Common Course Electives for Science Students
Information is not up-to-date for COVID-19. Make sure you check out the academic calendar here for any changes and to see if you have the appropriate prerequisites.
Category A Courses
History 2179
Description: An examination of the causes, course and consequences of the First and Second World Wars, stressing comparison of the two conflicts. Students will be asked to consider a variety of historical analyses of both wars and to study the process of interpretation as well as events.
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Geography 2010
Description: An overview of the regional geography of Canada. Topics considered may include demographics, culture, the economy, resources and environmental issues.
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Geography 2011
Description: A detailed examination of the province as part of the Great Lakes region, with special reference to its historical development, natural resources and patterns of human and economic activity.
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Geography 2040
Description: An introduction to the region. Issues examined include ethnic relationships, social structure, population distribution, environmental awareness and resource utilization.
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Geography 2090
Description: Survey of human activity in outer space, including history of spaceflight, scientific exploration, economic and military uses of space, natural resources and hazards, legal and ethical implications, and plausible future developments.
Psychology 2020
Description: Survey of the major drugs of abuse used to treat psychopathological disorders including a brief section on methods of administration, drug distribution and elimination, neurotransmitters. The history and patterns of use and abuse, clinic indications, neurochemical bases for action for a variety of licit and illicit drugs.
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Psychology 2030
Description: This course will survey various categories of maladjusted behaviour and consider different explanatory models and treatment strategies for the control of such behaviour. Theories of human adjustment and maladjustment will be reviewed.
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Psychology 2032
Description: This course introduces students to a broad range of issues in forensic psychology. Topics include detecting deception, eyewitness testimony, investigative interviewing, roles and responsibilities, offender profiling, correctional psychology, risk assessment, victims of crime, and fitness to stand trial. A focus will be on critical thinking, skepticism, argument, and confronting assumptions.
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Psychology 2075
Description: A survey of the psychological study of human sexual behavior. Topics include history, methodology, theory, anatomy, physiology, attraction, sexual function, sexual orientation, contraception, conception and birth, sexual health and sexual coercion, and pornography.
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Psychology 2134
Description: This course introduces the vocabulary and concepts used by psychologists who study human language. The course covers traditional psycholinguistic topics such as meaning, speech perception, comprehension, production and theories of language acquisition.
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Psychology 3130
Description: Theoretical and empirical studies on problem solving, reasoning, concept formation, thinking and cross-cultural variations in thinking processes.
Sociology 2172
Description: The social role of advertising and public relations in society. Special emphasis is given to advertising content, the mechanisms of persuasion, and controversies over advertising effects on human behavior and socialization.
Sociology 2256
Description: This course is an examination of the evolution of corrections and punishment (penology). It will include the historical development, organization and administration of correctional institutions, as well as the development of various models of punishment (deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution, incapacitation).
Economics 2150
Description: Theories of the behavior of consumers and firms and the theory of competitive markets.
Kinesiology 2000
Description: Physical activity is considered a crucial component of health. This course is intended to provide you with an overview of the significant role physical activity can play in the prevention, management, and treatment of numerous health-related conditions as well as overall life satisfaction. This course will provide a foundation of knowledge in topics related to the relationship between physical activity and health.
Law 3101
Description: A survey of the law governing the provision of treatment, counseling and care in Ontario. Topics and issues may include capacity to consent, negligence, documentation, confidentiality, disclosure, mandatory reporting and health information privacy legislation.
Category B Courses
Philosophy 1200
Description: An introduction to basic principles of reasoning and critical thinking designed to enhance the student's ability to evaluate various forms of reasoning as found in everyday life as well as in academic disciplines. The course will deal with such topics as inductive and deductive reasoning, the nature and function of definitions, types of fallacies, the use and misuse of statistics, and the rudiments of logic. Primarily for first-year students.
Philosophy 2077
Description: An investigation of ways that contemporary philosophers deal with concepts of gender and sexuality, addressing such issues as the regulation and production of normative sexuality, the question of essentialism, the construction and disciplining of the gendered body, and the effects of new media on sexual identity.
Speech 2001
Description: For effective communication of ideas: Public Address, with basic purposes; Group Discussion; Debate; Voice and Diction; Interpretative Reading.
Classics 2200
Description: A study of Greek and Roman mythology, with some reference to its influence in modern European literature.
Classics 2300
Description: A study of the nature of sport and recreation, and of the attitudes towards them in the societies of the ancient world, principally Greece and Rome.
Writing 1000
Description: Students are introduced to the creative process of writing through in-class exercises, peer workshop, analysis of creative texts, journaling, essay writing, and a review of writing mechanics. Students learn strategies for idea generation in a variety of genres, composing a first draft, approaching revision, and effective editing and proofreading.
Writing 2101
Description: An introduction to the basic principles and techniques of good writing. The course will emphasize practical work and the development of writing skills for a variety of subjects and disciplines.
Writing 2111
Description: This course will introduce students to various genres of workplace writing such as letters, memos, and reports. Topics include: employment communications (application letters and resumes); business writing style; positive, negative, and persuasive messages; cross-cultural communication; oral communication.
French 2208
Description: This online course is designed for students with a good basic knowledge of French who wish to improve their French skills in their specific field of interest. Focus on current Canadian and international topics in Healthcare. Format is interactive and website includes self-assessment tools in order to monitor acquisition of new vocabulary and material.
Category C Courses
Earth Sciences 1022
Description: What our planet is made of, how it works, and how it affects us. Framed on the interactions of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. Specific topics include: geological time and earth history; formation of rocks and minerals; rock deformation; volcanoes and earthquakes; plate tectonics and mountain building; natural resources.
Earth Sciences 1023
Description: An overview of the origin and development of Earth and solar system; constitution and active processes of Earth interior; how these processes have shaped Earth evolution in the past and how they continue to control surface phenomena such as earthquake and volcanic activity.
Earth Sciences 1086
Description: Our best perception of the origin of the Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and our Solar System, meteorites, asteroids, comets and the formation of planets. The slow growth of Planetary Science reason and analysis of hypotheses. Why and how Earth evolved along a path radically different than the other planets.
Earth Sciences 2232
Description: An introduction to planetary science and the exciting frontier of space exploration; emphasis is placed on the processes shaping the planets and moons of the Solar System and how this relates to the evolution of Earth, the Solar System, and life; attention paid to current results from planetary exploration missions.
Earth Sciences 3001
Description: The study of life in the universe, including the origin of life on Earth, the possibility of life elsewhere in the solar system/universe, and the future of human life off-Earth. This course will include topics that draw from biology, physics, astronomy, geology, chemistry, and other areas.
Math 1228
Description: Topics covered include techniques of counting, probability, discrete and continuous random variables. Students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of these concepts and an ability to apply them in solving a variety of problems.
Math 1229
Description: Matrix algebra including vectors and matrices, linear equations, determinants. This course is intended primarily for students in the Social Sciences, but may meet minimum requirements for some Science modules.
Statistical Sciences 1024
Description: Statistical inference, experimental design, sampling design, confidence intervals and hypothesis tests for means and proportions, regression and correlation.
Astronomy 1021
Description: A general survey of astronomy including: the solar system and its constituents; stars, their basic properties and evolution; systems of stars including clusters, the milky way and other galaxies; the universe, its past, present and future structure; astronomical instruments; topics of current interest including pulsars, quasars, black holes.
Astronomy 2012
Description: This course is designed for non-science students as an introduction to current scientific thinking on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and intelligence. Ideas, observations, and experiments from the frontiers of many areas of science converge in this unique interdisciplinary field. Emphasis will be on topics of current interest, including searches for life in our Solar System, detection of extrasolar planets, and the origins of life on Earth.
Computer Science 1026
Description: The nature of Computer Science as a discipline; the design and analysis of algorithms and their implementation as modular, reliable, well-documented programs written in a modern programming language. Intended for students with little or no background in programming.
Computer Science 1033
Description: This course explores the use of different types of media (e.g., text, images, sound, animation) to convey ideas and facilitate interaction. Topics include the design and use of a range of software tools for media creation and editing, covering image, sound, animation and video. This knowledge will be applied to authoring web sites.
Computer Science 2033
Description: This course continues the exploration of popular media and Internet technologies. Topics include making websites more interactive, more searchable and easier to update; digital marketing; e-commerce; social integration; and mobile applications. Students will practice concepts using industry standard tools and software.
Environmental Science 1021
Description: The physics of blood flow and vascular mechanics in the microcirculation and large vessels, surface energy and interactions at biological interfaces such as the lung, diffusive and convective transport and exchange.
Pharmacology 2060
Description: A course for students in the BSc in Nursing and other Health Sciences programs as well as students in BMSc and BSc programs, to provide a basic understanding of the fundamentals of drug action and the mechanisms of action and therapeutic use of the important classes of drugs.
Biology 3338
Description: Principles underlying the molecular, biochemical, and cellular mechanisms by which an organism develops. Classic and contemporary perspectives in embryology and development.
Biology 3597
Description: A discussion of the genetic material and molecular mechanisms governing its expression in a variety of organisms.
Chemistry 3393
Description: Medicinal chemistry is a broad topic that spans many disciplines. Because it is a chemistry course, it focuses primarily on the chemical aspects of drugs and less on the biological aspects. Topics include drugs and the body, discovery and optimization, and selected topics.
Medical Biophysics 3501
Description: The physics of blood flow and vascular mechanics in the microcirculation and large vessels, surface energy and interactions at biological interfaces such as the lung, diffusive and convective transport and exchange.
Medical Biophysics 3503
Description: Concepts of images relevant to all imaging modalities. Image formation and capture including digital cameras and the eye, pixels, aliasing, resolution, contrast, sensitivity, specificity, ROC, window/level, dynamic range, RGB, spectroscopy. Image compression and quality, quantitative analysis based on imaging software and principles of quantitative stereology.