Interdisciplinary Studies | Faculty of Arts

Program overview

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Create your own individualized, cutting-edge degree tailored to your interests and future aspirations.

The BA in Interdisciplinary Studies provides you with unparalleled opportunities to discover your passions and supports you in building an academic program around your own areas of interest—while staying focused on real-world relevance and long-term career goals.

Whether you're interested in making a positive impact in society, pursuing a career in teaching, becoming an entrepreneur, advocating for nature, working in healthcare, helping others as a social worker or counselor, working for the government or pursuing research, the BA in Interdisciplinary Studies empowers you to chart your own future.

Choose your program

4 years120 units

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Bachelor of Arts

The 4-year program offers a deeper academic experience and includes opportunities for advanced study in your final year—ideal if you're thinking about further academic work.

Program structure

Course sequence

3 years90 units

Bachelor of Arts

The 3-year program provides a solid foundation and may be better suited if you're planning to move more quickly into professional studies or training.

Program structure

Course sequence

Honours program, major, minor?

Discover our program structures

The interdisciplinary advantage

The most pressing social and philosophical challenges of our time can’t be solved by any one discipline. They are deeply interconnected, demanding insights from across the sciences, humanities, and arts. Whether you're driven to tackle real-world challenges, explore the fundamental questions of human experience, or build something meaningful around your passions, Interdisciplinary Studies equips you to think across boundaries, stay curious, and channel your creativity into a purposeful, career-ready degree.

Unlike traditional degrees that require you to specialize in one area, Interdisciplinary Studies empowers you to engage with emerging questions, tackle real-world issues, and follow your personal passions.

You’ll build a personalized degree by combining minors and microprograms that reflect your interests and goals. At the heart of the program is our foundational course, AHL1100: Build Your Interdisciplinary Degree (soon to be renamed—check for the subtitle!). In this course, you’ll work closely with your professor and peers to design a degree that aligns with your aspirations and prepares you for the future you want to create.

Browse the Majors, Minors, and Microprograms that will help you build a degree aligned with your passions, interests, and goals.

Select from the five following categories to build your own program:

English (ENG)
Interdisciplinary Studies in Arts, Humanities and Languages (AHL) (Only AHL 1100 and AHL 1900 qualify as basic skills courses)
Philosophy (PHI)

What are AHL courses? A course that allows you to expand your horizons, to confront views from different fields, and to engage in the urgent debates of today and tomorrow. Each year our professors offer courses under the interdisciplinary course code AHL, which you can choose as electives in your program.

Sample Programs

The BA in Interdisciplinary Studies is designed to be flexible so you can build a degree around your interests and career goals. There’s no one path—and that’s the point.

Below are a few illustrative combinations of minors, microprograms, and electives tailored to various career directions, each based on a four-year, 120-unit degree. These are just suggestions to help you imagine the possibilities.

Note: A 3-year degree is also possible. Students can scale back the number of minors or electives to complete a strong academic program with 90 units. Many professional programs (including some teacher’s colleges and law schools) only require three years of undergraduate study.

4 years120 units

BA with Minor in Environmental Studies and two Microprograms

Basic skills courses: 12 units
English (ENG), Philosophy (PHI), Arts, Humanities and Languages (AHL)

Minor in Environmental Studies: 30 units

Microprogram 1 in Geomatics and Spatial Analysis: 12 units

Microprogram 2 in Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Social Innovation: 18 units

Microprogram 3 in Animal Studies: 15 units

Elective courses: 30 units

4 years120 units

BA with double Minor Public Administration and French as a Second Language Studies

Basic skills courses: 12 units English (ENG), Philosophy (PHI), Arts, Humanities and Languages (AHL)

Core Course: Build Your Interdisciplinary Degree (AHL1100): 3 units

Minor in Public Administration: 30 units

Minor in French as a Second Language: 30 units

Microprogram in Arts Administration: 9 units

Elective courses: 46 units

4 years120 units

BA with Minor in Communication + Microprogram in Digital Humanities

Basic skills courses: 12 units English (ENG), Philosophy (PHI), Arts, Humanities and Languages (AHL)

Core Course: Build Your Interdisciplinary Degree (AHL1100): 3 units

Minor in Communication: 30 units

Minor in Creative Writing: 30 units

Microprogram in Digital Humanities: 12 units

Elective courses: 33 units

4 years120 units

BA with double Minor in Society, Health & Spirituality and Psychology + two Microprograms

Basic skills courses: 12 units English (ENG), Philosophy (PHI), Arts, Humanities and Languages (AHL)

Core Course: Build Your Interdisciplinary Degree (AHL1100): 3 units

Minor in Health Sciences or Minor in Psychology: 30 units

Minor in Society, Heath & Spirituality*: 30 units

Microprogram in Mindfulness & Contemplative Sciences: 15 units

Microprogram in End of Life Studies: 12 units

Elective Courses: 15 units

(*to be launched in Fall 2026)

4 years120 units

BA with triple minor in Indigenous Studies, History, and Anthropology

Basic Skills Courses: 12 units English (ENG), Philosophy (PHI), Arts, Humanities and Languages (AHL)

Core Course: Build Your Interdisciplinary Degree (AHL1100): 3 units

Minor 1 Indigenous Studies: 30 units

Minor 2 in History: 30 units

Minor 3 in Anthropology*: 30 units (Please note that the 3rd minor will not appear on your diploma)

Elective Courses: 18 units

*Offered at the Faculty of Social Sciences

More Sample Programs

Basic Skills Courses: 12 units (English, Philosophy, Arts, Humanities and Languages)

Core Course: Build Your Interdisciplinary Degree (AHL1100) – 3 units

Minor in Communications (30 units)
Minor in Visual Arts or Music (30 units)
Minor in Creative Writing, Film Studies, or Digital Humanities (30 units)
Electives (15 units)

This pathway could lead to careers in: media production, arts administration, content creation, creative direction, cultural programming, or launching your own studio or platform.

Scholarships and Bursaries

Our scholarship program is one of the most generous in the country. It rewards not only your pre-university academic achievements, but also your achievements every term of full-time study at University. A scholarship is awarded for academic achievements while a bursary is awarded based on financial need.

Learn more about Scholarships and Bursaries