FYCSG 05/06 REV2 - Faculty of Arts - York University

Urban Studies
Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary field that probes city life, its pleasures and its discontents
based on ideas drawn from many areas of scholarship in the social sciences and
humanities. The program has two general objectives. First, it offers an opportunity for
pursuit of liberal arts undergraduate education through an exploration of metropolitan
life and an appreciation of the history, culture, social life and spatial fabrics of cities.
Courses in the program engage such themes as the social roots of modern suburbs, the
rewards and dilemmas of urban multiculturalism, the meaning of globalization for Canadian
cities, the problems of urban poverty and homelessness, and ways that urban
social life and landscape reflect ideas, sentiments and power relations of city-dwellers.
Second, the program may provide background for graduate or professional studies in such
areas as urban planning, community development, education, journalism, municipal
government or business.
Students interested in Urban Studies should consult the program coordinator or supplemental
calendar for more information about the program.
Students entering the program should enrol in AS/SOSC2710 9.0 City Lives and City
Forms. (Note: 6 credits of this course will count towards the Urban Studies major.)
SUGGESTED COURSE SELECTION FOR FIRST YEAR.
(ASSUMES A COURSE LOAD OF 30 CREDITS):
• 1000-level 9 credit Foundations HUMA course;
• 1000-level 6 credit NATS course;
• 6 credit elective course or 6 credit introductory level course from the Urban Studies list
of courses;
• 6 credit elective course;
• 3 credit elective course (optional).
Women’s Studies (School of Women’s Studies)
Women’s Studies is the critical examination of women’s lives which places women’s own
experiences in the centre. The central objectives of this revisioning are to expose,
critique and change elements which subordinate women in all areas of life such as
family, work, sexuality and spirituality. Women’s Studies attempts actively to transform
discriminatory laws, practices and customs. By studying women in a multiplicity of
settings, divergences of race, class and sexual orientation are highlighted. Students are
encouraged to join in the transformative process of feminist scholarship aimed at
recapturing, recreating, and revaluing women’s knowledge.
Students interested in majoring in Women’s Studies should consider taking one or more
of the following courses in first year:
AS/HUMA1950 9.0 Concepts of Male and Female in the West;
AS/SOSC1185 9.0 Women and Society;
AS/SOSC1210 9.0 Human Rights and Canadian Minorities
AS/SOSC1350 9.0 Women and the Law;
AS/WMST1500 6.0 Women’s Lives Today.
The courses suggested above are good preparation for the introductory, required course
AS/WMST2500 6.0 or AS/WMST2510 9.0 On Women: An Introduction to Women’s Studies.
Note: Students may count a maximum of 6 credits at the 1000-level for program credit
in Women’s Studies.
AS/WMST1500 6.0 Women's Lives Today. From an interdisciplinary perspective, this
course explores various dimensions of women's lives today including sport, culture,
sexuality, education, law and ecology. The course has a Canadian as well as international
perspective, with particular attention paid to class, race, ability, age and sexuality.
Degree credit exclusions: AS/AK/GL/WMST2801 6.0, GL/SOSC2955 6.0.
SUGGESTED COURSE SELECTION FOR FIRST YEAR.
(ASSUMES A COURSE LOAD OF 30 CREDITS):
• 1000-level 9 credit Foundations HUMA or SOSC course (see suggestions listed above);
• 1000-level 6 credit NATS course;
• 6 credit elective course or AS/WMST1500 6.0 (see suggestions and note listed above);
• 6 credit elective course;
• 3 credit elective course (optional).
For courses that can be taken for Women’s Studies program credit, please consult the
School of Women’s Studies’ Supplemental Calendar, or contact the Office of the School
of Women’s Studies, S711 Ross, 416-650-8144 (press 1).
Courses Offered by other Undergraduate Faculties
(THESE COURSES ARE LISTED AT END OF THE LECTURE SCHEDULE)
Faculty of Atkinson
AK/ADMS1000 3.0 Introduction to Administrative Studies. This course provides an
overview of the context within which modern organizations operate. The course will
examine the development of organizational and managerial theories. A number of
contemporary issues and the organizational responses will be discussed.
Prerequisite: None
Note: Not open to students who have taken AK/ADMS2000 3.0, AK/ADMS2000 6.0,
or AK/ADMS2010 3.0.
Faculty of Environmental Studies
ES/ENVS1000 6.0 Perspectives in Environmental Studies. This course is designed to
provide students with a perspective or framework of understanding for Environmental
Studies at the broadest level. The course introduces students to environmental issues,
using the urgent, emerging prospect of the fate of the “Earth in our hands” as the organizing
ethical, scientific, and practical theme. Lecture and tutorial topics will range
over a number of environmental approaches, drawing on a diversity of arts and
sciences, including environmental history, environmental ethics, ecology, economics,
and planning, emphasizing the fact that Environmental Studies is fundamentally an
attempt to integrate the study of the natural world with the study of the human
dimensions of that world.
ES/ENVS1500 6.0 Introduction to Environmental Science. The course provides an
introduction to the elements of physics, chemistry, biology and ecology that are
necessary for the study of environmental problems. It also acquaints students with
techniques (including computer techniques) for the description, organization and
display of quantitative data.
Note: This course is not intended for students who have OAC’s (or equivalents) in
Biology and Chemistry.
Note: Successful completion of this course will fulfil the Faculty of Arts Natural Science
General Education Requirement.
ES/ENVS1800 6.0 Environmental Writing. This course introduces students to a range
of modes of writing in environmental studies. In the process of reading, discussing, and
practicing different kinds of environmental writing, students will develop a variety
of writing skills in addition to an appreciation of writing as an important form of environmental
action. The course also considers writing in relation to oral traditions and
newer technologies.
Note: This course is not intended for ESL students.
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