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Bachelor of Arts, Humanities Major

Regulations effective Sep. 1, 2024.

The mission of the Bachelor of Arts (4-year) is to strengthen your critical and creative thinking by offering a broad range of social, political, and cultural programs of study. A liberal arts education from Athabasca University is designed to broaden your perspective on local and global affairs, encourage community and social involvement, and prepare you for lifelong learning and occupational diversity.

The Bachelor of Arts (4-year) provides students with a broad, flexible education that allows them to develop, understand, and disseminate knowledge, to think critically, and to build on these abilities. In addition, the four-year degree fully prepares students for most graduate programs. Graduates of the Bachelor of Arts (4-year) with a Major are expected to have gained sufficient analytical and critical thinking skills to be able to engage in independent research in their chosen major. Athabasca University does not offer an Honours BA.

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts (3-year) program who wish to transfer to the Bachelor of Arts (4-year) program must complete a new Undergraduate General Application Form. Previous education will be reassessed and students will be notified of the results.

Humanities Major

As a student of Athabasca University's interdisciplinary Humanities program, you will study how we have expressed our humanity on culture, literature, art, and philosophy. Students will draw on the knowledge and skills from across AU's range of humanities disciplines—for example; history, literature, and philosophy. Students learn the methods used by different humanities' disciplines to investigate human expression, and how to adapt elements of that expression in new ways. Students majoring in Humanities will also obtain basic reading knowledge of second language.

Planning your program

Our online program plans can assist you in selecting the courses needed to fulfill your program requirements.

Athabasca University has developed program learning outcomes that describe the career options that may be available to you upon graduating.

Program requirements

Students complete the program regulations in effect at the time of their enrolment.

Although you may change majors, a major must be selected when you enrol in the Bachelor of Arts (4-year) program.

You are strongly encouraged to register in ENGL 255 early in your program. The English writing skills requirement is waived for students enrolling in the second undergraduate degree.

The degree conversion provision is available to Athabasca University students who have been awarded a three-year AU degree and wish to convert to a four-year degree. For more information about this regulation, please review the Undergraduate Degree Conversion From Three- to Four-Year Program Policy

Students must meet the following English writing skills requirement:

  • hold credit in ENGL 255 (Students are strongly encouraged to register in ENGL 255 early in their program.);
    or
  • have a grade of B- (70 per cent) or better in an Athabasca University English course above the preparatory (100) level;
    or
  • receive credit for an English course in which a grade of B- or better was achieved.

Students in the Bachelor of Arts (4-year) program, as either a first or second undergraduate degree, generally have the option to combine two majors if they wish. Students who undertake double majors must fulfill all requirements for both majors. Depending upon the majors chosen, this may greatly restrict course selection (particularly in the second undergraduate degree program) or require the completion of more than 120 credits. Students considering enrolling in double majors should consult with an Athabasca University advisor for assistance in selecting their programs and courses.

You may change majors at any time. You will be placed in the current regulations. If you wish to remain in the regulations that were in effect at the time of your original enrolment, contact Admissions and Evaluations Services. Please reference the appropriate Calendar, e.g., 2012-2013 regulations. To request a change of major, complete and submit a new Undergraduate General Application Form. No fees are required.

In the Bachelor of Arts (4-year), students have the option of taking a minor in addition to their major. Although students must declare a major when they become BA (4-year) program students, they may declare a minor at any point in their studies. A BA minor comprises 30 credits distinct from the major in a related discipline in the Humanities or Social Sciences offered at Athabasca University. At least 15 of the 30 minor credits must be at the 300 or 400 level. If they choose a minor, students must still complete all requirements of the major. No course can be used to complete requirements for both the major and the minor. The minor will be recorded on the transcript. Available BA minors are:

  • Anthropology
  • Canadian Studies
  • English
  • French
  • Global Studies
  • Heritage Resources Management
  • History
  • Humanities
  • Inclusive Education
  • Labour Studies
  • Philosophy
  • Political Economy
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Public Administration
  • Sociology
  • Women’s and Gender Studies

Program structure

Program structure
Total credits in the program 120
Minimum credits required
At the senior (300 or 400) level
(including 18 credits at the 400 level)		 75
In the major (compulsory)
* may be higher depending on the specific requirements of the major		 45*
Minimum senior-level credits in major (including a minimum of 12 credits at the 400 level) 30
Arts (Humanities and social sciences) 96
  • Humanities, a minimum of
  • Social science, minimum of
 18
18
Science 6
Residency requirement. A minimum of 30 credits must be obtained through Athabasca University. 30
Graduation with Distinction or Great Distinction. At least 24 credits must be obtained through Athabasca University in order to be considered. 24
Minor (optional)
Minimum credits in the minor
(including a minimum of 15 credits at the 300 and 400 level)		 30
Students may not apply a course to both the major and the minor.
Maximum credits allowed
In any one discipline 60
Applied studies 18
At the preparatory level 6
At junior level in any one discipline 15
Maximum Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition credits 9

 

Additional Humanities Major requirements

Requirements in addition to the general program requirements for the Bachelor of Arts (4-year) with Major:

  1. 45 credits in designated major courses including a minimum of 30 senior (300 and 400) level credits (a minimum of 12, 400-level credits).
  2. Within these 45 credits students must also complete 6 credits in a single language other than English (for example, FREN or SPAN) at the junior-level (200) or higher. Students may count these 6 credits towards the 21 credits required in the list of designated elective courses below.
  3. A minimum of 24 credits selected from the following interdisciplinary core courses including a minimum of 6 senior (300 or 400) level credits.
interdisciplinary core courses
ARHI 201 – A Survey of Western Art I: Looking at Art from Ancient Times to the Middle Ages (3)
ARHI 202 – A Survey of Western Art II: Looking at Art from the Renaissance to Present Day (3)
CMNS 358 – Popular Culture and the Media (3)
ENGL 255 – Introductory Composition (3)
ENGL 303 – A History of Drama Part I: Early Stages (3)
ENGL 304 – A History of Drama Part II: Modernist Theatre (3)
ENGL 308 – Indigenous Literature in Canada (3)
ENGL 316 – Approaches to Literary Theory and Criticism (3)
ENGL 341 – World Literature (6)
ENGL 423 – Advanced Literary Theory (3)
GLST 308 – Americas: An Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean (3)
HIST 371 – Early Medieval Europe, 400 – 1000 (3)
HIST 372 – High Medieval Europe, 1000 – 1350 (3)
HIST 373 – The Renaissance (3)
HIST 404 – Historical Foundations of Modern Science (3)
HIST 407 – The Enlightenment (3)
HIST/GLST/WGST 460 – Famous Feminists and Their Times: Global History of Feminism (3)
All HUMN courses  
HUMN/CLAS/HIST 309 – Ancient Greece (3)
HUMN/CLAS/HIST 312 – Ancient Rome (3)
HUMN/HIST/RELS 313 – Early Christians (3)
INFS 200 – Information Seeking & Society in the Information Age (3)
All PHIL courses  
RELS 204 – Introduction to World Religions (6)

Electives

At least 21 additional credits from among the core courses or from among the following electives:

(The 6 language credits in regulation 2 above, may be counted towards these electives.)

electives
ANTH 320 – Ancient Cities and Civilizations (3)
CMNS 301 – Communication Theory and Analysis (3)
CMNS 302 – Communication in History (3)
CMNS 420 – Topics in Communication: Children and Media (3)
CMNS 423 – The Television Age (3)
CMNS 425 – Film and Genre (3)
All ENGL courses, except preparatory (100-level) courses  
FREN 363 – Le roman français du XXe siècle (3)
FREN 374 – Litterature québécoise (6)
All HIST courses  
INST 368 – Indigenous Peoples in Canada to 1830 (3)
INST 369 – Indigenous Peoples in Canada Since 1830 (3)
INST 370 – The Métis (3)
MUSI 267 – Sound and Sense: Listening to Music (3)
PHIL 252 – Critical Thinking (3)
POLI 307 – Political Ideologies (3)
WGST 200 – Feminist Research and Women’s Lives (3)
WGST 201 – An Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies (3)
WGST 401 – Contemporary Feminist Theory (3)

Recommendations

Students enrolled in the second undergraduate degree program are advised to select courses within the major that fulfill the Social Science requirements. Failure to do so could result in the student being required to complete more than 45 credits in order to fulfill all of the regulations.

Students who have any doubt about their essay writing, critical thinking, or library research skills are strongly advised to take one or more of the following courses at the outset of their university studies:

ENGL 255, PHIL 252, INFS 200.

Second undergraduate degree

Students are not permitted to obtain a second undergraduate degree in the same field or related field as their first undergraduate degree. Students who have completed a previous undergraduate degree must enter the second undergraduate Bachelor of Arts (4-year) degree and follow these regulations. The English writing skills requirement is waived for students enrolling in the second undergraduate degree.

Program structure

Program structure
Total new credits not applied from a previous degree
* May be higher depending on the specific requirements of the major.		 60*
Minimum credits required
At the senior level (including 18 credits at the 400 level) 48‡
‡ May be higher depending on the specific requirements of the major.
Arts (Humanities and social science) 48
  • Humanities
  • Social science
9
9
Science 6
Residency requirement. A minimum of 30 credits must be obtained through Athabasca University. 30
Graduation with Distinction or Great Distinction. At least 24 credits must be obtained through Athabasca University in order to be considered. 24
Maximum credits allowed
In any one discipline 45
Applied studies 12
At the preparatory level 0
At junior level in any one discipline 12
Maximum Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) credits
** A maximum of 39 PLAR credits is allowed if you declare a Labour Studies major.		 9**
Major (compulsory)
Minimum senior (300 or 400) level credits in major (including 12 credits at the 400 level) 30
Information effective Sep. 1, 2024 to Aug. 31, 2025.

Helpful links and resources:

  • Program website
  • Transfer credit services
  • Archived program regulations
  • Estimated program fees

Updated July 26, 2024 by Office of the Registrar (calendar@athabascau.ca)

https://www.athabascau.ca/calendar/ e4d52fd70a2a55fc5964e4ff6b3a43bb