Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies (BA NS)

General Program Requirements

Duration: This program requires ★120 with a minimum of ★36 in Native Studies courses and a maximum of ★54. Students normally complete ★30 in each academic calendar year and may complete the program in four academic calendar years.
Residence Requirements: Students taking a program of ★120 in the Faculty must have credit for at least ★60 from the University of Alberta. The final ★30 of the program must normally be taken at the University of Alberta campus.

Faculty Common Requirements (★30)

★6 Junior English or ★3 Junior English and ★3 Writing Studies (WRS)

No more than ★6 of junior English, or equivalent, may be taken for credit in an undergraduate program. ENGL 125 - Aboriginal Writing is recommended.

★6 Fine Arts (junior or senior)

Art and Design (ART, DES, HADVC)
CLASS 254 , CLASS 255 , CLASS 356
DANCE
DRAMA
Film Studies (FS)
HECOL Design Courses
MUSIC
Native Studies Art courses (NS 260 or relevant designated course)
WRITE

★6 Humanities Core (junior or senior)

Christian Theology courses at St Joseph’s (CHRTC) and at St Stephen’s College (CHRTP)
Comparative Literature (C LIT)
East Asian Studies (CHINA, EASIA, JAPAN, KOREA)
English (ENGL) Senior only 200-level and higher.
History and Classics (HIST, CLASS), except CLASS 254 , CLASS 255 , CLASS 356
Modern Languages and Cultural Studies (MLCS)
Philosophy (PHIL)
Religious Studies (RELIG)

★6 Social Science (junior or senior)

Agriculture and Resource Economics (AREC)
Anthropology (ANTHR)
Community Service Learning (CSL)
Economics (ECON)
Environmental and Conservation Sciences, ENCS 352
Études Canadiennes (ETCAN)
Human Ecology, HECOL 100 , HECOL 201 , HECOL 210 , HECOL 211 , HECOL 212, HECOL 310 , HECOL 313 , HECOL 321 , HECOL 322 , HECOL 360
Human Geography and Planning (HGP)
Interdisciplinary Undergraduate (INT D)
Latin American Studies (LA ST)
Linguistics (LING)
Middle Eastern and African Studies (MEAS)
Political Science (POL S)
Psychology (PSYCO) designated as Arts courses
Renewable Resources, REN R 260 , R SOC 271
Rural Sociology (R SOC)
Sociology (SOC)
Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS)

★6 Scientific inquiry and applications (junior or senior)

Any courses offered by the Faculty of Science or recognized by the Faculty of Science as Science courses (see Details of Courses )
Any of the following courses from the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences:
Animal Science (AN SC)
Environmental and Conservation Sciences (ENCS) (except ENCS 352 )
Forest Science (FOR)
Nutrition (NUTR)
Nutrition and Food Science (NU FS)
Plant Science (PL SC)
Renewable Resources (REN R) (except REN R 260 , R SOC 271 )
Soil Science (SOILS)
★3 maximum of courses in Science, Technology, and Society (STS)

Notes

No one course may satisfy more than one basic requirement.
Senior courses in the Major or Minor that meet a basic requirement are counted toward the Major or Minor.
Students in the BA in Native Studies/BSc in Environmental and Conservation Sciences Combined Degrees must choose courses outside the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences to fulfill the Faculty common requirements in NS.

Native Studies Major (★36 – ★54)

★3 Native Studies Introductory Skills and Methods:

NS 290 - Introduction to Research and Inquiry

★6 Native Language:

★6 Perspectives Courses:

★3 Research Methods Course:

NS 390 - Research Methods in Native Studies

★9 Native Studies Courses at the 200/300-level (excluding NS 200).

★9 Native Studies Courses at the 400-level.

Note Cross-listed Courses:

The following courses contain a strong Aboriginal component and may be taken for Native Studies credit from these departments. Only ★6 may be applied to the Native Studies major. Anthropology: ANTHR 256 , ANTHR 474 ; Christian Theology at St Joseph’s College: CHRTC 221 ; Comparative Literature: C LIT 426 ; Education-Policy Studies: EDPS 432 , EDPS 474 ; English: ENGL 308 , ENGL 309 ; ENGL 223 , ENGL 360 , ENGL 373 , ENGL 481 ; Études Canadiennes: ETCAN 360 ; French Language and Literature: FREN 312 , FREN 465 ; History of Art, Design, and Visual Culture: HADVC 257 ; History: HIST 247 , HIST 352 , HIST 359 , HIST 368 , HIST 369 , HIST 478 ; Kinesiology, Recreation, Leisure, and Sport: KRLS 323 ; Political Science: POL S 327 ; Religious Studies: RELIS 378, RELIG 379 ; Sociology: SOC 224 , SOC 225 , SOC 226 , SOC 260 , SOC 321 , SOC 370 ; Women and Gender Studies: WGS 255 , WGS 440 .

Minor (★12 – ★30)

Students are able to take their minor concentration through departments in the Faculties of Arts; Business; Science; and Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences. See Bachelor of Arts (BA) for additional specific minor concentration requirements for departments in the Faculty of Arts. See BSc General Program for additional specific minor requirements for departments in the Faculty of Science.

Human Ecology Minor

★18 with at least ★3 at the 300-level and at least ★3 at the 400-level.

Business Minor

★18 in Business courses at the 300-level or above. In order to be permitted to take this minor, Native Studies students must have completed the prerequisites of ★6 ENGL 102 , ENGL 103 , ENGL 108 , ENGL 125 or equivalent, ECON 101 , ECON 102 , and MATH 114 and have an overall GPA of 2.7. In addition, for those students wishing to take Finance or Management Science courses in business, they will also be required to take STAT 151 as a prerequisite.

Environmental and Conservation Sciences Minor

★21 for a minor in Environmental and Conservation Sciences. Stipulations: ★6 must be at the 300 or 400-level, additional ★6 must be at the 400-level, ★15 must be courses taught in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, specifically AREC, ENCS, FOR, INT D, REN R, R SOC, and courses that are listed under the program core, major core, major electives, or approved program elective boxes for any of the ENCS majors, ★6 may be taken outside the Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, and must be approved by an Environmental and Conservation Sciences advisor. Native Studies BA majors must maintain a GPA of 2.0 overall in the courses applied to their Environmental and Conservation Sciences minor. Note: NS students will need to have completed Pure Mathematics 30 and Biology 30 to take this minor.

Options (★15 – ★42)

Options are courses that do not fulfill the Faculty basic requirements, the Native Studies major requirements, or the minor requirements. The number of required option credits depends on the minor credit requirements and makes up the difference to the maximum of ★120 required to graduate.
Students may take a maximum of ★12 from any one area of concentration. Courses not accepted for a minor may be placed in the Options section up to the ★12 maximum.

Graduation

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. The graduation average is the quotient of (a) the total number of grade points earned by the student in courses credited to the degree, and (b) the total weight of those courses. The major graduation average is the quotient of courses used to satisfy the Native Studies major requirement specifically (see above). When a student has attempted, as part of the program, courses at an institution for which the grades are not precisely equivalent to those of the University of Alberta, the degree is awarded at the discretion of the Faculty of Native Studies. Courses with final grades less than C- are not transferable from other postsecondary institutions.
Degrees with Distinction: BA in Native Studies degrees With Distinction are awarded when students achieve a GPA of 3.5 or higher over the last ★60 taken at the University of Alberta if the student has satisfactorily completed these ★60 over five consecutive terms, excluding Spring/Summer.