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School and Department Contact Information


School of Administrative Studies

Location: 282 Atkinson Building, Tel.: 416-736-5210, Fax: 416-736-5963
Web site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/sas
Director: Paul Evans
Undergraduate Program Director: Sandra Scott
Coordinators of Administrative Studies: Auditing and Management Information Systems: Cristobal Sanchez Rodriguez
Emergency Management: Niru Nirupama
Finance: William Lim
Financial Accounting: Brian Gaber, Sandra Scott
Income Tax Law: Thaddeus Hwong
Introduction to Administrative Studies: Julia Richardson
Law, Governance and Ethics: Mark Schwartz
Management: Randy Hoffman
Management Accounting: Shujun Ding
Management Science: Henry Bartel
Marketing: Manfred Maute

The School of Administrative Studies is home to a full range of business and administrative programs and courses taught by leading experts in a variety of fields. We provide the knowledge and skills that you want and employers demand.

Whether you are planning to pursue a career in business and management, or are already working and want to expand your knowledge of business concepts and practices, the bachelor’s and master’s programs (BAS, Honours BAS, MDEM, MFACC) will prepare you to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Department of Anthropology

Location: 2054 Vari Hall, Tel.: 416-736-5261
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/anth
Chair: D. Paul Lumsden

The Department of Anthropology concentrates on change in the contemporary world, especially in relation to new and emerging social challenges. Anthropologists are interested in exploring how people are subjected to, participate in and contest the processes of living in a world that is now interconnected by new and powerful economic, cultural and technological forces. Consideration is given to how class, race, gender, health and ethnic identity politics are produced and expressed in shifting local and global contexts of power. These themes are explored in a wide variety of courses that engage such topics as: development and the environment; media and popular culture; health, illness and disability; gender and sexualities; tourism, religion and science; diasporic communities and displaced peoples; violence and conflict; and the colonial process. Other courses focus on processes of change in the prehistoric and historic past. The overall goal is to prepare students to ask critical questions about contemporary, past and future social life, and to provide students with the vital analytic tools required to understand our place in the social and cultural diversity of the world, past and present.

Department of Communication Studies

Location: 3004 Technology Enhanced Learning Building, Tel.: 416-736-5057
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/comn/
Chair: David Skinner
Undergraduate Program Director: Patricia Mazepa
   

The Department of Communication Studies provides students with a comprehensive understanding of traditional forms of mass communication--print, radio, film and television, while also examining the interactive telecommunications networks and computer systems that have introduced new media and new modes of communication.

The emphasis is academic rather than technical because we aim to produce graduates who have acquired skills in communications analysis, who understand the increasingly complex fields of communications and who can clearly communicate their knowledge.

The courses offered by this program encompass four thematic areas: Media, Culture and Society; Politics and Policy; Interpersonal and Organizational Communication; and Critical Technology Studies.

Students who are interested in augmenting their Honours degree in Communication Studies are advised to consider enrolling in concurrent or post-graduate diplomas/certificates in media-specific training at an Ontario community college. York offers concurrent Joint Programs in Communication Arts in conjunction with Centennial College and Seneca College. There are also a number of post-graduate certificates at other Ontario universities (for details visit http://www.yorku.ca/artscomn/).

Course offerings include: Introduction to Communications; Advertising and Society; Communication in Organizations; Popular Culture and Communications and a fourth-year field experience course which provides students with an internship in the for-profit or not-for-profit communications fields.

Department of Economics

Location: 1144 Vari Hall, Tel.: 416-736-5322, Fax: 416-736-5987
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/econ
Chair: John Beare
Undergraduate Program Director: Ida Ferrara

The Department of Economics within the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies offers an academic program leading to degrees in economics at the BA, Honours BA and Specialized Honours BA levels, business economics at the BA level, and financial and business economics at the Specialized Honours BA level.

Through a unique teaching approach that blends theory and application, students in our program are introduced to the analytical and quantitative tools of economic analysis and learn to apply them to a wide range of individual and social problems which arise out of the conflict between unlimited wants and limited resources to satisfy them. They may focus on management issues in applied business fields or on financial markets and instruments or, more generally, on those aspects of social behaviour and those institutions which are involved in the allocation of scarce resources among alternative uses. In an intellectually stimulating environment, economics students become skilled at identifying economic problems, at developing and applying economic theory to improve upon their understanding of the problems and their ability to solve them, and at evaluating the adequacy of their theoretical understanding through the use of data and empirical testing.

Economics graduates are well prepared to begin or advance in a variety of careers in business, government and the not-for-profit sector and to pursue graduate studies in economics or professional training in business, law, public administration, and other disciplines.

Department of English

Location: 208 Stong College, Tel.: 416-736-5166
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/en
Chair: Arthur Redding
Undergraduate Program Director: Allan Weiss

The Department of English offers a variety of courses in the literature of the English language. There are courses in historical periods from medieval to contemporary, in the literature of several nations (Canadian and post-colonial as well as English and American), in the various literary genres such as poetry, fiction, drama, non-fictional prose and criticism and in literary theory. In addition, during their final 36 credits, Honours English majors may propose their own thesis (AP/EN 4160 6.00).

The department also offers an Honours BA in Professional Writing and a Specialized Honours BA in English and Professional Writing.

Department of Equity Studies

Location: 302 Atkinson Building, Tel.: 416-736-5235, Fax: 416-650-3876
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/des
Chair: Hugh Shewell
Undergraduate Program Director: Claudio Colaguori

The Department of Equity Studies (DES) offers a learning environment that values cultural diversity and supports social equality. It provides students with an understanding of the social environments that shape their interests, opportunities, and identities. Students gain a solid and critical grounding in research methods and theories in ways that allow them to link their education with various types of degrees and certificates.

The faculty of the department are actively engaged in socially relevant research that contributes both to academic scholarship and to communities beyond the university. The department reflects the teaching and research strengths of a core group of faculty members, as well as the degree programs that have emerged from those strengths.

The department offers undergraduate degree programs in Race, Ethnicity and Indigeneity (REI), Human Rights and Equity Studies (HREQ) and interdisciplinary Social Science (jointly offered with the Department of Social Science), as well as general education courses. Through an Indigenous studies focus, it offers a graduate MA/PhD in Indigenous Thought, undergraduate degree programming in Indigenous Studies (through REI) and a Certificate in Indigenous Studies. Additional offerings are a Cross-Disciplinary Certificate in Anti-Racist Research and Practice (CARRP) and a General Certificate in Refugee and Migration Studies (in conjunction with the Centre for Refugee Studies).

Graduates of the Department of Equity Studies will be well positioned to work in a wide range of areas with organizations, government, industry and communities that have programs, policies and procedures around the equitable treatment and experiences of Indigenous peoples, racialized peoples, immigrants and refugees, as well as in the area of human rights advocacy and redress.

Department of French Studies

Location: N727 Ross Building, Tel.: 416-736-5086
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/fr
Chair: Diane Beelen Woody
Undergraduate Program Director: Christian Marjollet

The Department of French Studies offers courses in three curricular areas enabling students to pursue interests in French language, linguistics, and literature. The language-skills courses form a prescribed language sequence designed to help students improve their proficiency in French. The curricular core consists of courses in French language, literature and linguistics. In addition to Honours BA and BA degree programs, the Department of French Studies offers Certificates of Language Proficiency in Basic French, Intermediate French and Advanced French.

Le département d'études françaises (DÉF) offre au niveau du B.A. un programme interdisciplinaire de cours dans trois domaines d'étude: langue, linguistique et littérature.

Dans le programme de langue, les cours visent à développer chez les étudiant-e-s l'expression orale et écrite et la compréhension orale et écrite tout en leur donnant l'occasion d'explorer les aspects multiples de la culture francophone dans le monde.

Le programme de linguistique familiarise les étudiant-e-s avec les différentes branches de la linguistique (syntaxe, sémantique, phonétique, sociolinguistique, etc.) qui sont présentées à travers des approches théoriques diverses telles que la théorie structuraliste, la théorie de l'énonciation et la théorie générativiste.

Le programme de littérature offre des cours axés sur les littératures et les cultures du monde francophone avec une concentration sur les littératures française et canadienne française. Il permet aux étudiant-e-s d'acquérir des compétences d'analyse et d'explication de texte tout en leur présentant diverses approches théoriques et philosophiques.

Department of Geography

Location: N430 Ross Building, Tel.: 416-736-5107
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/geog
Chair: Lucia Lo
Undergraduate Program Director: Robin Roth

Geography is a unique discipline in that it rests on all the three pillars of intellectual life: physical sciences, social sciences and humanities. Consequently it offers students opportunities to understand and explore different dimensions of the world in which we live and offers a synthetic approach to understanding landscapes, people, places and environments. Geography asks questions about how environmental, social, political and cultural processes shape how the world functions (and often fails to function!). In particular, Geography is concerned with the spatial variations of human and physical phenomena, the processes that produce these variations and the interrelationships between people and their environments. Geography courses are divided into seven themes, each of which include regional and systematic courses:

  • The City;
  • Globalization, Environment and Development;
  • Production and the Politics of Difference;
  • State, Empire and Power;
  • Extreme Environments;
  • Biophysical Processes and
  • Geoinformatics.

Students are exposed to the breadth of geography in the Years 1 and 2 and encouraged to specialize in one or more of these themes in Years 3 and 4.

Department of History

Location: 2140 Vari Hall, Tel.: 416-736-5123
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/hist
Chair: Jonathan Edmondson
Undergraduate Program Director: TBA

History is an exciting and dynamic discipline that is always asking fascinating new questions about the past and answering important old questions in new ways. The study of history teaches us to think critically about how the past is fundamentally similar to the present, how the past is utterly different from the present, how the past is profoundly influential in shaping the present and how the past is recalled and remembered in the present.

The Department of History offers courses covering thousands of years of history in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. At the 1000 level, students are introduced to the discipline of history through courses that emphasize theory, method and historiography, and that concentrate on fundamental reading, writing, research and analytic skills. At the 2000 level, students are introduced to major chronological and geographic fields of history. More specialized courses are offered at the 3000 level, while 4000-level seminars and colloquia enable small groups of Honours students to focus on specific historical topics.

Courses at the 1000 level have either a lecture/tutorial or seminar format. Courses at the 2000 level normally have two lecture hours and one tutorial hour. Courses at the 3000 level are taught as colloquia, lecture/tutorial or lecture courses. 4000-level courses will be offered as two- or three-hour seminars or colloquia. All courses are open to students studying in other units, unless otherwise indicated. Admission to 4000-level courses is by permission of the instructor or the instructor’s representative. The department urges all students whose concentration is in history to contact the appropriate faculty adviser before choosing courses.

All history courses are numbered and grouped according to field. The thousands digit indicates the level at which the course is offered, the hundreds digit indicates the field (general 000, ancient 100, medieval and early modern Europe 200, modern Europe 300, Great Britain 400, Canada 500, United States 600, Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean 700, comparative and interdisciplinary 800), and the remaining two digits indicate the number of the course within the field.

Department of Humanities

Location: 262 Vanier College, Tel.: 416-736-5158
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/huma
Chair: Patrick Taylor
Undergraduate Program Director: TBA
   

The Department of Humanities offers a broadly-based program of interdisciplinary study emphasizing the different ways in which human cultures and their multiple forms of expression have developed historically and continue to develop today. Humanities courses devote particular attention to the cultural practices of peoples in various times and places and the ways they have expressed cultural values and ideas of a philosophical, religious, moral, political and aesthetic nature. They foster a critical approach to reading and research that, in helping students learn to identify and question preconceived assumptions and values, allows them to engage and appreciate the interrelationship between diverse value systems and thereby to develop an analysis of the human and of human community. Courses offered in the Department of Humanities stress careful scrutiny of texts and cultural artifacts, critical thinking, reading, writing, seminar discussion and close contact between teacher and student.

The Department of Humanities offers Honours BA, Honours iBA and BA degrees in humanities which allow students to take advantage of a wide range of courses addressing important themes in the liberal arts. The department also offers Honours BA, Honours iBA and BA degrees in Canadian studies, children's studies, classics, classical and Hellenic studies, culture and expression, East Asian studies, European studies, individualized studies, Jewish studies and Religious studies. The department also participates in the Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Science and Technology Studies programs. Many humanities courses reflect these areas of concentration, thereby ensuring that humanities students have a wide range of course options to select from. For details, please consult the Programs of Study section.

Most first- and second-year courses offered through the Department of Humanities count towards the general education requirements of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (see General Education Requirements). Foundations courses have a nine-credit value and place additional emphasis on developing critical thinking, reading and writing skills at the university level. Modes of reasoning courses are also offered as part of the general education program.

School of Human Resources Management

Location: 282 Atkinson Building, Tel.: 416-736-5210, Fax: 416-736-5963
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/shrm
Director: Monica Belcourt
Undergraduate Program Director: Marie-Helene Budworth

Established in 2009, the School of Human Resources Management is the only HR School in Canada with full time faculty dedicated to the study of HRM. The School offers three undergraduate (BHRM, BHRM Honours and BAS Honours (HRM)) streams and two innovative graduate programs, including and MHRM and PhD.

School of Information Technology

Location: 3068 Technology Enhanced Learning Building, Tel.: 416-736-2100 (ext. 22647 or 40797), Fax: 416-736-5287
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/itec
Director: Marshall Walker
Undergraduate Program Director: Younes Benslimane

The School of Information Technology prepares IT professionals prepared to work with both technical and non-technical users of information. The graduates of the Information Technology programs are uniquely positioned to plan, design, build and administer information systems. They are familiar with the latest technologies and are capable of customizing and integrating them according to the users' needs.

Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics

Location: S561 Ross Building, Tel.: 416-736-5016
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/dlll
Chair: Peter Avery
Undergraduate Program Director (Languages and Literatures): TBA
Undergraduate Program Director (Linguistics): Gabriela Alboiu

The Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics offers one of the widest selections of languages of any Canadian university: American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), German, Greek (both Classical and Modern), Hebrew, Hindi-Urdu, Jamaican Creole, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Tamil and Yiddish. The study of foreign languages and literatures makes communication possible among people of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds and fosters intercultural understanding. This enables our students to engage the global community thoughtfully and creatively.

The department also offers courses in Linguistics, the discipline concerned with discovering the organizing principles of human language and applying these principles to the description of individual languages. Linguistics attempts to answer questions about the structure of languages, about how languages are alike and how they differ, about how children acquire language, about the relation between language and thought, language perception and production, as well as language and society. As a result, the study of linguistics can provide new perspectives on almost every aspect of the humanities and social sciences.

The department offers courses leading to Honours BA and BA degrees in German, German studies, Italian culture, Italian studies, linguistics, Portuguese studies, Russian, Russian studies and Spanish, as well as graduate MA and PhD degrees in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. The department also offers Certificates of Language Proficiency in Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Modern Greek, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, as well as an Advanced Certificate in Hebrew and Judaic Studies and a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The department’s language programs, through their various courses and language proficiency certificates, contribute to a variety of area studies and interdisciplinary programs: African Studies, Classical Studies, East Asian Studies, Environmental Studies, European Studies, Hellenic Studies, International Development Studies, Jewish Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, South Asian Studies, Religious Studies and Women’s Studies. For course listings, please see the individual languages in this section of the Undergraduate Calendar. For specific program or certificate requirements, please consult the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies Programs of Study section.

Languages and Literatures

Section Language Coordinator Location Ext. E-mail
Chinese P. Giordan 221 Founders 66918 giordanp@yorku.ca
ESL B. McComb S505 Ross 88733 bmccomb@yorku.ca
German Studies C. Kraenzle S542 Ross 88742 kraenzle@yorku.ca
Hebrew A. Shulman S573 Ross 88727 sahouva@yorku.ca
Italian R. Sinyor S530 Ross 66126 rsinyor@yorku.ca
Japanese/Korean N. Ota S532 Ross 88750 nota@yorku.ca
Russian/Russian Studies R. Bahry 313 Stong 33563 rbahry@yorku.ca
Spanish/Portuguese Studies M. Figueredo S575 Ross 88729 mfiguere@yorku.ca

Department of Philosophy

Location: S428 Ross Building, Tel.: 416-736-5113, Fax: 416-736-5114
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/phil
Chair: Robert Myers
Undergraduate Program Director: TBA

The Department of Philosophy offers a wide range of undergraduate courses which examine contemporary problems and issues in applied ethics, social and political philosophy, feminism, cognitive science, philosophy of mind and argumentation theory. In addition, courses are offered in the history of philosophy, continental thought, and other traditional areas such as metaphysics and epistemology, logic and the philosophy of language, moral philosophy, and the philosophy of law.

The department is open to many avenues of thought and to diverse ways of doing philosophy. Efforts are made to blend contemporary and historical perspectives, and our faculty draws its inspiration from widely separated philosophical approaches. In keeping with this, there is a great deal of interdisciplinary work, and philosophy is involved in numerous cross-disciplinary programs.

The 23 full-time department members, among whom are some highly praised and very well known scholars, are supplemented by visiting and contract faculty who offer further diversity and breadth.

Department of Political Science

Location: S672 Ross Building, Tel.: 416-736-5265
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/pols
Chair: George Comninel
Associate Chair: Rodney Loeppky
Undergraduate Program Director: Bruce Smardon

The Department of Political Science has a reputation for research excellence and is noted for its commitment to teaching. Its objective is to expand critical awareness of political problems and to help overcome the barriers that separate politics from social life and the University from the community.

In today's challenging times, it often seems as if the institutions developed to improve our lives have escaped from our control. Problems such as poverty, war, inequality, oppression and a deteriorating environment press on us from all sides.

We cannot understand how these problems arose, nor how to deal with them, without discussing their political implications. The study of politics is concerned with how power and authority permeate almost every aspect of our lives - from the state to the courtroom, board room, work place and the family.

Politics is concerned not only with how power and authority are exercised but with how these relationships get transformed. We are interested in the forces that sustain consensus as well as in the forces that bring about change.

The department’s approach to the study of politics has implications for education. A democratic education is education for democracy. Above all, it requires a dialogue in which students and teachers critically assess their own assumptions and beliefs about politics and society. Since none of us has all the answers, this dialogue must take place within a community where everyone's ideas are taken seriously and critically. This is what is meant by a community of scholars. This is what we have tried to create in the York University Department of Political Science.

School of Public Policy and Administration

Location: N802 Ross Building, Tel.: 416-736-5384, Fax: 416-736-5382
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/sppa
Director: Joanne Magee
Undergraduate Program Director: TBA

The School of Public Policy and Administration brings together the interdisciplinary research and teaching experience of its highly regarded faculty in a variety of degree and certificate programs. In addition to York’s long-established BA in public policy and administration (PPA), the school offers new innovative undergraduate degree programs in public policy and management (PPM), and public administration and justice studies (PAJS). The graduate degree program of the school is the executive-style master’s degree in Public Policy, Administration and Law (MPPAL). The school has two graduate Diplomas in Democratic Administration and Justice System Administration, as well as a Certificate in Public Sector Management.

The school prepares graduates for careers ranging from the private to the not-for-profit and public sectors as well as for post-graduate studies in the social sciences and professional programs.

Department of Social Science

Location: S748 Ross Building, Tel.: 416-736-5054
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/sosc
Chair: Richard Wellen
Undergraduate Program Director: TBA

The Department of Social Science is committed to maintaining high standards of a liberal education in all its courses; the responsibility within the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (along with the Department of Humanities) is interdisciplinary teaching and its accomplished in two ways. First, 1000- and 2000-level foundations courses are provided through which liberal arts and professional studies students may fulfill their social science general education requirements.

Second, the Department of Social Science is comprised of 12 interdisciplinary programs (African Studies, Business and Society, Criminology, Health and Society, International Development Studies, Labour Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Law and Society, Social and Political Thought, Social Science, South Asian Studies and Urban Studies) delivering courses in their fields of specialization. These programs offer a range of degree options that may include a Specialized Honours major, a major or Honours Major, a double major, an Honours Minor, a well as other formats for specialization in the field.

Apart from some upper-level courses, most of the courses in the department’s programs are open to students who are not program majors; please consult the various programs for a listing of their courses or consult the courses listed by year. Please note that students can only be enrolled in designated ESL sections through the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies - Centre for Student Success.

School of Social Work

Location: 1017 Kinsmen Building, Tel.: 416-736-5226, Fax: 416-650-3861
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/sowk
Director: Wilburn Hayden Jr
Undergraduate Program Director: TBA

The School of Social Work is committed to providing professional social work education, characterized by the development of practice strategies that promote human rights and social justice. Recognized as one of the most progressive and socially responsive social work programs in Canada, the school’s unique curriculum addresses issues that have significant implications for the lives of marginalized and alienated segments of society. Graduates will be well prepared for a career as a critical practitioners and effective agents of change in the lives of individuals and communities.

Department of Sociology

Location: 2060 Vari Hall, Tel.: 416-736-5015
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/soci
Chair: TBA
Undergraduate Program Director: TBA

Sociology is an exciting and dynamic field of study that analyzes and accounts for key moments in our personal lives, our communities and our world. Discover what makes us tick as individuals and as a society by exploring social relations, interactions and various power dynamics. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of how human action and consciousness both shape and are shaped by surrounding cultural and social structures. Students will also hone their networks and connect with professionals in the field through a unique array of community projects. Though members of the Department of Sociology teach a wide range of materials and perspectives on society in general and on Canadian society in particular, they take social criticism through theory development, research and teaching to be an essential element of their vocation.

Sociology majors learn to study people and the roles they play in society, both as individuals and in groups. There is a wide range of topics in sociology, just to name a few: race and racism, crime and social regulation, social policy, work and labour, gender, canadian society, immigration, education, health and health care, social organizations, culture, poverty, social interaction, socialization, criminal justice systems.

Writing Department

The Writing Department offers a variety of courses which may be taken for elective credit to help students develop their research and writing skills, both academic and professional. The department is also the home of the Writing Centre, which provides one-to-one and non-credit group instruction as described below.

Writing Centre

The Writing Department’s Writing Centre provides students with one-to-one and group instruction designed to assist students to become effective independent writers both in their academic life and beyond. Instruction, both individual and group, is based on students' course assignments, usually on the draft of an essay, or other writing assignment, in progress. All Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies students, at any stage of a particular course assignment, are welcome to make appointments and take advantage of the opportunity to work on their writing with one of the centre's experienced faculty. Some students in other Faculties also may use the centre (information available on the Writing Department Web site). Appointments are for fifty minutes and are available in the day Monday through Saturday as well as evenings Monday through Thursday. The centre also regularly offers group workshops on various issues and skills related to writing effectively in university. For more information contact the Writing Department at 416-736-5134.

School of Women’s Studies

Location: 206 Founders College, Tel.: 416-650-8144
Web Site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/wmst
Director: Bettina Bradbury
Undergraduate Program Director: Jan Kainer
Adviser and Mature Student Coordinator: Alison Crosby

All women's studies courses at York University are centralized under the School of Women's Studies, which is located in Founders College. The mature student coordinator advises women's studies students with mature student status and ensures course availability for students dependent on the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies commitment to access and flexibility. Women's studies is an interdisciplinary area of study, which provides valuable background for a variety of occupations.

Women's studies is both a complement and a corrective to established fields at York and a new academic discipline of its own. Until recently, both the humanities and the social sciences reflected predominantly male perspectives. Women have been largely invisible in literature, art, history, philosophy, politics, social sciences and law. Through cross-cultural and disciplinary assessment, women's studies exposes misconceptions about women expressed through myth, ideologies, teachings and writings. It replaces negative cultural images of women with visions that reaffirm women's strength, capability and intelligence.

In December 1997, women's studies resources at York University were formally linked under one administrative structure -- the School of Women's Studies. The School of Women's Studies unites academic resources at York University in women's studies, bringing together the undergraduate and graduate programs, the non-credit Bridging program and the Centre for Feminist Research.

Centre for Student Success

Office for New Students 103 Central Square, Tel.: 416-736-5022, E-mail: lapsinfo@yorku.ca
Office for Continuing Students 150 Atkinson Building, Tel.: 416-736-5222, E-mail: laps@yorku.ca

The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies is a vibrant academic community that fosters engagement, development and academic success in all phases of the student life cycle. The successful student experience will involve personal, interpersonal, intellectual and social development and empowerment.

Student success depends upon an essential partnership between students and the University. The Centre for Student Success has been created to provide and partner with other responsible areas in the Faculty and University to deliver the successful student experience in LA&PS. Students served by the Centre for Student Success can be prospective, transitioning, continuing, graduating or alumni of LA&PS.

Advising

Advising is one of the crucial activities that support student engagement and success. The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies considers academic advising to cover a number of complementary areas related to assisting students:

  • select majors and courses;
  • change majors or degrees;
  • transferring to LA&PS;
  • ascertain whether they are meeting the Faculty's academic regulations;
  • plan for their academic future both before and after graduation;
  • and generally make the most of their talents and interests.

The Centre for Student Success has two offices devoted to advising students.

The Office for New Students will assist prospective students with the transition into their first year at York University and support them throughout the entire first year. It is responsible for providing students with the advice and information required for a successful first year experience. The Office for New Students is located in 103 Central Square.

The Office for Continuing Students is located in Suite 150 of the Atkinson Building. Advising continuing students is a shared responsibility of the Office for Continuing Students, individual departments, divisions and programs of the Faculty as well as the Faculty-affiliated colleges. Students should contact these offices throughout the year for advice and information related to their academic career including academic performance, degree program requirements and career planning.

The two offices will combine to ensure that advising is available for new and continuing students from 9am to 7pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4:30pm on Fridays. Hours may change on Fridays during the summer session.

Student Responsibilities

Advising in LA&PS is approached as a partnership between the student, the Faculty, departments, schools, divisions, the Office for New Students, the Office for Continuing Students and the colleges. Within this context, and within the framework of Faculty and program regulations, students should take special care to:

  • ensure the courses they choose meet all requirements for graduation;
  • ensure the courses they choose meet prerequisites and are not course credit exclusions of other courses already taken;
  • ensure the times of the courses they choose do not conflict;
  • ensure the accuracy of their registration records, including all changes;
  • note and observe deadlines and procedures, especially deadlines for adding and dropping courses;
  • ensure full documentation is provided in support of petitions and other requests for special consideration;
  • keep themselves informed about their academic progress, including their performance in individual courses;
  • ensure they are familiar with the University Code of Conduct (http://www.yorku.ca/scdr/StudentConduct.html);
  • ensure they understand University Academic Integrity provisions (http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/policies/document.php?document=69).

It is also recommended that students become familiar with the broad range of information and services available through the LA&PS Web site. This site has a great deal of information on the matters listed above, but also provides useful links to services such as Web enrolment, Student Client Services in the Division of Students and Student Community & Leadership Development and Faculty colleges.

Student partnership in a successful academic experience is important to the Offices for New and Continuing Students and their staff looks forward to assisting students in reaching their goals.

Student Engagement

Student engagement also occurs in academic, cocurricular and extracurricular programs, initiatives and activities inside and outside of the classroom, as well as in the community. The Centre for Student Success recognizes that students who are actively engaged benefit more from their university experience. While every LA&PS faculty and staff member has a responsibility to “act” in ways that support student engagement and create a sense of community, staff in the Centre for Student Success are dedicated to providing and partnering with other areas of the Faculty and University to offer student engagement opportunities. Whether it is putting students in touch with an academic club, or inviting them to a workshop on student awards and bursaries, the staff in the Office for Student Success looks forward to assisting students in discovering the many opportunities for student involvement in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies.

Below is a sample listing of student activities that students can find out about in the Centre for Student Success:

  • Peer mentorship programs in partnership with the Faculty colleges, which match upper year and new students to help during their first year experience.
  • Volunteering and skills building opportunities for students.
  • New student orientations in partnership with the Faculty colleges.
  • Awards information sessions and scholarship/awards celebrations.
  • Participation in LA&PS student clubs and Faculty governance.
  • Student-Alumni Mentorship programs which link upper-year LA&PS students to alumni, based on common career interests.
  • A host of other initiatives that encourage student leadership, development, alumni involvement and the active participation of all LA&PS community members.

The eServices Office

Contact information:

Suite 2120 Technology Enhanced Learning Building, Tel.: 416-736-5831, Fax: 416-736-5637, Toll Free Number (in North America): 1-866-261-1790, E-mail: esohelp@yorku.ca, Web site: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/eso/students

The eServices Office (eSO) at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies provides students with computing and course Web site access support for all LA&PS courses. The eServices Office also provides special administrative services for distance education courses (Internet and correspondence), that includes assistance for assignment submission and off-site examination scheduling.

Technology Enhanced Learning

LA&PS provides technology enhanced opportunities for teaching and learning with a generic course Web site template. Many LA&PS instructors choose to use this template to create a Web presence for their course that could provide academic information and communications for their students. Instructors inform their students of their Web usage plans at the beginning of term.

Distance Education Courses

Study at your own pace with LA&PS distance education courses via an Internet or correspondence format. You can learn from the convenience of your home, office or from the other side of the world. LA&PS distance courses use the same textbooks and materials as in-class instruction and cover the same course content. Distance courses count towards your degree in exactly the same way as other in-class courses. Create a more flexible schedule by mixing in-class courses with Internet and correspondence courses or even complete an entire program by distance.

Students taking distance courses obtain instructional information, assignments, course requirements and relevant materials online. Students are required to complete assignments, (due on specific dates) and to write the exams at the University or an alternative location as scheduled.

Detailed distance education course information is available from the Next Steps Web site. This site includes information for registered students, i.e. computer requirements/accounts, access instructions and specialized administrative information. Course listings and timetables are now navigated starting from the York Courses Web site page available at: https://w2prod.sis.yorku.ca/Apps/WebObjects/cdm/. Once you find your course offering there will be a Course Web site link that includes the outline. The course outline contains academic and text requirements.

Programs Offered via Distance

The Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies offers a bachelor of administrative studies (BAS) degree, a business economics (BA) degree and a management certificate entirely by combining the flexibility of Internet and correspondence courses. Detailed degree requirements, prerequisites and descriptions are available online in the Undergraduate Calendar available at http://calendars.registrar.yorku.ca.

Mixed-Mode Courses: In-class and Internet

LA&PS offers mixed-mode courses which blend in-class and Internet modes of delivery. These courses combine and alternate on-campus classes with Internet online lectures. Mixed-mode courses combine the best of both teaching methods.