Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Liberal Studies
Explore how the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences have shaped much of our daily lives. Through online courses you will investigate four modes of critical thought: scientific inquiry and reasoning, insights into contemporary society and culture, critical perspectives on history, and academic writing. This general BA degree program will help you develop adaptable skills for any career path, life activity, or further education.
Life Sciences
The hallmark of the Life Sciences program is a unique blend of disciplines represented by basic and clinical biomedical science departments in the Faculty of Health Sciences. These departments include Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Public Health Sciences, and Pathology and Molecular Medicine, in collaboration with the Cancer Research Institute, the Centre for Neuroscience Studies, the Cardiac, Circulation and Respiratory Group, and the Research Group in Reproduction and Development.
The subjects that fall under the umbrella of the Life Sciences program include traditional biomedical disciplines devoted to the anatomical, biochemical, epidemiological, immunological, microbiological, pathological, pharmacological, and physiological sciences. In addition, there are Sub-plans dedicated to contemporary trans-disciplinary themes in the cardiovascular and respiratory sciences, drug development and human toxicology, cancer biology and genetics, and neuroscience.
Linguistics
There are three aspects to Linguistics: language form, language meaning, and language in context. Linguistics is a scientific study of a language that explores the structure of language and how it is acquired. Linguistics students explore how a language is structured, how it is used in the production and comprehension of messages, and how language changes over time. You will try to answer questions relating to the nature of language, such as what do all languages have in common, or how do children learn a language? Linguistics is a highly interdisciplinary study with connections to many disciplines.
Mathematical Physics
A degree in Mathematical Physics provides you with training in theory, computation, and advanced mathematical modelling techniques relevant for fundamental and applied research. In particular, mathematical physicists study the numeric, combinatoric, algebraic, and computational frameworks that are used to form models of essentially anything that can be quantified. The skills obtained are highly sought after and transferrable to a wide range of fields. The degree leads to careers in academia and government-funded research centres as well as the private sector fields of finance, medicine, technology, and data analytics, to name just a few.
Mathematics
Mathematicians discover and study structures that are fascinating in themselves and that have a surprising ability to help us make sense of many facets of the world: the physical, the biological, the economic, the artistic, the psychological, and the philosophical. By designing and analyzing mathematical models, we increase our understanding of natural processes and human events.
Mathematics & Engineering
The only Engineering program in North America primarily offered by a mathematics department, Mathematics and Engineering blends engineering with advanced mathematics and provides a rigorous treatment of engineering concepts and ideas. You will learn to analyze and solve engineering problems requiring sophisticated mathematical skills, such as those involving modern communications, control, and mechatronic systems, as well as emerging areas such as artificial intelligence and data science.
Mathematics and Statistics
A graduate degree in Mathematics and Statistics is essential for anyone aspiring to research or academic positions, and is very useful for those who want to assume a leadership role in government, business and industry.
MD/PhD & MD/Master's
The combined MD/PhD and MD/ Master’s Programs provide benefits to both scholarship and to the professional development of physician-scientists by allowing better integration of clinical and research training experiences, and also provide better opportunities for fostering translational research.
Our programs are in keeping with the strategic directions of both the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategic Plan and Government of Canada's Science and Technology Strategy, which emphasize the need for providing increased trans-sectorial and multidisciplinary training, building research excellence, translating knowledge into practical applications and deepening the pool of highly skilled individuals. Students in combined MD/graduate programs bring a distinctive, clinical/translational perspective into their laboratories, and conversely, these students also bring a basic science perspective to share with their fellow medical students. This is especially relevant in the context of the greater emphasis now being placed on team-based learning approaches as an important component of the Queen’s medical curriculum.
Media and Performance Production
Media Studies
This online Certificate in Media Studies offers on-campus or distance students the opportunity to develop and accredit their fluency in the foundations of media and cultural studies. Students will build practical creativity, communication, and critical thinking skills that can be applied in academic and professional contexts.
For more information about certificate eligibility and how to apply, visit our webpage.
Mohawk Language and Culture
This certificate is for citizens of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, the Mohawk Nation, and others seeking to learn Mohawk language through culturally rich learning experiences that include exploring the traditions, history and worldview of the Mohawk people.
Music
Music Theatre
Organization Development Fundamentals Certificate
This Queen's IRC Professional Development Certificate is designed to propel working practitioners to new heights. Grounded in adult learning principles and the latest practitioner-focused research, Organization Development Fundamentals provides crucial training in an array of topics in the field. We highly recommend this certificate to professionals in mid to upper management roles who wish to accelerate their career and gain practical tool kits and frameworks to improve their workplace.
Certificates require a minimum of 12 credits, including a core program that differs for each Certificate. The design of our Certificates is based on our extensive knowledge of the field and tested through ongoing consultation with seasoned practitioners in both the private and public sectors. The curriculum reflects the range of skills HR, LR & OD practitioners require to thrive, whether from management or among the union ranks.
Organization Development Fundamentals Certificate Core Course Requirement
- Organization Development Foundations (3 credits)
Organized Crime Prevention
Organized crime networks are billion-dollar industries with connections around the globe. Their activities may not be apparent to the general public – but they have a significant impact on the economy, our political environment and our society as a whole. In order to combat these activities, we need to better understand the strategies and signals that these networks employ.
Philosophy
Grappling with life’s big topics, Philosophy provides students with critical thinking skills that enable you to uncover hidden assumptions, identify core premises, and evaluate arguments. The Department of Philosophy at Queen’s University has faculty working in a wide variety of fields, including political philosophy, ethics, bioethics, feminism, contemporary metaphysics and epistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, continental philosophy and the history of philosophy.
Physics & Astronomy
Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy
A degree in Physics provides you with training in theory, computation, statistical modelling, and experimental methods as you pursue problems in fundamental and applied research. Physicists design mathematical models to describe complex phenomena and test these models by making observations, conducting experiments, or running numerical simulations. The skills obtained are highly sought after and transferrable to a wide range of fields. The degree leads to careers in academia and government-funded research centres as well as the private sector fields of finance, medicine, technology, and data analytics, to name just a few.
Political Studies
Politics is about power – who has it and how it is exercised by nation-states, individuals, groups, classes, or political parties, and how different interests are reconciled in and between communities. Political Studies is also concerned with the institutions created to govern communities, as well as with political practices such as voting habits or protests, and how rules, behaviours, and cultures are created in societies. Since power in society is often dependent upon material resources, political scientists also study the distribution of wealth, both within and between nations. Our department is particularly well known for its strength in the study of ethnically divided and diverse societies.
Politics, Philosophy and Economics
Study social issues and how our society responds to these issues while asking questions drawn from economic, political, and philosophical perspectives. Society faces challenges that are complex and multi-dimensional, and our efforts to tackle these challenges require us to bring complementary intellectual skills together using multidisciplinary analytical and critical approaches. This program combines Economics, Philosophy and Politics to prepare students to enter graduate studies in areas of law, public service, international development, policy design and analysis, or any other career that calls for strong analytical and communication skills.
Psychology
Psychology is the study of mental processes and behaviour. Psychologists study relationships between brain function, behaviour, and environment. As a discipline, psychology explores a wide range of topics, including cognition, neuroscience, social influence, mental health, development, relationships, sensation, and perception, as well as the influence of factors such as gender and culture on these areas. Home to 35 labs, psychology students have the opportunity to work alongside faculty researchers to gain valuable research training.
Public Administration
The Public Administration graduate program is a bridge between the academic world and the world of public affairs. Our multi-disciplinary MPA programs are focused on policy analysis, development and implementation, preparing new and experienced professionals for rewarding careers in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Our graduates have gone on to hold positions as ministers and senior officials in municipal, provincial and federal governments. They also provide leadership in hospitals, community organizations and national associations across Canada. Others still work for consulting firms in the private sector.
In 2023, the School of Policy Studies underwent its regular cyclical review. The external reviewers' report acknowledged the clear strength of the school's current programs, but also observed that the school requires an increased level of resources to maintain and build on the excellence of its programs.
Program renewal is essential to ensure the School of Policy Studies remains strong going forward. As a result, the Faculty of Arts and Science at Queen's has temporarily suspended admissions to our Professional Master of Public Administration (PMPA) program for Fall 2024. The temporary suspension of admissions will last for two years, as per the Senate Guidelines.
The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program will be offered as usual in 2024-25, and we welcome and encourage applications to this program.
The School of Policy Studies offers a rich and rewarding learning experience that is unsurpassed in Canada and matched only by the best public policy programs in the world. Through high quality interactive teaching and integrated learning, we enhance leadership in public policy by providing students the inspiration, skills, competencies and connections to become better contributors to the public good. The MPA curriculum includes core courses in economics, policy analysis, governance, management and quantitative methods. Through elective courses, students apply their skills to the analysis and resolution of concrete policy and management problems.
Religious Studies
Religion plays a major role in shaping and influencing various cultures and historical and political movements around the world. Understanding religious traditions and their impact on diverse modern issues is vital preparation for building a career in the global marketplace. At Queen’s, our approach to the study of religion is multicultural, diverse, and interdisciplinary. Religious Studies involves, among other things, examining the history of religious traditions, comparing ideas and values, and understanding the place and function of religion in society, including varieties of secularism. Students of religion investigate why people are religious, where religion comes from, and how it can be analyzed.
Screen Cultures & Curatorial Studies
Housed in the state-of-the-art Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies is unique because of its linkage of adjacent disciplines: film and media studies and, more generally, the study of screen cultures, film and media production, and curatorial studies and practice. This multidisciplinary and professionally oriented program provides students with a wide range of course options and professional opportunities, including academia, arts management, programming, media production (from mainstream media to artistic and activist production), and curation.