2024-2025 Academic Year

Undergraduate Academic Calendar information header

Coordinator
James Sawler, BComm, MA, PhD (Dalhousie), Associate Professor

This Bachelor of Arts program is primarily intended to prepare students as administrators with governments and non-governmental organizations in Canada. It orients students toward the public policy profession by combining core coursework in political studies and economics, with electives in a diverse array of disciplines. Political Studies courses provide knowledge about the unique environment within which government personnel work, both within Canada itself, and outside in terms of the changing international context. Economics courses provide background in the fundamentals of economic processes and the constraints within which policy decision-making operates. The liberal arts electives encourage students to experiment with the public policy knowledge they acquire from a variety of academic fields and perspectives. Internship placements with government and/or not for profit organizations provides the student with the practical experience necessary to perform well in future occupational settings. The specific goals of the program are as follows:

1. To provide sufficient coursework to ensure that students develop capacities in such skill areas as critical thinking, policy analysis, and communication.
2. To allow students an opportunity to pursue related courses in other programs and to develop areas of substantive expertise.
3. To help prepare students for potential careers in public service and to be effective participants in democratic society.

Students may count courses from a major, concentration and/or minor towards a second major, concentration and/or minor; however, students must complete a minimum of 50 percent of unique courses toward the second major, concentration and/or minor, unless otherwise stated in the Undergraduate Academic Calendar.

Students intending to complete the major degree must declare their intention to do so before registering for their sixth unit of coursework. Students who do not make this declaration within this time frame will not be permitted to register for further coursework.

The Mount also offers a limited enrolment internship option.

Students must successfully complete 20.0 units with the following requirements:
❏ ECON 1101 and 1102

❏ PHIL 2220

❏ POLS 2203 and POLS 3304

❏ ENGL/WRIT 2220 or WRIT 1120 (ENGL/WRIT 2220 is recommended)

❏ 0.5 unit of POLS or ECON at 4000 level

❏ 1.5 units selected from ECON 2204, 2206, 2208, 2311, 2312, 3308, 3325, 3330, 3335

❏ 1.5 units selected from POLS/CANA 1001, POLS/CANA 1002, POLS/CANA 2201, POLS/CANA 2202, POLS 2244, POLS/BUSI 3306, POLS 3334*, POLS 3344*
*Note: Students may not count both POLS 3334 and POLS 3344 towards the major

❏ 3.5 units selected from CANA/POLS 3301, CANA/POLS 4007, CANA/POLS 4401, ECON 2204, ECON 2206, ECON 2208, ECON 2311, ECON 2312, ECON 3308,  ECON 3325, ECON 3330, ECON 3335, ECON 3550, ECON 4408, ECON/POLS 4444, FSGN 3450, HIST 3330, PHIL 2209, PHIL/RELS 2229, PHIL/POLS 3312, POLS 2205, POLS/PHIL 2214, POLS/HIST 2216, POLS/HIST 2219, POLS/WOMS 2223, POLS 2224, POLS 2227, POLS 2244, POLS/CULS 2246, POLS/SOAN 2530, POLS 3309, POLS/WOMS 3322, POLS 3324, POLS/WOMS 3361, POLS/WOMS 3391, POLS/PHIL/WOMS 3400, POLS 4006, SOAN 3533

❏ No course may be applied towards more than one of the above categories.

❏ a minimum overall GPA of 2.0 in the courses required for the major

❏ a minor consisting of 3.0 units as specified by the department offering the minor.

❏ students may choose a second 3.0 unit minor in any area that offers a minor

❏ at least 9.0 units must be at the 2000 level or above

Note: No more than 4.0 units from professional areas may be counted toward the degree. Courses included in the Applied Human Nutrition science minor will not be counted as professional electives

Students may choose to focus their course work towards a specialization in Global Issues, Public Policy and Political Processes, or Social Justice and Policy. Please consult the Public Policy Studies webpage or contact the program coordinator for details.

 

To obtain a minor in Public Policy Studies, students must fulfill the following requirements:

❏ ECON 1101 and 1102

❏ POLS 2203 and 3304

❏ 1.0 unit selected from one of the areas of specialization

Academic Note: This web-based calendar information is applicable for the 2024-2025 academic year which runs from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025.

For information on previous years, please consult the University Academic Calendars web page.

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