At least ★6 must be at the 300- or 400-level as specified by the department; some departments require specific courses and/or more than the specified Faculty minimums. See below for specific requirements by subject. The maximum units of course weight may not be exceeded (i.e., additional courses in the minor may not be taken as options). For Arts minors, a minimum of ★6 at the senior level must be satisfied with coursework offered by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta and for Science minors, a minimum of ★9 at the senior level must be satisfied with course work offered by the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta. Senior-level courses in the minor, taken as part of the basic program requirements must also be counted toward the minor.
   Students who declare a double major are not permitted to also declare a minor.
   ​In addition to the Arts and Science disciplines noted in Programs and Certificates  (including MATH, PSYCO and STAT), students may also select a minor from the Faculty of Science from the list below. Students must meet the minor requirements of the Faculty of Arts as well as those of the Faculty of Science, which include requirements for specific courses (see Minors ) therefore, the requirements are a minimum of ★24 to a maximum of ★36 in the minor subject(s), including no more than ★12 at the junior level and at least ★6 at the 300-level or higher. A Science minor consists of Science courses taken from one of the following areas:
   1. Biological Sciences (see Minors  for specific requirements)
   2. Chemistry (see Minors  for specific requirements)
   3. Computing Science (see Minors  for specific requirements)
   4. Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (see Minors  for specific requirements)
   5. Mathematics (see Minors  for specific requirements)
   6. Physical Sciences (see Minors  for specific requirements)
   7. Physics (see Minors  for specific requirements)
   8. Statistics
      Students taking a Science minor are not permitted to complete a minor in the same department as their major.
5. Cross-Listed Courses: Courses listed in more than one major/minor are known as cross-listed courses.
   The use of cross-listed courses is especially common in interdisciplinary programs (East Asian Studies; Film Studies; International Studies; Native Studies; Science Technology and Society; Women’s and Gender Studies), but is becoming increasingly common in other areas also (e.g. Religious Studies). Unless otherwise notified by the student, the Undergraduate Student Services Office will apply cross-listed courses to the specific subject discipline. For example, a CLASS course cross-listed with Religious Studies will apply to the Classics major or minor unless the student has advised the Undergraduate Student Services Office in writing that it should apply to the Religious Studies portion of the student’s program. When students ask that a cross-listed course be applied to their other subject of concentration, that course will then be applied to the minimums and maximums for that other subject.
   For further details on cross-listed courses, see the entries for interdisciplinary programs below.
6. Junior Courses: Maximum of ★48 at the junior level are permitted for credit to the program. Students should complete ★30 at the junior level before registering in senior-level courses.
7. Combined Major in French and Spanish: Apart from the option to declare a double major in French and Spanish with no minor (see above), students may opt to take these two related languages which can be combined as their major subject; a valid minor subject is still required when this option is selected. The following conditions apply:
   1. Students selecting a combined language major should take two languages other than English in the first year, deferring any other basic requirement except the Junior ENGL to do so.
   2. Students majoring in two languages other than English must take a minimum of ★12 at the senior level in each language and normally must include a minimum of ★3 in each language at the 400-level. In all other respects, the requirements for a major in the above section apply.
8. Non-Arts or Non-Science Options: A maximum of ★18 may be taken outside the Faculties of Arts and Science as long as the courses do not duplicate courses already offered by these two Faculties. Courses offered by the Faculty of Native Studies will be counted as Arts courses [see Options  and Native Studies (Faculty of Native Studies) ]. See also Registration Information  for a list of courses from the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences that are applied as Faculty of Arts courses.
9. Interdisciplinary Programs and Courses: Many programs housed within Departments in the Faculty of Arts have important interdisciplinary components; some are primarily interdisciplinary in orientation. The Office of Interdisciplinary Studies oversees programs that draw on courses from multiple Departments. These include programs in International Studies, Religious Studies, Science, Technology and Society Studies, and the MA in Humanities Computing that are described elsewhere in this calendar.
   The Office of Interdisciplinary Studies is also responsible for certain interdisciplinary (INT D) courses. Information about these courses and programs is available from the Faculty of Arts Office for Interdisciplinary Studies.
   Unless otherwise indicated in the course description, an INT D course may be applied toward either the major or the minor if it appears under the department’s course listings in Course Listings .
10. Community Service-Learning courses: A number of courses in departments and programs across the Faculty of Arts offer community engagement as an option or requirement. Students in Community Service-Learning (CSL) courses take part in community-based experiences that link to course content.
    The CSL program offers its own CSL designated courses (see Course Listings ) and a certificate (see Certificate in Community Engagement and Service-Learning ).
    For further information see the CSL website www.csl.ualberta.ca

Academic Performance

1. Academic Performance for Graduation: Students must present credit (with a minimum University of Alberta grade of D or equivalent) in ★120, which satisfy program requirements; present a graduation average of at least 2.0; present an average of at least 2.0 on all courses applied to the major; and present Satisfactory Academic Standing. For a BA major in Economics, students must present a graduation average of at least 2.3, and an average of at least 2.3 on all courses applied to the major. The graduation average is the quotient of (a) the total number of grade points earned by students in courses credited to the degree, and (b) the total weight of those courses. (Also refer to Academic Standing regulations described in Academic Standing and Graduation. ) In the case of students who attempted, as part of their program, courses at an institution for which the grades are not precisely equivalent to those of this university, the degree is awarded at the discretion of the Faculty. Courses with final grades less than C- are not transferred from other postsecondary institutions.
2. Degrees With Distinction: Degrees With Distinction shall be awarded to students who achieve an average of at least 3.5 or better on the last ★60 of their programs completed at the University of Alberta, including failed courses but excluding any courses not credited to the degree. If the last ★60 of the program at the University of Alberta do not fall exactly within a given Fall/Winter or Spring/Summer, a weighted average is used. Please contact the Undergraduate Student Services Office for further information (1-17 Humanities, 780-492-4295, e-mail:arts.undergrad@ualberta.ca).

Arts Chart 1: Basic Requirements

Note: No one course may meet more than one of the basic requirements listed below

BA Honors and BA Major/Minor Requirements

• Anthropology
     
• Art and Design
    
• Arts and Cultural Management
    
• Christian Theology
    
• Classics
    
• Comparative Literature
    
• Creative Writing
    
• Drama
    
• East Asian Studies
    
• Economics
     
• English
     
• Film Studies
    
• Germanic Languages
     
• History
    
• Human Geography
    
• Interdisciplinary Studies, OIS
    
• Linguistics
    
• Mathematics
    
• Middle Eastern and African Studies
    
• Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
    
• Music
    
• Native Studies (Faculty of Native Studies)
      
• Philosophy
    
• Planning
    
• Political Science
    
• Psychology
    
• Religious Studies
    
• Romance Languages
    
• Slavic and East European Studies
    
• Science, Technology and Society
    
• Sociology
    
• Statistics
    
• Women’s and Gender Studies