The Art and Design major, taken as part of a Bachelor of Arts degree, offers seven areas of study including industrial design, fine arts, and art history. From learning about socially responsible and sustainable design to exploring contemporary issues through visual art, you will have the opportunity to customize your educational experience to your interests and passions. You will be guided by award-winning instructors who are all practicing artists, designers, and scholars. Dynamic art and design student groups offer extra-curricular engagement or you can take advantage of the many available exchange and study abroad opportunities.

Philosophy is the critical study of ideas, experiences, and meaning. Learn how ancient Greek philosophy has shaped our ideas of today. Study the great minds of philosophical thought, from Plato to Nietzsche. Delve into the ethical questions behind cyberspace and artificial intelligence. Realize your own philosophies surrounding reasoning, risk and rationality. Whether you are more inclined towards math, writing, poetry, politics, ethics, or justice, there is certain to be an area of philosophy that will pique your interest.

Human geography is a branch of social science that focuses on the relationships between human societies and the built and natural environments in which they operate. You will have the opportunity to learn about topics of real world concern through supervised research projects, paid work experience, a two-week field school, and activities such as blog entries, posters, and presentations. Your professors have a wide range of interests, such as hazards, housing, and sustainability, and their research takes them to all corners of Canada and beyond.

This program explores our visual world and its messages. Course topics range widely, from representations of sex and death in the Renaissance, to performing bodies in contemporary activist art, to China’s design revolution. You’ll learn the practice of slow looking, how to pose original questions of art works, and how to engage in creative research projects, including faculty/student curatorial projects and pop-up exhibitions in public spaces.

Criminology focuses on causes of criminal behaviour, labeling of behaviours as criminal, changing definitions of deviance and crime, the ways we count and measure crime, and social responses to it including the operation of the institutions that make up the criminal justice system. Students complete two field placements involving supervised work experience in a relevant criminal justice setting. The placements stress practical applications of criminological theory and complement the academic component of the Criminology program.Students are exposed to new people, information and gain valuable first-hand experience within the criminal justice system.

Sociology is the study of the social forces that shape various identities, relations, and practices, such as race, inequality, health, education, family, class, and culture. Our program offers courses on interrelated facets of social life, including gender and sexuality, race and racism, deviance and conformity, justice, religion, and natural and built environments. You will have the opportunity to learn from leading scholars who use real world examples, hands-on projects, and their own ongoing research to enliven and extend the classroom.

Music is the art of human expression through sound. This program is an excellent degree for those wanting to explore music in a self-directed fashion. Students can specialize in music theory, music history, world music, or Composition and Sonic Arts, combining critical thinking and personal expression. The Faculty of Arts boasts one of the most diverse Arts programs in Canada, offering top quality educational opportunities that prepare students for successful careers in every sector of society. With over 900 distinct courses in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts, you will find an academic pathway for you.

In less than a century, films have become one of the most important influences on our society. Film studies explores the history, theory, aesthetics, cultural values, and effects of film, television, and digital media through the close analysis of individual works. You will have access to courses that cover a wide range of film genres and eras, and professors who can provide expertise in many different cinematic styles and traditions from around the world, allowing you to explore the genres you are most interested in.

STS explores the interaction of science and technological innovation with the past, present, and future of the wider world. This program will help you think critically about how social, political, and cultural values affect innovation and research, and how innovation and research in turn affects human life. You will gain a fully interdisciplinary experience with courses from Anthropology, Art and Design, Economics, English and Film Studies, History, Sociology, Philosophy, and more.

By studying English, you will explore the richness of literature and language to help understand, interpret, and appreciate what novels, songs, poems, memoirs, images, films, and new media tell us about our contemporary culture and the social and creative worlds of our past. You will learn from award winning and internationally renowned professors and researchers who will help you discover, think, and see in new ways. You will have access to courses spanning Renaissance, Victorian, Canadian, and Indigenous literature, as well as creative writing, film studies, and new media.

This program explores the relationship between law, politics, and society, and between people and the state. Students explore crime and criminal behaviour, how laws evolve, and the ways in which law and crime are connected to issues of social justice and inequality. Our multidisciplinary approach provides students ways to explore different aspects of the law, crime, and justice. Central to our degree is a focus on gender, class, and ethnicity. Understanding how these factors relate to law, crime and bias is vital for addressing the major issues facing the Canadian justice system.

Sustainability studies examine the connection between a number of factors that impact the world we live in. You'll dive into economic, environmental, and social studies as part of this program. When you take sustainability studies at Augustana, you'll focus on the environment as well as economic and social sustainability. These systems are all related and required to address sustainable practices. This program will help you to work through these complex issues. You'll also learn analytical skills and build the confidence needed to promote change in the world in which we live.

Physical education is the relationship between health, physical activity, and recreation. This major is an outstanding foundational degree for careers in health sciences or education. Specialized knowledge gained in this program includes: growth and structure of the human body, effective and efficient movement of the body, the edge between performance and injury, and critical engagement in historical trends and development. When you study physical education, you'll also look at sport and wellness to help encourage healthy living for all.

Anthropology explores the origins and history of the human species through investigating biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity in human populations. You will be able to take courses related to four major subfields of Anthropology: Archaeology, Biological, Linguistic, and Cultural Anthropology. Our faculty members have expertise in a range of societies and cultures, past and present, and a range of world areas. Through your courses, you may be exposed to laboratories where you can identify and interpret artifacts and fossils, or the opportunity to conduct and present original research.

This program explores our visual world and its messages. Course topics range widely, from representations of sex and death in the Renaissance, to performing bodies in contemporary activist art, to China’s design revolution. You’ll learn the practice of slow looking, how to pose original questions of art works, and how to engage in creative research projects, including faculty/student curatorial projects and pop-up exhibitions in public spaces.