Academic Calendar 2020-2021

Certificate Overview.  The courses that comprise the certificate provide students with foundational knowledge about the physiological basis for behaviour. The certificate is interdisciplinary in nature and students are required to take courses in both disciplines, although there is some flexibility that allows them to focus more heavily on either Biology or Psychology should they choose to do so.

Certificate Overview.  The Certificate in Canadian Arts and Culture invites students to experience and analyze different kinds of creative production, including music, theatre, literature, and visual art, made in Canada. Drawing from diverse programs and departments, this suite of courses engages vital questions: what cultural creations emerge from this place? What do they teach us about identities, belonging, and creativity? How can we intervene in critical conversations about artistic expression in this country? The Certificates foundational courses introduce students to key Canadian symbols, myths, and cultural themes as well as concepts for assessing cultural experiences and products. From there, students deepen their understanding of particular forms (textual, visual, auditory, performance) by deciphering, analyzing, and critiquing a wide variety of Canadian creations.

Certificate Overview.  The Certificate in Community Engaged Learning has three core courses, which introduce ideas of community, the theory and practice of community engaged learning, and critical pedagogies. The intermediate level courses build on this knowledge and also allow students an opportunity to work in a sustained way with a community partner. The program incorporates a range of courses from around the University to allow students the chance to explore themes in community engaged learning. The Certificate combines both theoretical and applied learning by requiring a 3-credit practicum.

A Minor in Community Engaged Learning is also available (see Community Engaged Learning in Section 12 Programs and Courses of Instruction).

Certificate Overviews.  Data Science is the emerging interdisciplinary study and application of how we capture, organize, archive, access, and use large-scale data. Data Science alters disciplinary and professional practices, enabling new conceptual approaches and categories of questions, while generating new challenges in ethics and privacy. These issues and opportunities now pervade many areas of human endeavour, from physics to health care to social policy.

To successfully engage with the scope and scale of data resources requires high throughput approaches, with new concepts and practices for effective management, distribution, and presentation of data. Our goal is to give students the concepts and tools to empower their ethical engagement with the emerging potentials and challenges of data, across disciplines and fields of enquiry.

The Certificate in Data Management covers the theory, ethics, and practice of managing and presenting large data resources. The certificate will empower students with tools to advance their disciplinary work, and to progress to graduate or professional practice.

The Certificate in Data Analytics covers conceptual approaches to analyses of large-scale data, which presents both challenges and opportunities.

The two certificates can be combined, along with advanced statistics, to form a Minor in Data Science (see Data Science in Section 12 Programs and Courses of Instruction). The certificates and minor are designed to engage and serve the interests of a wide range of students and in all cases emphasize interdisciplinary opportunities and challenges of data science, which supports and extends many disciplines and professional areas. Skills in data science are thus highly transferrable across many areas of practice.

Certificate Overview.  The Department of Sociology, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate provides students with the opportunity to develop valuable knowledge, methodologies, and applied skills about the important issue of building an inclusive society free from barriers to full participation and engagement. Students develop their cultural competence by exploring the wide range of human qualities and attributes within a group, organization, or society including dimensions of diversity such as ancestry, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, language, physical and intellectual ability, race, religion, sex, sexuality, and socio-economic status. Courses examine the principles of equity in polices and practices to assess and improve their effectiveness in achieving fair, inclusive, and respectful treatment of all people. Course material reviews historical and contemporary injustices and disadvantages faced by particular groups. Students examine how to create opportunities and reduce disparities in opportunities and outcomes for diverse communities and to assist institutions and organizations in identifying and tackling barriers to create safer environments for marginalized people. Applied projects allow students to develop strategies that facilitate individuals' and communities' social inclusion in economic, social, cultural, and political dimensions.

Certificate Overview.  The courses that comprise the certificate provide students with foundational knowledge about the biological and psychosocial bases of health and health care. This certificate is beneficial to students planning a career in health care broadly defined, including medicine, nursing, allied health care professions, health policy and biomedical research.

Certificate Overview.  The courses included in this certificate focus on the understanding and application of the social science research methods commonly used in the public and private sectors. Skills in social research methods are highly transferrable and marketable, and graduates with these skills are increasingly sought by employers across all sectors academia, government, charities and business.

Certificate Overview.  The courses included in this certificate focus on the practical aspects of theatre and drama and highlight synthesis and practical application of many facets of theatre arts. With courses in acting, directing, production, design, as well as the capstone DRAM 4011 course and the production practicum course, students will be immersed in experiential learning as they hone their craft and learn about the myriad aspects of theatre.

Certificate Overview.  Visual literacy is indispensable in our information age and global economy. To be successful in navigating careers and personal lives, twenty-first-century students must acquire the critical and analytical skills required to expertly decode visual communication, describe and interpret images and visual representation, use visual materials proficiently and creatively, and grasp the impact of visual culture. This certificate is thus intended as accreditation for students who develop visual literacy skills in order to enhance their post-graduation employment prospects in industry sectors where images, visuality, and viewing practices play an important role (e.g. the arts, culture, and creative industries; communications and media relations; government and not-for-profit leadership; heritage and conservation; journalism and publishing; tourism; and marketing and advertising). Visual literacy is extremely useful in a range of workplace tasks, such as designing professional presentations and websites, creating efficient systems of organizing verbal and visual information, mapping out collective problem solving, and communicating competently with a wide spectrum of demographics (designated by age, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, race, etc.). This certificate will also be beneficial to students seeking admission to competitive professional or graduate schools, such as medicine, engineering, and education, which increasingly recognize the significance of an observant eye and visual analysis skills.