Courses


    Available courses

    ARHI 201 / HIST 203 is designed to introduce the developments in artistic expression, from cave drawings and the monuments of ancient Egypt to the paintings, sculpture and architecture of 15th century northern Europe.

    Art History 202/History 204: Looking at Art from the Renaissance to Present Day is a three-credit, junior-level course designed to introduce you to the developments in artistic expression in the Western world beginning with the Italian Renaissance and ending with Contemporary art. This course, which is offered in an individualized-study delivery mode and normally open to students throughout the year, introduces the basic premise of art history and teaches students how to critically view historical works and artistic practices.

    Art History 202/History 204: Looking at Art from the Renaissance to Present Day is a three-credit, junior-level course designed to introduce you to the developments in artistic expression in the Western world beginning with the Italian Renaissance and ending with Contemporary art. This course, which is offered in an individualized-study delivery mode and normally open to students throughout the year, introduces the basic premise of art history and teaches students how to critically view historical works and artistic practices.

    Art History 301 / Cultural Studies 301: Canadian Visual Culture is a three-credit, senior-level course designed to familiarize you with a variety of critical perspectives and help you understand display practices and cultural production in the context of Canadian art history.

    ENGL 255 focuses on essay writing at the university level. In order to improve the necessary skills, students study examples of good writing, do a brief introductory assignment, write two short summaries, participate in online discussion forums, and complete three essays covering a spectrum of styles and purposes.

    ENGL 211 introduces students to four literary forms: the short story, essay, novella, and novel.
    ENGL 212 introduces forms of poetry, with a wide variety of examples from Shakespeare to Atwood, examining themes, structure, style, and imagery.

    Course Template model 

    ENGL 255 focuses on essay writing at the university level. In order to improve the necessary skills, students study examples of good writing, do a brief introductory assignment, write two short summaries, participate in online discussion forums, and complete three essays covering a spectrum of styles and purposes. The course is designed to recognize students’ personal interests, objectives, and learning styles and to provide flexible scheduling options.

    English 302: An Introduction to Canadian Literature is a six-credit, senior level course designed to introduce students to the Canadian literary tradition from colonial times to the 1970s.

    This course traces the history of Western theatre from its Greek origins to the beginning of the eighteenth century in England and France, with specific references to the plays in a core anthology, The Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama.

    English 304: A History of Drama Part II: Modernist Theatre is a senior-level university course which examines the beginnings of Western modernism in plays of the nineteenth and twentieth century from Europe, Britain, the United States, and Canada.

    English 305: Literature for Children is a six-credit senior course designed to introduce the student to children’s literature, its history and development, and its rich variety of forms and techniques.

    English 305: Literature for Children is a six-credit senior course designed to introduce the student to children’s literature, its history and development, and its rich variety of forms and techniques.

    ENGL 306 is an introduction to literature created by people who do the actual work being depicted. This is a relatively new genre. In the past, most literature about the workplace was written by outsiders; by people who had never done the job and who therefore did not have an insider's knowledge of what actually went on in the daily life of workers. In breaking the taboo against depicting the realities of life on the job, the literature of work gives an exciting new perspective both on the workplace and on the possibilities of literature.

    English 307 critically examines the tradition in women's writing, deconstructs the pervasive images of women in literature, and analyses the way in which women use language to define their experiences.

    English 307 critically examines the tradition in women's writing, deconstructs the pervasive images of women in literature, and analyses the way in which women use language to define their experiences.

    English 308 is designed to provide you with the basis for a deeper understanding of the literature of Indigenous nations in Canada.

    ENGL 308 is a survey of Native literature, primarily in Canada, written in English. The course begins with the oral tradition, focusing on creation myths and trickster mythology, and shows how oral literature has influenced the development of contemporary Native Canadian written literature. The course also explores indigenous perspectives on history, religion, and the process of colonization.

    English 316 is an introductory level course designed to familiarize you with a variety of critical perspectives and help you understand literary works more profoundly by integrating literary theory in your response to these works. English 316 also aims to prepare English program students for English 423: Advanced Literary Theory and Criticism, which deals with some of the more contemporary literary theories covered in English 316 in more depth.

    ENGL 324 is an introduction to the study of the plays of William Shakespeare and focuses on the histories and tragedies. Critical analysis of the works helps the student to comprehend the plays and to appreciate the achievement of the most important author in the literary tradition of the English- speaking world. The course will help you study the plays as literary texts and as live theatre. To critically analyse the plays we will use a variety of media: the printed texts of the plays, CDs of performances, the study guide with historical and critical commentary and DVD performances of two plays. The seven plays are: Richard II, Henry IV, Part One, Hamlet, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth, and Othello.

    ENGL 325 is an introduction to the study of the plays of William Shakespeare and concentrates on the comedies and problem plays. The course will help you to interpret the plays as literary texts and as live theatre.

    English 341 is an introduction to world literature. The course begins with a concise history of the origins and development of world literature from the eighteenth century to the present. The remainder of the course facilitates the reading of canonical texts from the ancient world to today and from all areas of the globe. Each unit encourages a comparative understanding of world literature by situating culturally specific texts in global contexts and reading the formal and thematic resources of literary texts in a historical perspective.

    English 344: American Literature I is a three-credit senior course designed to introduce students to American literature, its history and development, and its rich variety of forms and techniques.

    This course introduces students to American literature, its history and development, and its rich variety of forms and techniques. It surveys American literature from its beginnings to approximately 1900 and includes Native orators, Puritan authors, writers of the Enlightenment and Romantic periods, slave narratives, and works that would set the stage for the entry of the United States into the literary world of the Twentieth Century.

    English 345: American Literature II, a three-credit senior course designed to follow the introduction to American literature begun in Athabasca University’s English 344, continuing the exploration of the history and development of American literature, and its rich variety of forms and techniques. The course takes as its focus works of American literature written from approximately 1900 to 1950.

    ENGL 351 is an introduction to the study of ethnic minority writing in Canada in the context of the country's two majority traditions—the English and the French.

    Welcome to English 353: Intermediate Composition, a senior-level, three-credit course that will help refine your essay writing.

    This course is a genre-specific study of the poetry, prose, short fiction, and novels of the Harlem Renaissance. In this course you will focus on the cultural, historical, and artistic movement of the 1920s and 1930s, by examining the racial, political, and social issues of the time period.

    English 373 is designed to introduce students to the study of the relationships between literary and cinematic forms. We look at the links between the novel and film, the theatre and film, the fairytale and film, poetry and film, with a final unit on the film-novel. Students explore issues pertaining to each medium as well as larger questions related to style, adaptation, translation, and interpretation. We study several primary texts in detail, view several films and read work by some representative literary and film theorists and historians.

    This course focuses on expanding poetic technique through guided practice, close reading, regular use of a writer’s notebook, constructive interaction with peers, and informed instructor responses.
    Welcome to English 381: Creative Writing in Prose. The focus of this course is your work and its development. This course does its best to encourage the values of engagement, patience, and perseverance, but its main role is to firm up and expand your sense of technical understanding as you shape the material that arises for you within the various assignments.
    Welcome to English 381: Creative Writing in Prose. The focus of this course is your work and its development. This course does its best to encourage the values of engagement, patience, and perseverance, but its main role is to firm up and expand your sense of technical understanding as you shape the material that arises for you within the various assignments.

    English 384: Writing Creative Non-fiction is a senior-level course that offers students the opportunity to write creative non-fiction and receive feedback on their writing. Creative non-fiction, also called literary non-fiction or literary journalism, is a genre that applies to non-fiction the principles of storytelling usually associated with fiction. Students will learn these principles of storytelling as they produce their own work.

    ENGL 387 develops speculative fiction (SF) writing skills through a combination of strategic study and writing activity.

    ENGL 387 develops speculative fiction (SF) writing skills through a combination of strategic study and writing activity.

    In this course we will focus on the first four decades of the twentieth-century British novel, its history and development, its rich variety of forms and techniques, and the ideas and events that influenced it.

    In this course we will focus on the first four decades of the twentieth-century British novel, its history and development, its rich variety of forms and techniques, and the ideas and events that influenced it.

    This course introduces the student to some of the major English novels of the nineteenth century.

    ENGL 423 examines the major contemporary theories of literature and their application in practical criticism.

    English 431: Indigenous and Canadian Drama is a senior-level, three-credit course that provides a survey of Indigenous and Canadian plays from the 1960s to the present. English 431 examines a diversity of theatrical styles and themes, and investigates the forms and contexts of playwriting and theatrical production in works from various Indigenous communities and across the country.

    English 458: The Latin American Novel focuses on five Latin American novels and a memoir offered in translation. Texts are provided in English, but should students choose to read the novels in the original Spanish or Portuguese, they may do so at their own expense.

    English 460: The Ecological Imagination is a three-credit senior level course that considers the relationship between literature, culture, and the environment.

    The aim of ENGL 481 is for you to learn to read sport literature with an understanding of genre, technique, and form; to apply various critical strategies to literary texts; to develop analytical writing skills appropriate to essays at the 400 level; and to experiment with creative writing about sport.

    Welcome to English 482: Advanced Fiction Writing, the second fiction-writing course at Athabasca University. The prerequisite for this course is English 381: Creative Writing in Prose or the permission of the instructor.
    Students in ENGL 491 complete an extended research project under the direction of a professor. The research topic will be determined by consultation between the student and the professor. The course of study will normally include extensive library research and the production of a major paper. The research proposal will include the goals of the study project, the procedures, and the deadlines for completing the various phases of the work.

    ENGL 492 is designed for students who want to pursue a particular literary topic of study. There is some choice of topic which is limited by the research and teaching interests of the faculty in the Centre for Language and Literature.

    This course is designed for students who need to revise or upgrade their grammar skills to ensure accuracy of communication before proceeding with other courses or post-secondary studies. There is a thorough and systematic review of grammatical structures and their use in authentic language situations. Although this course studies grammar from an ESL perspective, it is also appropriate for native speakers of English who need to improve their grammar skills. ENGL 140 may be recommended for students interested in taking ENGL 177 or ENGL 189.

    This course is designed for students who need to fill the gaps in their reading and writing skills in preparation for studies at the university level.

    The main purpose of English 155: Developing Writing Skills is to help you become a better writer so you can cope effectively with the demands of university-level writing.

    ENGL 155 is designed for students who require a preparatory course in writing skills. The major objective of the course is to improve students' reading and writing abilities so they can succeed at the post-secondary level. Students will expand their vocabulary, increase their ability to analyse complex text, and improve their writing skills. The course includes paragraph and essay structure, and a systematic grammar review.

    English 177: English for Academic Purposes provides an introduction to university studies for students who wish to attend a postsecondary institution where English is the medium of instruction. The aim of this course is to prepare students to succeed in complex academic tasks in writing and reading. This is a general academic preparatory course designed from an ESL perspective. However, it is also appropriate for native speakers of English who are in need of general academic and writing preparation.

    This course provides an introduction to university studies for students who wish to attend a post-secondary institution where English is the medium of instruction. The aim of this course is to prepare students to succeed in complex academic tasks in writing and reading. This is a general academic preparatory course designed from an ESL perspective. However, it is also appropriate for native speakers of English who are in need of general academic and writing preparation.

    This course provides an introduction to business communications for students who wish to attend a post-secondary institution where English is the medium of instruction. The aim of this course is to prepare students to succeed in complex business communication tasks in writing, reading, and listening. This is a preparatory course for students most interested in improving their skills in a business/economic content area or taking further courses in Business related areas. It is designed from an ESL perspective, however, it is also appropriate for native speakers of English who are in need of business writing preparation.

    French 100 will help you become familiar with the foundation of the French language and will help you develop the four basic language skills of reading, writing, aural comprehension, and speaking. By the end of the course you will be able to make simple statements, and ask and answer a variety of questions. You will learn how to write simple sentences that are grammatically correct and to express yourself in simple French.

    French 101: French for Beginners II, is a three-credit, introductory-level course that follows French 100. French 101 will further your knowledge of the foundation of the French language and will help you develop the four basic language skills of reading, writing, aural comprehension, and speaking.
    Welcome to French 200: First-Year University French I, a three-credit university-level course. The aim of this course is to help you improve your French reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. French 200 contains a variety of material and numerous exercises to assist you in enhancing these skills. Because learning a language requires a great deal of practice, it is recommended that you spend several hours per week (at least ten) working through the material. Spending some time each day studying French is a more effective way to learn than trying to memorize a large amount of grammar and vocabulary during the course of a single study session.
    Welcome to French 201: First-Year University French II, a three-credit university-level course. French 201 is the second part of Athabasca University’s first-year (intermediate) French course and uses the same textbook as French 200. The aim of this course is to help you further develop the French reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills that you learned in French 200. The course will lead you through a major review of grammar, develop your ability to understand and compose short passages, and enable you to use French in social situations to discuss a variety of issues and express your opinions.

    French Composition

    French 305 presents an historical overview of the development of children’s literature in French and allows you to explore the various genres. Littérature jeunesse focuses on specific problems such as the role of the narrator, the relationship between narrator and reader, the relationship between the text and the illustrations, the evolution of the “hero” and how childhood has been perceived over the years. The course aims to develop skills in literary analysis, written and oral expression in French and also to increase awareness of the complexity and diversity of children’s literature.

    French 358 is designed for students who have a reasonably good mastery of French grammar and French written expression, and who wish to study French literature in a cultural context. In French 358, you will acquire a basic knowledge of French texts that are important in French literature and culture from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century.

    This course forms the first part of an Introduction to French Literature survey course. Through the study of excerpts and full-length works of major French writers, it explores the prose, theatre, and poetry that have marked French civilization from the Middle Ages (Marie de France, Villon) to the 18th century. (Voltaire, Rousseau). The course, which is conducted mainly in French, introduces students to the basic concepts of literary analysis and helps them acquire basic literary and critical terminology. Students are recommended to follow this course with FREN 359 (in development).

    FREN 362 Second-Year University French est un cours de six crédits (équivalent à deux semestres dans d’autres institutions) de premier cycle universitaire (300-level), qui est élaboré pour succéder logiquement au cours FREN 201. Dans ce cours avancé de langue, les étudiant.e.s sont amené.e.s à exercer et perfectionner leurs compétences en lecture, en compréhension, en expression orale et en écriture.

    French 362 is designed to follow French 201 or a full first-year university French course. This course continues the study of French grammar, expansion of vocabulary, and the study of short stories selected from francophone literature. The student will improve both written and spoken French through conversation, comprehension, grammar, and composition.

    FREN 375 focuses on the lexical rather than the grammatical aspect of the French language. This course is designed to dramatically increase students' vocabulary level and retention.

    Ce cours a pour but de vous offrir une formation spécifique en français, qui est considéré ici comme langue des affaires (style et vocabulaire canadien-français standard).
    This course is intended to present translation strategies to students who are proficient in French and have a very good command of English.

    FRENCH 420 is designed for students who intend to major in French or to graduate in Education with French as a teaching subject.

    FRENCH 421 is designed for students who intend to major in French or to graduate in Education with French as a teaching subject. This course is also vital to those who intend to pursue translation as a profession and to those aspiring towards a higher degree (MA) in French Studies. It serves as an exploration of the 19th-Century novel through the detailed study of three novels: Francois le Champi (George Sand), Eugénie Grandet (Balzac) and Madame Bovary (Flaubert). Although the course focuses on a detailed analysis of only three authors, students will nonetheless be able to expand their horizon through references made to other contemporary novelists such as Chateaubriand, Stendhal, Hugo, Maupassant and Zola.

    Le XVIIe siècle, aussi appelé « le Grand siècle », est l’époque des chefs-d’œuvre de la littérature et du théâtre classiques français. C’est à travers des auteurs tels que Descartes, Pascal, La Fontaine, Madame de La Fayette, Corneille, Molière et Racine pour ne citer que les plus notoires que nous avons appris à comprendre l’être humain, sa grandeur, ses ridicules, sa force, sa faiblesse. Ce sont là nos guides à la sagesse, au rire, au tragique. Sans doute ont-ils voulu eux-mêmes atteindre à l’éternel et à l’universel, exprimer la comédie ou le drame de l’humanité au-delà des temps et des lieux.
    Welcome to Spanish 200: Introductory Spanish I, the first of two three-credit, introductory-level courses based on Beginner Spanish OER.
    Welcome to SPAN 201: Spanish for Beginners II, the second of two three-credit, introductory-level courses.

    SPAN 300 consists of four integrated components: grammar, vocabulary, culture, and literature. The course reviews and further develops basic language skills acquired in First Year Spanish.

    SPAN 301 consists of four integrated components: grammar, vocabulary, culture, and literature. The course reviews and further develops basic language skills acquired in First Year Spanish. The emphasis is on reviewing and learning grammar structures and on vocabulary acquisition. The objective of SPAN 301 is to strengthen both written and oral skills that will enable students to communicate in a variety of contexts.

    SPAN 330 has been designed to target reading and writing skills while increasing vocabulary and improving grammar.

    Spanish 330: Textual Analysis and Composition, a three-credit, junior-level Spanish language course. It has been designed to target reading and writing skills while increasing vocabulary and improving grammar.

    SPAN 400 reviews and further develops language skills acquired in the first two years of Spanish.

    French 101: French for Beginners II, is a three-credit, introductory-level course that follows French 100. French 101 will further your knowledge of the foundation of the French language and will help you develop the four basic language skills of reading, writing, aural comprehension, and speaking.

    FREN 101 continues the study of the basic elements of the French language acquired in FREN 100. Oral and written skills are developed through the study of vocabulary, grammar, and idiomatic expressions. This course will enable students to speak and write in simple French in a range of everyday situations. A basic knowledge of English grammar is very important since FREN 101 contains a major grammar component.

    HERM 301: Introduction to Heritage Resources Management introduces students to heritage resources management and creates a base for further study of the contemporary heritage field. Students study types of practice and current and emerging issues, as well as the social context, controversies, ethical questions and general concerns that characterize efforts in heritage preservation and the work carried out in museums, archives, historic places and interpretive centres. Within this theoretical and applied framework, students will begin to develop approaches and skills in administration, collecting, conservation and preservation, interpretation, audience development and visitor services.

    This course is centred in an awareness of the broad context of heritage resources management, but it focuses on the practice, skills, and understandings of applied historical research. 

    Heritage Resources Management 322: Heritage Collections deals with the acquisition, documentation, storage, and preservation of collections.

    Heritage is an important part of Canadian cultural policy and of Canadian social, political and economic life. Students learn about government’s role in heritage through policy and funding initiatives, and the jurisdictional issues that sharpen the expression of national, regional and provincial identity. Particular focus is given to policies designed to preserve historic places, landscapes and built environments, and for the operation of museums, archives, and similar facilities. The course provides students with an understanding of heritage policy within the wider context of state cultural policy.

    Gathering and conserving objects is an ancient human impulse. For thousands of years people have collected, kept, and cherished objects. These practices have many motivations and reasons, including spiritual need; economic and political objectives, such as the acquisition of personal or group social status and power; the quest for knowledge; and the expression of aesthetic sensibilities.

    This course focuses on research that forms part of the essential heritage resources management tasks of identifying the elements of the past that are significant or meaningful, determining how and why they are meaningful, and deciding how they can best be preserved and managed as a public trust.

    Gathering and conserving objects is an ancient human impulse. For thousands of years people have collected, kept, and cherished objects. These practices have many motivations and reasons, including spiritual need; economic and political objectives, such as the acquisition of personal or group social status and power; the quest for knowledge; and the expression of aesthetic sensibilities.

    ARHI 201 / HIST 203 is designed to introduce the developments in artistic expression, from cave drawings and the monuments of ancient Egypt to the paintings, sculpture and architecture of 15th century northern Europe.

    ARHI 201 / HIST 203 is designed to introduce the developments in artistic expression, from cave drawings and the monuments of ancient Egypt to the paintings, sculpture and architecture of 15th century northern Europe.

    The aim of ENGL 481 is for you to learn to read sport literature with an understanding of genre, technique, and form; to apply various critical strategies to literary texts; to develop analytical writing skills appropriate to essays at the 400 level; and to experiment with creative writing about sport.

    It has long been recognized that Indigenous people make up a disproportionately large segment of the prison population in Canada. In this course, we discuss the reasons for this over-representation and some of the strategies Indigenous nations and communities are developing to address it.

    GLST 395/INTR 395/POEC 395—Political Economy of Development: People, Processes, and Policies, is a three-credit, senior-level course provides an overview of theories of development and their indigenous critiques. It is focused on the regions that comprise the Global South, including Latin America and the Caribbean; Africa and the Middle East; and South and Southeast Asia.

    This course is a junior-level, undergraduate, three-credit course in environmental studies. It is suitable for students who are interested in environmental and sustainability issues but have little or no background in these areas. This survey course presents an overview of key concepts related to environmental analysis, such as resilience, carrying capacity, and environmental justice, as well as a range of topics related to contemporary environmental issues such as water, biodiversity, and ecological design.

    Environmental Studies 305: Environmental Impact Assessment, a three-credit, senior-level course, is designed to introduce you to a systematic process for predicting and evaluating the significant environmental consequences of a proposed action or undertaking.

    Geography 201: Introductory Human Geography is a foundation course for students enrolled in geography, global studies, and environmental studies programs, and is also suitable for those who wish simply to further their understanding of the fundamentals of human geography.

    The study of transnational processes or globalization is essentially interdisciplinary, engaging insights from fields such as sociology, human geography, political science, cultural studies, and many more.

    GLST 308 explores the political, economic, and social dynamics that have shaped Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the processes that are moulding its future. Building on a ten-hour series of television broadcasts, Americas brings to life a startlingly diverse region that encompasses great wealth and desperate poverty, countries as tiny as Jamaica and as enormous as Brazil, with democratic and authoritarian governments, and a complex, multicultural heritage.

    GLST 395/INTR 395/POEC 395—Political Economy of Development: People, Processes, and Policies, is a three-credit, senior-level course provides an overview of theories of development and their indigenous critiques. It is focused on the regions that comprise the Global South, including Latin America and the Caribbean; Africa and the Middle East; and South and Southeast Asia.

    Welcome to History/Global Studies 208: The World to 1500. This is a three-credit, junior-level course. This first-year course introduces students to the study of Global History by surveying the early human past from its spread around world and invention of agriculture, through the rise of early and classical civilizations and the growing communication in the post-classical period, up to the chance connection of global networks by European explorers at the start of the modern age.

    Welcome to History/Global Studies 208: The World to 1500. This is a three-credit, junior-level course. This first-year course introduces students to the study of Global History by surveying the early human past from its spread around world and invention of agriculture, through the rise of early and classical civilizations and the growing communication in the post-classical period, up to the chance connection of global networks by European explorers at the start of the modern age.

    HIST 209/GLST 209 examines the major economic, political, social, scientific, and technological developments in twentieth century history. The course adopts four broad themes: global interrelatedness; identity and difference; rise of the mass society; and technology versus nature. These themes serve as a guide to understanding the material in each of the course's fourteen units.

    HIST 209/GLST 209 examines the major economic, political, social, scientific, and technological developments in twentieth century history. The course adopts four broad themes: global interrelatedness; identity and difference; rise of the mass society; and technology versus nature. These themes serve as a guide to understanding the material in each of the course's fourteen units.

    GLST 210 introduces you to the major economic, political, social, scientific, and technological developments in post–Second World War history. The course is based on four broad themes: global interrelatedness; identity and difference; rise of the mass society; and technology versus nature, which serve as a guide to understanding the material in each unit of the course. It follows Global Studies 209: A History of the World in the Twentieth Century: I, which covers the first half of the twentieth century.

    GLST 210 introduces you to the major economic, political, social, scientific, and technological developments in post–Second World War history. The course is based on four broad themes: global interrelatedness; identity and difference; rise of the mass society; and technology versus nature, which serve as a guide to understanding the material in each unit of the course. It follows Global Studies 209: A History of the World in the Twentieth Century: I, which covers the first half of the twentieth century.

    This course surveys the most significant political, economic, social, cultural, religious, and intellectual trends in European history from the end of the sixteenth century to the 1930s. 

    History 330 is designed to provide you with an understanding of some of the main currents in Canadian social history from the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century to the onset of industrialization in the latter half of the 19th century. The course has four major objectives.
    History 331: Social History of Canada: Early Industrialization to Contemporary Canada is a three-credit, intermediate-level course that introduces major themes in the social history of Canada from 1867 to the present. It is intended to follow History 330: Social History of Canada: European Contact to Early Industrialization, although that course is not a prerequisite.

    History/Women’s and Gender Studies 362: Constructing Women and Men in Canada: A History Since Industrialization explores the ways social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental forces have contributed to the gendering of women and men in Canada from the onset of industrialization in the nineteenth century to the present.

    History/Women’s and Gender Studies 362: Constructing Women and Men in Canada: A History Since Industrialization explores the ways social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental forces have contributed to the gendering of women and men in Canada from the onset of industrialization in the nineteenth century to the present.

    HIST 372 surveys the Middle Ages from the eve of the Twelfth Century Renaissance to the onslaught of the Black Death in the mid-fourteenth century. Among the topics covered are the economic and political transformations of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the flowering of learning and culture during this same period, the highlights of Christian thought from Peter Abelard to St. Thomas Aquinas, and the problems and achievements of the High Middle Ages.

    History 383: The Vikings is a three-credit, senior-level course that surveys the political, military, economic, social, cultural, and religious history of one of early medieval Europe’s most famous peoples.

    HIST 486: The Industrial Revolution examines a wide range of topics, from technological innovation in the eighteenth century to feminist debates in our own era, and to the Industrial Revolution’s impact on warfare and imperialism.

    HUMN 309/CLAS 309/HIST 309 provides a comprehensive introduction to the history and culture of Ancient Greece from the archaic period through the Persian and Peloponnesian wars to the Hellenistic era.

    HUMN 309/CLAS 309/HIST 309 provides a comprehensive introduction to the history and culture of Ancient Greece from the archaic period through the Persian and Peloponnesian wars to the Hellenistic era.

    Welcome to Ancient Rome a third-year Athabasca University course that is cross-listed as Humanities 312 / Classics 312 / History 312. This three-credit, senior-level (third-year) course examines the fascinating events and developments during a formative period in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. There are no prerequisites for this course, but students are strongly recommended to have mastered junior-level study, reading, and writing skills.

    Welcome to Ancient Rome a third-year Athabasca University course that is cross-listed as Humanities 312 / Classics 312 / History 312. This three-credit, senior-level (third-year) course examines the fascinating events and developments during a formative period in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. There are no prerequisites for this course, but students are strongly recommended to have mastered junior-level study, reading, and writing skills.

    Philosophy 240: Ancient Philosophy — The Rise of Reason in a Mythic World. From the emergence of philosophy out of an ancient mythic matrix to its flowering in the classical period of Plato and Aristotle, this course follows a tension between human rationality and religious intuition. In the process of reflecting upon and writing about philosophical arguments as they first arose in the context of ancient gods and heroes, we will not only gain a firm grounding in philosophy but will also gain new perspectives from which to critically assess the intellectual life and cultural productions of modern societies.
    Philosophy 254: Introduction to Symbolic Logic is an introduction to reasoning in formal symbolic logic. We will cover the syntax and semantics of classical sentential and predicate logic, translation of English sentences into symbolic form, and procedures for evaluating sentences and arguments, principally natural deduction.
    This course is suitable for students of varying academic and work backgrounds, and students of varying interests, goals, and talents can be well served by it. University-level reading and writing skills are necessary, as is a willingness to think openly and carefully about the concepts and issues studied.

    Philosophy 335: Biomedical Ethics, is a senior-level, three-credit course that will introduce you to ethical issues about health and health care in Canada and globally.

    Business Ethics is an applied ethics course that focuses on the ethics of enterprise, exchange, corporate responsibility, work, consumption, and trade.  

    Philosophy 342: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Philosophy explores the ideas and arguments developed by a group of very influential Western thinkers in the Modern Era. The course focuses on the metaphysical and epistemological views of figures including Rene Descartes, John Locke, Baruch Spinoza and Immanuel Kant. Metaphysical questions concern the nature of reality. What is real? How can we tell the difference between reality and illusion?

    Philosophy 350: Ethics, is a senior-level, three-credit course that provides an in-depth and comprehensive overview of the major figures in the western tradition of ancient, modern, and contemporary thought on questions of moral theory and ethics.

    This course provides an introduction to the special ethical problems and issues associated with science, scientific research, applied science, and technology.

    Welcome to Globalization and World Politics. This course provides a critical overview of the dynamics and processes of globalization and world politics, and their interaction from historical to contemporary times.

    Welcome to Globalization and World Politics. This course provides a critical overview of the dynamics and processes of globalization and world politics, and their interaction from historical to contemporary times.

    POEC 393 discusses a number of debates about the best ways to 'compete,' many of which rely on the 'market' or co-operative and state-aided industrial strategies. Students learn to analyze these broad issues and formulate policy-related initiatives for Canadian cases.

    POEC 393 discusses a number of debates about the best ways to 'compete,' many of which rely on the 'market' or co-operative and state-aided industrial strategies. Students learn to analyze these broad issues and formulate policy-related initiatives for Canadian cases.

    RELS 204 is a junior-level course designed to acquaint students with the major religious traditions of the world, and to the academic discipline of religious studies.

    RELS 206 has not been developed with the purpose of trying to defend or criticize Islam, nor is it meant to convince you of the validity of certain religious beliefs at the expense of others. The academic study of religion is in part about placing religious traditions in their proper socio-historical and economic contexts so we can better understand the growth and internal diversity of religious systems over a lengthy period of time. Doing so enables the individual to develop a real sensitivity to and understanding of the beliefs of religious practitioners without losing the analytical and critical methodology upon which the study of religion is built. The goal of Religious Studies 206, then, is to provide you with a strong, basic knowledge about Islam that will help you understand the historical, ritual, theological, and political manifestations of Islam and the diversity of voices and opinions within this religious tradition.

    Welcome to Religious Studies 211: Death and Dying in World Religions, a general survey course about the conceptions of the afterlife in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, and various rituals and experiences associated with death in each of these traditions.

    Many people believe that religion exists solely in places of worship, but is this really true? Is there a distinct separation between the sacred and the profane? What defines religion? ―culture? Does popular culture influence religion or is it a one-way street? Is today’s western, apparently secularized, culture entirely unaware of the religious content―both subtle and obvious―that exists within film, literature, television, music, and the media? This course explores these questions, looking at the interplay between religion and culture in North America, with the goal of evaluating the influence that each exerts on the other.

    Sociology 288 is designed to introduce you to the study of social movements from a sociological perspective.

    SOCI 300 is designed to introduce students to some of the representative concepts, definitions, typologies, and theories associated with the study of social organizations, and to show how these conceptual tools may be used to analyse several case studies of particular social organizations.

    This course provides an overview of the uses of statistical analyses for the social sciences.

    Sociology 305 covers a wide range of topics related to crime and the criminal code in Canada. These topics include the tension in law between a purely ‘black letter’ approach based strictly on legal principles and precedents, and a sociological approach to law that explains it in terms of economic factors, social inequalities, and social movements promoting specific moral agendas. The course devotes a significant portion of study to the ways in which crimes are measured, both formally in terms of recorded offences and informally in terms of victim surveys. In this context the course reviews the correctional data that suggests a significant over-representation of Natives in the justice system. A focus on the measurement issues also raises the issue of the long-term trends in crime, with specific attention to the crime drop since the early 1990s, and the various accounts offered to explain it.

    Sociology 331: Exposed! Sociology of Environment and Aging is a three-credit, intermediate-level course that explores how and why environmental factors can affect your health across the life course. It also explores strategies for prevention of such diseases as cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes.

    Sociology 337: Modern Sociological Theory in the 20th Century: The Age of Grand Theory, a course designed to introduce students to different theories used by sociologists and other social scientists.

    Sociology 339 introduces students to the study of war – both as an academic field of historical and contemporary research and as a topic of popular interest and concern. 

    Sociology 348: Fighting Back for the Health of It: Sociology of Environment and Health is a three-credit, intermediate-level course that explores the relationship between the impacts of industrial activity on the environments in which people live and work, and the health of those exposed to these impacts.

    Welcome to Sociology 378/Communications Studies 385: Rebel with a Cause: Social Movements in History and Popular Culture, a three-credit, intermediate-level course that explores the “causes” of social movements that have arisen to protest and to answer or solve contemporary social and environmental problems. Course readings, resources, and assignments give attention to social movements in history and contemporary times, in theory and practice, and in relation to developments in popular culture.

    Welcome to Sociology 378/Communications Studies 385: Rebel with a Cause: Social Movements in History and Popular Culture, a three-credit, intermediate-level course that explores the “causes” of social movements that have arisen to protest and to answer or solve contemporary social and environmental problems. Course readings, resources, and assignments give attention to social movements in history and contemporary times, in theory and practice, and in relation to developments in popular culture.

    Sociology 380: Race, Ethnic, and Indigenous Intergroup Relations in Canadian Society, is a senior-level, three-credit course that introduces the study of ethnic, race, and minority group relations from a Canadian perspective and analyzes some of the theoretical problems associated with the study of ethnic and race relations in a multicultural society.

    Sociology 381 introduces students to one of the most important—and burning—issues of our time: the study of the causes, the conditions, and the consequences of inequality in human societies. As students will see, inequality in the world today can be observed through a number of different dimensions—most notably in the forms of economic, social, and political inequality. According to many reports, including those from non-government organizations, current estimates show that both global and national inequality have reached unprecedented levels over the past several decades. Never in recent recorded history have the rich owned and controlled such a disproportionately large share of global wealth, and never have the poor owned such a disproportionately small share. The global income gap between the fabulous wealth of the few and the abject poverty of the many has never seemed so stark and so severe.

    SOCI 425 is designed for advanced students to pursue an extended research project under the direction of the course professor.

    SOCI 435 surveys several different theories, concepts, and categories used by sociologists to explain social change. Students will be asked to draw from these theories and concepts when examining some of the social, economic, and political transformations occurring at the end of the twentieth century.

    The primary objective of this senior course is to introduce the student to a sociological perspective on ecology and, as ecologist Stan Rowe says, “that blurry concept called environment.” SOCI 450 critically assesses a number of contradictions in the current ways that many social theorists conceive of ecology, the environment, and environmental controversies. To that end, students analyse concepts such as the commons, global ecology, green economics, environmental management, consumption, acquisitiveness and identity, scientific knowledge, and the fashionable term “sustainable development.”

    This course is designed to increase your understanding of technology, information technology, and the impact technology has on your life and our world.

    Welcome to Social Science 366: Research Methods in the Social Sciences. This course is designed for students who wish to gain an understanding of the limits and potentials of social science research, and for those who intend to research social phenomena scientifically.

    Educational Psychology 389: Learning Disabilities—Issues and Interventions is a three-credit undergraduate-level course is designed to increase your awareness of learning disabilities from a number of viewpoints and theoretical perspectives. While the course emphasizes understanding the issues surrounding the field of learning disabilities, it also examines assessment and remediation of learning and behaviour problems. Topics range from legislation pertaining to learning disabilities to providing services to individuals with learning disabilities.

    In Educational Psychology 480: Learning with Technology you will examine how technology can be used in K-12 and post-secondary instruction.

    PSYC 388 is a survey course designed to increase students’ awareness of the field of counselling, including its evolution, processes, theories, and specialties. This course offers a broad survey of the field of counselling, including an introduction to the foundational skills and processes involved in counselling relationships. Students will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of counselling skills and processes through quizzes and written assignments; students in this course are not expected to apply these counselling skills in a placement or field experience.

    Psychology 389: Learning Disabilities—Issues and Interventions is a three-credit undergraduate-level course is designed to increase your awareness of learning disabilities from a number of viewpoints and theoretical perspectives. While the course emphasizes understanding the issues surrounding the field of learning disabilities, it also examines assessment and remediation of learning and behaviour problems. Topics range from legislation pertaining to learning disabilities to providing services to individuals with learning disabilities.

    Psychology 402 examines the relationship between the brain and behaviour. The course explores the biological basis of behaviour, learning, memory, language, and thinking, as well as disorders that arise from nervous system malfunctioning.

    This course is intended to be of benefit to people who work with individuals seeking career development assistance, career professionals who want ideas for dealing with their clients, or groups of people who share a common interest in issues related to career development.

    PSYC 418 allows students to pursue a topic of special interest in more detail than permitted within the standard psychology curriculum.

    This three-credit, junior-level anthropology course, which has a strong interdisciplinary focus, is designed to provide you with an extensive overview of the theories, methods, and practice of archaeology. It examines the nature and aims of archaeology; the methods and material remains used to reconstruct the past; the economic, social, political, and ideological systems of human experience; the biology of people of the past; the causes of culture change; and the place of archaeology in our contemporary world.

    ANTH 275 focuses on the cross-cultural study of human diversity. Study topics include patterns of social organization, the family, economics, politics, religion, the arts, and language.

    This introductory-level anthropology course is designed to provide an understanding of world prehistory, from the time of the split between human and chimpanzee lineages 4 to 6 million years ago (possibly earlier), to the rise of the first cities and civilizations roughly 5000 years ago.  

    Anthropology 278: Human Evolution and Diversity is designed to introduce you to the varied subjects and avenues of study that comprise the field of biological anthropology. 

    This course examines the behaviour and evolution of modern non-human primates. Primates include monkeys, apes, lemurs and other prosimians, and people. Understanding other primates helps us to contextualize the behaviour, culture and language, and biology of our own species, as well as being fascinating in its own right. Video materials allow the student to observe the behaviour of several different species.

    This is a third-year course that focuses on important human ecological relationships, through examining ecological principals and thinking (and their limitations), and the interrelationships of environments with cultures and ways of life.

    Anthropology 336: Evolutionary Anthropology is a three-credit, intermediate-level course that provides a general introduction to various topics related to the evolution of human adaptations, including various human behaviours.

    ANTH 362 provides an introduction to the study of North American Aboriginal peoples: Indian, Inuit, and Métis.

    This course explores gender as it affects anthropological research conducted by male and female ethnographers, primatologists, physical anthropologists and evolutionary biologists. Next, we consider various topics that expose the constructed nature of gender, and discuss the contexts within which gender is built, acted out and changed. We end the course with a discussion of gender in the context of globalization.

    Anthropology 384 looks at the family from an international and cross-cultural perspective.

    Anthropology 390: Community-Based Research Methods introduces the basic concepts, principles, and issues surrounding community-based research methods. 

    This is a senior level course in anthropological research methods that reviews issues in ethnographic research. The focus is on gaining skills and practice in doing ethnographic research.

    The process set out in this Study Guide for preparing and submitting a research project is intended for projects that are entirely or primarily library-based. And even if your project includes some field-based research, you will still be required to consult some library materials. 

    ANTH 434: The History of Anthropological Thought, is a senior-level course that examines the range of responses to the fact of human diversity through the ages, with emphasis on Modern and Postmodern anthropology.

    ANTH 436: Topics in Primate Cognition. The close behavioural and genetic affinities that we share with nonhuman primates makes it easy to assume that they “think just like us,” and that they “see” the world in the same manner as do humans using similar (if perhaps less-developed) intellectual abilities, thought processes, and mental representations. But is this really the case? This course explores this question more deeply, and further asks whether primate cognition is truly unique among other animals.

    Anthropology 499 examines the notion that health and illness are not entities in themselves but rather culturally constituted means of both representing and shaping human experience and reality. The course looks at different medical systems within particular cultural contexts. It also investigates several important themes including healers, medical pluralism, Indigenous medicine, the political economy of health and illness, the medicalization of social life, and the relationship between belief and the construction of clinical realities. The main theoretical approaches in medical anthropology are analyzed in the context of their strengths and weaknesses, which helps explain the ideologies and practices behind each system.

    This course takes as its organizing metaphor Raymond Williams’s remark that “culture is ordinary.” It will provide an introduction to cultural studies by exploring, reflecting on, and evaluating how, on a daily basis, we are immersed in culture.

    You will learn about the history and origins of cultural studies, analyse and discuss some of the key theoretical debates around what constitutes cultural studies, and review examples of the approaches that continue to shape and reshape the ever-expanding boundaries of the field. You will also be given the opportunity to apply this knowledge by producing an analysis of a cultural text or practice—in short, to actually do cultural studies yourself.

    EDUC 201 is an introductory level, three-credit course that provides those interested in becoming teachers with a general and balanced overview of the profession.

    Education 210 is a three-credit, junior-level introduction to the Canadian labour-market training system. Labour-market training comprises policies, programs, and activities intended to result in an adequate number of appropriately trained workers. In Canada, the labour-market training system has four main components: postsecondary education, government labour-market policy, employer workplace training, and community education.

    This senior-level, three-credit course will provide an overview of adult learning and education from the 16th century to the 20th. You

    This course is designed to introduce you to an analysis of the development of Canadian education that takes account of historical, social, cultural, and philosophical influences. The course will help you develop an understanding of the origins of the Canadian public education system and demonstrate the historical roots of many contemporary education debates.

    This course begins with an examination of the contending views and interests in contemporary public education. It explores the alternatives to mainstream public schooling and considers the problems of teaching in a pluralist society, particularly one based on concepts of multiculturalism and equality.

    The overall intent of this course is to spur deep critical reflection on two broad concepts: culture, and the complexities and ramifications of schooling's socialization/enculturation function in contemporary Canada's multicultural society-specifically, the feasibility of schooling's libratory ideals.

    Education 309: The Purposes of Adult Education is designed to introduce the purposes and foundations of adult education. The course provides an overview of adult education theory and practice, but it is not intended as a comprehensive examination of all areas of adult education. It will, however, give you tools for examining other areas of adult education and related fields of study.

    Educ 411 is a senior-level, three-credit course which allows students, under supervision, to engage in individual research projects. Students will submit a proposal and complete a major research paper on a topic of their choice in consultation with the course professor. Enrolment in the course will be subject to the approval of the course professor.

    Educ 412 is a senior-level, three-credit course which allows students, under supervision, to engage in individual research projects. Students will submit a proposal and complete a major research paper on a topic of their choice in consultation with the course professor. Enrolment in the course will be subject to the approval of the course professor.

    HIST 336: History of Canadian Labour offers extensive and detailed insights into Canadian labour and working-class history from pre-colonial times until the present.

    HRMT 386 is designed to provide an introduction to the theoretical and practical aspects of human resource management (HRM) in contemporary organizations.

    As a student registered in Human Services 306, you will self-assess your educational goals and prepare to implement a personal learning plan. The course asks you to look back at the post-secondary education you have already completed and to look forward to your completion of an undergraduate degree, academic credential, or other educational goals.

    Human Service 306 Critical Reflection for Practice is a project course that students normally take following completion of two years of study at the junior level.

    As a capstone course, Human Services 489 will guide you to coordinate the many concepts, theories and approaches you have used during your studies to complete the Bachelor of Professional Arts – Human Services degree. It is intended for students who have completed, or very nearly completed, their BPA-HS degree. In addition to the breadth and depth of your knowledge of the human services and the proficiency you have developed in the general education outcomes prescribed, demonstration of your mastery of several aspects of the program content will be required.

    Industrial Relations 308: Occupational Health and Safety is a three-credit, senior-level course that examines issues of worker health and safety (and life and death) within their political and economic contexts and in the workplace. Over the past three decades, the field of occupational health and safety has grown and developed, and an extensive amount scientific and technical knowledge on the subject has accumulated. Nevertheless, conflicts among practitioners and scholars, on even the most basic questions, still persist. These disagreements are driven by inherent differences in interest and power between workers and employers (or labour and capital, if you will), which together form the conditions of industrial relations. Scientific arguments often disguise the real debate, which concerns the value attached to preserving the life and health of workers in the workplace. Occupational health and safety cannot be examined without also considering the power dynamics that operate both within and around the job.
    Industrial Relations 309/ Legal Studies 310: Human Rights, the Charter and Labour Relations examines the discourse and operation of human rights in Canada. Although our focus in this course is predominantly on “what is” (i.e., how human rights presently operate), we will also consider what “could be” through reference to natural law theory and proposals for minority unionism.

    Industrial Relations 316: The Practice of Labour Relations is a three-credit, senior-level course that builds upon the foundations introduced in IDRL 215: Introduction to Labour Relations and examines the topics of bargaining and arbitration in greater detail. It looks at both the formal rules and procedures involved in these processes as well as the informal dynamics that arise. It aims to provide a solid grounding in these two rather technical areas of labour relations. It provides insight into the practice of bargaining and arbitration by offering tips on how to navigate the processes. The course also examines how bargaining and arbitration fit into the broader context of labour relations and conflict between workers and employers.

    Industrial Relations 316: The Practice of Labour Relations is a three-credit, senior-level course that builds upon the foundations introduced in IDRL 215: Introduction to Labour Relations and examines the topics of bargaining and arbitration in greater detail.

    IDRL 320 examines the legal frameworks related to work and employment in Canada. It covers all aspects of work law in an integrated and accessible fashion, including common law, employment law affecting all workplaces, and labour law addressing unionized workplaces. 

    Welcome to IDRL 496: Comparative Labour Education, a three-credit, senior-level course about learning in, and for, the labour movement. It showcases the efforts that unions and other organizations have made to educate workers about their role in society and about the opportunities they have had to improve their working conditions and lives through collective action throughout the 20th century.

    This course is about workers and their organizing efforts. In other words, it is about efforts carried out in order to improve the working and living conditions of people who have to find paid employment to make a living.

    This course is about workers and their organizing efforts. In other words, it is about efforts carried out in order to improve the working and living conditions of people who have to find paid employment to make a living.

    Labour mobility examines the geographic mobility of workers. Approximately 44% of Canadians regularly cross at least one municipal, provincial, territorial, or national boundary on their way to and from work. About 10% of these workers work in transient or mobile workplaces. There are also over 300,000 foreign nationals working temporarily in Canada today, and approximately 270,000 new immigrants to Canada each year. This course examines these various forms of labour mobility and how they affect workers, their families, and the sending and receiving communities.

    LBST 332 course explores the relationship between women and unions from a global perspective.