Study Here
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at ±«Óãtv has a tradition of scholarly excellence dating back to 1818. As one of the university’s founding faculties, FASS is home to many of Canada's leading scholars. Our internationally award-winning faculty inspires bright young minds through teaching excellence and stimulating research.
Why do an Arts degree at ±«Óãtv?
Societies and cultures are always changing, facing new challenges and opportunities. In our own moment of intercultural encounter, technological transformation, and environmental crisis, we need critical thinkers who understand complex issues and can imagine new ways of being in the world. Arts, humanities, and social sciences help us pause and reflect, question and debate, create and engage. They foster civil public discourse and socially just communities, both locally and globally. They have a profound impact on the futures of our societies and of our planet.
Why study here?
±«Óãtv's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences [FASS] offers the most academic choices of any such faculty in Atlantic Canada, combining the opportunities of a big research-intensive university with the friendly atmosphere of a smaller college. With more than 35 flexible programs and hundreds of courses, the breadth of our offerings and the connections that you can make between them is unparalleled in our region.
Here you will study with professors who win awards for both their teaching and research, who can connect you to cutting-edge scholarship, and who will help you ask the crucial questions.
Studying here lets you experience not just Halifax but the world, whether in language courses that expose you to many global cultures or in one of over 90 study abroad and international exchange programs.
We also offer a suite of experiential learning opportunities that will allow you to build on what you're learning in the classroom. We call these opportunities experiential learning or EL, because they're all about lived experience. From community projects and in-class simulations to live performances and global exchanges, EL is your chance to develop the know-how you’ll need to make a difference.
Expand your skills with interdisciplinary opportunities
In the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences you'll be challenged to reach far beyond the boundaries of your field of study, whether your focus is on languages, the performing arts, the humanities or the social sciences. You could take a minor in a specific field of interest. Or you might design a course of studies that samples from a variety of departments. You'll even have the option to . Minors based in other Faculties (including Business, Community Design, Computer Science, Geography, Informatics and Journalism Studies) are open to students registered in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Get an international perspective
Our extensive study abroad opportunities allow you to explore the world while working toward your degree. ±«Óãtv also attracts thousands of students from more than 100 countries including China, India, Japan, Korea, Germany, Lebanon, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the USA to name but a few.
Join a research powerhouse
According to Maclean's magazine, ±«Óãtv University is "the research powerhouse of Atlantic Canada." Our award-winning FASS researchers have explored subjects as diverse as Fidel Castro's Cuba, historical and contemporary issues in Indigenous cultures, stringed instruments, federalism, medieval feast days, contemporary Canadian writers, language education, African-Canadian history, new reproductive technologies, NATO diplomacy, girl groups of the 60s, the politics of food, religion on the Internet, women's health, and theatre in Nova Scotia.
Enjoy unlimited outcomes
We give you skills you can take anywhere: the power to think critically about the world, and to express yourself creatively and effectively.
Some of our graduates go on to professional programs such as law, medicine, and public administration; others go on to graduate degrees; many go straight into careers in such areas as the creative industries, education, government, the military, and NGOs. Among our are community activists, government employees, award-winning recording artists, video game designers, translators, communications and health care professionals, and many more.