Faculty of Arts

An education that prepares you for life

The Faculty of Arts is at the core of a StFX’s educational mission. In today’s rapidly changing world, one thing stays the same: employers want to hire well-informed graduates who can think critically, communicate clearly, and analyze and solve problems with innovative new ideas. Arts degrees at StFX cultivate these qualities, and many more. A degree in Arts will change the way you perceive and interpret the world around you. 

Whether you are an Arts student or coming to us for electives in Business or Science, our teaching and research will help you understand human experience through archives, art, climate science, data collection, language, literature, film, music, museums, philosophy, poetry, policy, visual culture, and much more. With 30 different major, minor, and honours combinations from which to choose, you’ll receive an exceptional and truly personalized educational experience.

Our faculty members conduct award-winning global research and involve students in this work in hands-on ways. If you are a student looking to build your experience through grant applications, creative art and performance, community-based engagement, service learning, public speaking, report writing, publishing in academic journals, and presenting at conferences, we can help you do that! If you are looking to pursue graduate studies, teacher education, music performance & sound engineering, government work, community-based work, creative writing & editorial work, project management, consulting, media and communications, and many other rewarding careers, StFX Arts is the place for you!

We have multiple ways that you can begin your Arts education at StFX, including:

• First-year Arts cohort options, through the Humanities Colloquium and the Social Justice Colloquium. Part of what makes StFX special is our small class sizes taught by professors who are experts in their field. These two colloquia are designed to give you a small classroom experience with a cohort of first-year students, who want to learn together and even have the option to live together. No matter what program you decide to on in Arts at StFX, or where you decide to live, you can sign up for a colloquium based on your interests and have access to three professors who are dedicated to mentoring you through your first year at university. And you might just find your friends for life! When you open our application portal, please select either the Humanities Colloquium or the Social Justice Colloquium on the main application page to apply.
• Direct-entry programs, in Applied Forensic Psychology, Aquatic Resources, Climate and Environment, Health, Public Policy and Governance, and Music. Are you wondering what kind of career you will get from an Arts degree? These programs are all targeted at helping you apply your Arts education to your field of interest in social and criminal justice, marine and freshwater systems, climate and sustainability, healthcare and clinical work, government and policy, and popular music performance, sound recording, and composition. Each of these programs have specific entrance requirements that are unique within your Arts degree. When you open our application portal, please select the direct entry program of your choice from the drop-down menu. Please note: you can still sign up for either the Humanities or the Social Justice Colloquium with any of these options!
• Liberal arts program model, which allows you to enter the general BA and study for two years prior to deciding on a specific Arts program. Are you not sure what you want to study? Congratulations, you are still doing it right! This is what university is for, to explore options beyond what was available to you in high school, and to follow your interests as you learn more. We provide a guided experience to allow you to study a combination of fine arts and languages, humanities, interdisciplinary programs, and social sciences through a Major, Joint Major, Advanced Major, Joint Advance Major, Minor, Honours, or Honours with Subsidiary. Don’t worry, you don’t need to know what this all means:  this is what our academic advising team is here for. We encourage you to try new things, because you can also change your mind after the first week of classes if you decide something isn’t right for you. To apply for our general BA, simply select Bachelor of Arts! We will help you from there. Please note: you can still sign up for either the Humanities or the Social Justice Colloquium with this option!

Common Questions:

• What do my electives look like in a BA at StFX?

We ask that you take 36 credits of general electives, in which you can choose any course from the Arts programs. We also ask you to take electives that are designed to give you a bit more depth and breadth in your degree: 

1. 6 credits of fine arts or languages: you can choose any combination of courses in English Creative Writing, Music (including courses in popular music appreciation, no instrument needed!) Art (studio arts, from stained glass to pottery to drawing to sculpture, no experience necessary!), or any of our second languages in French, German, Gaelic, Mi’kmaw, Spanish, or classical languages in ancient Arabic, Greek, or Latin. If you have advanced IB credits in a language or a fine art from high school, you may be able to request exemptions for this elective.
2. 6 credits of humanities*: you can choose courses in any combination of Art History, Catholic Studies, Celtic Studies, English, History, Philosophy, or Religious Studies. 
3. 6 credits of social sciences*: you can choose courses in any combination of Anthropology, Aquatic Resources, Climate and Environment, Economics, Health, Political Science, Public Policy and Governance, Psychology, or Sociology.

*We also have interdisciplinary programs in Development Studies and Women and Gender Studies that you can use as either humanities or social science credits.

4. 6 credits from science: it is important to us that Arts students can access science courses that are available to them without needing to take a lab or high school science. While you are welcome to take any science course for which you have the appropriate background, the following science courses have been chosen with Arts students in mind around interdisciplinary issues on astronomy, climate change, introduction to coding, environmental science, nutrition, and math and stats. If you have a hard time seeing yourself taking a science class, please ask us for help! We are happy to advise you. If you have advanced IB credits in a science from high school, you may be able to request exemptions for this elective.

Welcome to the Faculty of Arts!