The Faculty of Arts offers a diverse array of degree programs through 16 departments and four schools, and a variety interdisciplinary programs. The academic offerings in Arts span the humanities, social sciences, and creative and performing arts. The Faculty of Arts also includes a museum, an art gallery, theatre performance venues, and concert halls.
The UBC senate recently approved a motion to change the mandate and structure of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies (CFIS). As of April 1st 2012, several research units move to the Faculty of Arts. We welcome the Liu Institute for Global Issues and the Institute of Asian Research. The Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies has merged with the Women’s and Gender Studies undergraduate program to create the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice. The Institute for European Studies now resides within the department of Political Science.
Departments and Programs
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Departments
- Anthropology
- Art History, Visual Art and Theory (formerly Fine Arts)
- Asian Studies
- Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies
- Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies
- English
- French, Hispanic and Italian Studies
- Geography
- History
- Linguistics
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Theatre and Film
Schools
Institutes
- Liu Institute for Global Issues
- Institute of Asian Research
- Institute for European Studies
- Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice (formerly known as the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies and the Women’s and Gender Studies undergraduate program)
Cultural Attractions and Concert Halls
First Year Programs
Departments offer their own array of first year courses. In addition, the Faculty of Arts offers three unique study options to students entering first-year.
Arts One Program
The Arts One Program offers an innovative approach to first year where students choose one of two thematic groups, each led by a dynamic team of instructors from a variety of academic disciplines. Each group has its own theme and a reading list of substantial texts. In Arts One, students enjoy an integrated approach to the humanities that focuses on critical thinking, writing skills, and class participation. Arts One provides students with an opportunity to study great works from a variety of perspectives and the added advantage of being part of a small learning community during their first year. Arts One satisfies 18 credits comprising first-year English, History, and Philosophy, leaving students with the ability to complete their first year with 12 credits of electives.
Coordinated Arts Program
The Co-ordinated Arts Program, or CAP, is a first-year program that offers students an introduction to core humanities and social sciences disciplines in Arts through 18 credits of coursework linked by a common theme. Each of six thematic streams in CAP can accommodate a cohort of up to 100 students and each cohort is divided into groups of 25 for the ASTU 100 seminar component so that students experience a small learning community within which they can explore topics in an integrated manner from different academic perspectives.
Arts Studies in Research and Writing
Arts Studies in Research and Writing supports undergraduate students’ participation in the research culture of our UBC community. At a research-intensive university like UBC, students have the opportunity to learn how new knowledge is being produced, disseminated, and applied across many disciplines. Whether English is the first or fourth language of a student, all our students must acquire the language of their majors and learn how to use it in both speech and writing. Our goal, therefore, is to facilitate students’ development of academic literacy over the course of their studies. We do so by introducing students to disciplinary discourses through courses such as ASTU 150, by assisting and supporting faculty in mounting Research and Writing Intensive courses in Arts and Science disciplines, and by fostering undergraduate participation in a variety of student-led scholarly activities. Students in ASTU 150 will read scholarly journal articles representing at least three disciplines that all focus on aspects of a common topic. Through reading, students will see how researchers frame questions about a topic, select methods, and analyze and interpret their findings in ways that are specific to disciplines, and they will take a turn in this scholarly conversation through writing their own research papers.
Please visit the Arts Studies in Research and Writing page for further information and to find out more about the ASTU 150 course: “Arts Studies in Writing.”
Interdisciplinary Programs
- African Studies Minor
- Canadian Studies
- Children’s Literature (Master of Arts program)
- Cognitive Systems
- Creative Writing
- Critical Studies in Sexuality
- Environment and Society
- First Nations Languages
- First Nations Studies
- Health & Society Minor
- Interdisciplinary Studies B.A.
- International Relations
- Latin American Studies
- Law and Society Minor
- Medieval Studies
- Modern European Studies
- Nineteenth-Century Studies
- Religion, Literature, and the Arts
- Science and Technology Studies
- Urban Studies
- US Studies
Joint academic Programs
Korea University-UBC Joint Academic Program
The KU-UBC program was launched in 2001 with the goal of facilitating cultural exchange between Korea and Canada at a national level, as well as at a personal level among students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Enhancing academic cooperation between the two universities is one of several means to reach this goal. Each year the KU-UBC program selects as many as 100 students who are in their second or third year currently studying at Korea University and allows them to spend an academic year in Vancouver.
Tec de Monterrey Joint Academic Partnership
The Tec-UBC Joint Academic Program recruits students from Mexico’s Tec de Monterrey to study at UBC. Most regular credit courses from the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and the Sauder School of Business are open to Tec students. Credits earned at UBC are transferable to Tec. The Tec-UBC Program allows students to combine education, travel, cultural exchange, and life learning in a supportive environment.
Community Programs
Humanities 101
Humanities 101 offers three non-credit university-level courses at UBC for people living in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) and surrounding areas who have a lust for knowledge and education, especially those whose economic situation, academic experience, financial and social well-being are compromised. With respect to their low incomes, all students receive course materials, bus tickets, meal vouchers and childcare, as well as student cards which give access to UBC amenities.
Arts Co-op Program
The Arts Co-op Program offers enriched educational experiences where students alternate between academic terms and challenging, practical, and paid work experiences that provide transformative workplace learning.
The Arts Co-op Program partners with a diverse range of employers to offer work opportunities that help students excel in both academic and professional capacities, and prepare for their future career.
Intake for Arts Co-op takes place each year in September.
What alumni say about co-op:
“Co-op helped me to decide what I wanted to do with my career.”
- Jouel Tiu, BA 2002, English Literature & Commerce
“The Co-op program sets you apart from other graduates…head and shoulders above.”
- Simon Lai, BA 2006, Economics & International Relations



