General Degree Requirements
Following is a list of the faculty requirements needed to satisfy degree programs in the College of Arts and Science. Details of these requirements can be found on the pages following these lists. Departmental requirements can be found in the appropriate department/faculty listing in this calendar. Please note that students must satisfy both department and faculty requirements. Before registering for the second year, each student in the College of Arts and Science should declare a subject of concentration and obtain program advice from a faculty advisor in the appropriate department.
Requirements for degree programs other than College of Arts and Science can be found in the appropriate department/school/college/faculty listing.
Required First-year Course for BA Students
Students are required to complete either ASSC 1300.03: Introduction to Humanities or ASSC 1400.03, Introduction to Social Sciences in their first 30 credit hours of study. For students on Truro campus, AGRI 1200.03, Introduction the the Humanities and Social Sciences fulfills the same requirement. These courses are only offered in the fall term.
Subject Groupings
Course offerings within the College of Arts and Science are placed into three subject groupings: (1) Languages and Humanities, (2) Social Sciences and (3) Life and Physical Sciences. All BA and BSc programs must include a minimum of six credit hours from each of the three subject groupings.
1. Languages and Humanities
Arabic; Black and African disapora studies; Canadian studies; Chinese (Mandarin); cinema and media studies; classics; comparative religion; contemporary studies; creative writing; early modern studies; English; European studies; French; gender and women’s studies; German; Greek; history; history of science and technology; indigenous studies; Italian studies; King’s Foundation Year; Latin; music; performance studies; philosophy; religious studies; Russian; Spanish; and theatre.
2. Social Sciences
Black and African diaspora studies; Canadian studies; contemporary studies; early modern studies; European studies, economics, gender and women’s studies; history; history of science and technology; human geography; indigenous studies; international development studies; King’s Foundation Year; law, justice and society; political science; psychology; sociology and social anthropology; and sustainability (for BSc only).
3. Life Sciences and Physical Sciences
Biochemistry and molecular biology, biology, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, economics, engineering, environmental science, human physiology* (for BA only), informatics, marine biology, mathematics, microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, oceanography, physics, psychology, science, statistics, and sustainability (for BA only). AGRI 1000: Introduction to Agriculture (offered on Truro campus) is also acceptable.
* Offered by the Faculty of Medicine. See Electives section below, for limit on courses from other Faculties.
PLEASE NOTE:
1. In cases where a subject is listed in more than one of the groupings, any credit taken in that subject may be used to satisfy only one of the grouping requirements. A second credit in the same subject cannot be used to satisfy another subject grouping requirement. The exceptions are the Dalhousie Integrated Science Program and King’s Foundation Year Program. King’s Foundation Year Program (KING 1000.24, KING 1100.18) satisfies the humanities-language and social science groupings and students must take six credit hours in a single life/physical sciences subject to complete the subject grouping requirements. The Integrated Science Program satisfies the life sciences and physical sciences and social sciences subject groupings. Integrated Science students are required to take another three credit hours of Languages and Humanities in addition to PHIL 1050.03 to satisfy the Languages and Humanities requirement.
2. The subject groupings requirement should normally be completed in the first 60 credit hours.
Writing Course Requirement
In most cases, 6 credit hours of approved writing requirement courses are required for all BA and BSc degrees. A limited number of 3 credit hour courses can fulfill the writing requirement on their own. Courses that can be used to fulfill the writing requirement are listed below. It is recommended that students complete the writing requirement early in their programs, preferably in their first year of studies.
The following courses fulfill the writing requirement on their own:
- ASSC 1111.03: Academic Writing
- ENGL/CRWR 1030.06: Reading and Writing Stories
- ENGL 1111.03: University Writing.
- Integrated Science Program (SCIE 15XX)
- King’s Foundation Year (KING 1XXX)
- SCIE 1111.03: Writing for the Sciences (satisfies full writing requirement for BSc students only)
- SUST 1000.06: Introduction to Environment, Sustainability and Society I
Alternatively, students can fulfill the writing requirement by completing 6 credit hours from the following list of courses:
- EGLA 1000.03: Composition (offered on Truro campus)
- EGLA 1002.03: Nature in Literature (offered on Truro campus)
- EGLA 1004.03: English Studies in Science and Technology (offered on Truro campus)
- ENGL 1005.03: Literature: Global Perspective
- ENGL 1015.03: Literature: How it Works
- ENGL 1025.03: Literature: Why it Matters
- ENGL 1040.03: Reading Popular Culture (Writing Requirement)
- ENGL 1050.03: Pulp Fiction (Writing Requirement)
- ENGL 1060.03: Reading Literature and Science
- ENGL 1100.03: Writing for University
- HSTC 1800.03: Technology and Engineering: From the Stone Age to the Industrial Age
- HSTC 1801.03: Technology and Engineering: From the Industrial Age to the Cybernetic Age
- JOUR 1002.03: Foundations of Journalism I*
- JOUR 1003.03: Foundations of Journalism II *
- OCEA 1001.03: Conversations with Ocean Scientists I
- OCEA 1002.03: Conversations with Ocean Scientists II
* Offered by the School of Journalism. See Electives section below, for limit on courses from other Faculties.
The Writing Course may also be used to satisfy a subject groupings requirement.
Mathematics Requirement (Bachelor of Science)
A minimum of six credit hours in mathematics or statistics other than MATH 1001.03, MATH 1002.03, MATH 1003.03, MATH 1110.03, MATH 1120.03, MATH 1115.03 or MATH 1315.03, are required for all BSc programs. A course taken to satisfy the mathematics requirement may not be used to also satisfy the subject groupings requirement.
Students may also satisfy this requirement by passing the test which is administered by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Such students must nevertheless complete 90 or 120 credit hours in order to graduate.
Language Course (Bachelor of Arts)
Students should consider becoming fluent in French. BA students are required to obtain 6 credit hours in a single languge:
For students with advanced language skills, upper-level language courses may be substituted. Consult the appropriate department about placement tests. Students whose placement tests confirm that they exceed the highest level of instruction in that language may apply to waive the requirement (this applies only to languages offered at Dalhousie).
A course taken to satisfy this requirement cannot also satisfy the requirement of a course from section 1.
BA students who choose to major in economics, philosophy, law, justice and society, political science, psychology or sociology and social anthropology may substitute for a language course at least six credit hours in mathematics or statistics taught by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, other than MATH 1001.03, MATH 1002.03, MATH 1003.03, MATH 1110.03, MATH 1120.03, or MATH 1115.03, to meet this requirement; or they may meet it by passing the test administered by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.
A course taken to satisfy this requirement cannot also satisfy the requirement of a course from Life Sciences and Physical Sciences.
Electives
Students may choose electives from any of the courses offered by teaching units within the College of Arts and Science, College of Sustainability, Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Computer Science. In addition, without prior permission, electives are permitted as follows provided prerequisites are met and the consent of the instructor(s) is obtained when necessary:
Bachelor of Arts
- Up to 18 credit hours from courses offered outside the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Faculty of Science, College of Sustainability, Faculty of Computer Science or Faculty of Agriculture, plus up to 12 credit hours in Commerce. FNAR (Fine Arts) transfer credit courses are included in this 18 credit hour limit.
Please note that BA students registered for minors in Business, Law and Society, Health Studies, Community Design, Journalism or other minors approved for students within the College of Arts and Science are permitted to take the courses necessary to satisfy the requirements for the minor. In addition, 12 credit hours from courses offered in other faculties are permitted.
BA/BEng
Students may count as electives a total of 36 engineering credit hours. In addition 12 credit hours from courses offered in other faculties are permitted.
Bachelor of Science
- 18 credit hours from courses offered outside the Faculty of Arts & Social Science, Faculty of Science, College of Sustainability, Faculty of Computer Science or Faculty of Agriculture, plus up to 12 credit hours in Commerce OR
- 30 credit hours in Engineering or Food Science courses and 18 credit hours from courses offered in other faculties
Please note that BSc students registered for any approved minor are permitted to take the courses necessary to satisfy the requirements for the minor. In addition, 12 credit hours from courses offered in other faculties are permitted.
BSc/BEng
Students may count as electives a total of 36 engineering credit hours and in addition 12 credit hours from courses offered in other faculties.
Any additional elective credit hours outside the College of Arts and Science will require explicit permission, to be obtained by application to the appropriate Dean’s Office. Permission to count a requested course for degree credit will only be granted to students who demonstrate clearly, in a written submission, how a desired course will enhance the objectives of the BA or BSc program in progress. In this regard, a written statement of support from an academic advisor in the department of concentration is desirable.
Students seeking to enrol in courses beyond the above provisions as a means of preparing to transfer to a program of study outside the College of Arts and Science will be given approval to do so by the appropriate dean’s office if admission to the course(s) has been granted by the instructor(s) concerned. In such cases, however, it will be explicitly stated that the courses will not count for credit towards a BA or BSc degree.
Cross-listed Courses
Please note that cross-listed courses will count as one subject only for the purpose of satisfying degree requirements, e.g. ECON 2260.03 cross-listed with MATH 2060.03 may count either as a mathematics course or economics course but not both.