Bachelor of Behavioural Science - Postsecondary Education Quality ...

―The ability to speak eloquently is not to be confused with having something to say.―
The breadth courses offer students an analytical framework through which to observe and
learn about themselves, their vocational area of study, society, and culture. These
courses offer a perspective that encourages self-reflection and critique, and provide new
opportunities for a rigorous exploration of the relationships between the self and others,
social and political institutions, ethics and action, art and culture, and science and the
natural world. They are centred in, but not necessarily limited to, the liberal arts and
sciences. These courses may be grounded in the modes of analysis of a particular
discipline or they may assemble and integrate the insights of several subject areas in an
interdisciplinary manner.
History of Degree Level Breadth at Humber
In its initial 2001 degree submissions, Humber included a package of eighteen degree
level elective courses to be offered to students registered in the first two degree programs.
These elective courses were developed by faculty members in Humber‘s School of Liberal
Arts and Science. At the time of the submissions to PEQAB, these faculty members were
also developing elective courses for the joint degree/diploma programs offered to students
enrolled in University of Guelph-Humber programs. All of the courses were favourably
reviewed by the breadth assessor designated by PEQAB.
Following the initial PEQAB submissions, the School of Liberal Arts and Science
continued to add breadth courses to the pool as more degrees were developed, reviewed
and implemented. By the time Humber was given Ministerial Consent in 2005 to offer the
Bachelor of Applied Music (Contemporary Music) degree, the School of Liberal Arts and
Science had developed thirty-one courses addressing both the upper and lower level in
the following breadth categories: Arts and Literature; Social Sciences and Humanities;
and Natural Sciences and Technology. In addition, the School developed and offered
statistics and research methods courses for the various degree programs. The
designation of the statistics and research methods courses as ―core‖ or ―non-core‖ shifts
in relation to the degree area of study.
In the development of the breadth courses, the School of Liberal Arts and Science sought
the advice of discipline specialists outside of Humber as well as vocational faculty and
students. Over the years, the breadth outlines which appeared in Humber‘s degree
proposals included those which were not only to be reviewed by PEQAB assessors but
many of which had also been reviewed by the University of Guelph‘s Senate and the
Faculty of Nursing and Senate at the University of New Brunswick.
The original design of Humber‘s breadth courses was guided by the PEQAB breadth
benchmarks as well as the following five goals:
Lifelong Learning: To afford students an opportunity to develop a foundation of
knowledge and skills necessary to a life of learning and adaptation.
Self-knowledge: To help students develop the ability to critically analyze the forces
that shape their values, ideas, and personal circumstances so that they can cultivate a
thoughtful, realistic, and positive sense of themselves.
Global Perspectives: To help students understand the global forces that are shaping
their local community, through an examination of diverse theories, narratives and
Bachelor of Behavioural Science Section D, Page 5