What are Liberal Studies Courses?
Liberal Studies courses provide degree students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of disciplines outside of their fields of professional specialization, which enhances their capacity to critically analyze their social, political, economic, historical, and cultural context and provide them with the opportunity to experience diverse perspectives and ways of reasoning, analysis, and communication. In the process, the graduates can attain a recognition of the need for and an ability to engage in life-long learning necessary to thrive in the continuously evolving and globalizing workplace of the twenty-first century.
Liberal Studies Courses are
- Breadth capacity courses
- 25% of all degree courses are Liberal Studies (eg. Student taking 40 courses in their model route, 10 of those courses are liberal studies)
- This is in compliance with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities’ framework for Ontario College Degrees.
- Lower (100 and 200) and upper level (300 and 400) liberal studies courses are offered
Two types of courses will constitute Breadth Courses: Liberal Studies mandated courses and Liberal Studies elective courses. All liberal studies courses are offered over 14 week period, with 12 weeks of instruction and 1 week of study and 1 week of final exams. At Centennial, students take 5 mandated courses and 5 electives.
Centennial College's mandated liberal studies courses include
- ENG-115 The Power of Communication
- GCE-215 Global Citizenship & Equity: World Hunger
- MTH-116 Statistics
- REA-215 Fundamentals of Research
- PHL-215 Ethics for a Plural World
Liberal Studies Transfer Credits
Students who attended an accredited university or a degree program at another college and have successfully completed courses that are considered to be Breadth Courses are eligible to apply for transfer credit. A minimum “C” grade is required for transfer credit course approval. Students transferring from a college certificate or diploma program into a degree program at Centennial College are required to have a minimum of a “B+” grade and 75% of the course learning outcomes met in their general education courses.
Liberal Studies Elective Disciplines
Students are expected to take one elective from each of these disciplines:
- Social Sciences
- Humanities
- Natural Science
- Arts
- Philosophy
Year 3, Semester 1: Social Sciences
- SOC-301 Sociology of Deviance
- SOC-302 Psychology of the Consumer
- SOC-303 Psychology: The Interplay of Genetics, Physiology, and Environment in the Determination of Behaviour
- SOC-304 Human Geography: Migration and Globalization
- SOC-305 Media, Culture, & Society
Year 3, Semester 2: Humanities
- HUM-311 Critical Approaches to Popular Culture
- HUM-312 Indigenous Peoples: A Global Perspective
- HUM-313 Caribbean Literature
- HUM-314 Visionaries, Revolutionaries, and Reactionaries: Global Issues in the 21st Century
- HUM-315 The Self and Self Knowledge
- HUM-316 Beyond Islamophobia: Deconstructing Anti-Muslim Racism
- HUM-317 Women in Global Leadership
Year 3, Semester 2: Natural Sciences
- NAT-321 Chemistry of Pollutants: Impacts & Solutions
- NAT-322 Food Chemistry: From Crop to Consumption
- NAT-323 Global Perspectives on the Human Immune System
- NAT-324 Brains, Minds, and Social Life
Year 4, Semester 1: Arts
- ART-411 Film Art in the Internet Age
- ART-412 Conceptual Art and Cultural Change
- ART-413 Performance and Technology
- ART-414 21st Century Visual Culture