Social Science

What You'll Learn

Black Studies encompasses historical, theoretical, and socio-cultural topics, varying from Black Feminist Thought to contemporary Black cultural practices in Canada and elsewhere. Black Studies is part of the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, which is taught across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities and the Faculty of Social Science.

In this interdisciplinary program, you can take courses in a variety of disciplines through a Black Studies lens, including Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, Anthropology, English, Art History, Political Science, Sociology, History, French, Geography, Media and Communication Studies, and Philosophy.

Explore Black Studies

What You'll Learn

Economics is about resources and choices. There never seems to be enough resources to cover our needs, so we end up making choices. Individuals, business, governments, markets—we all face economic choice.

Studying economics gives you analytical insight into these choices and their consequences. Economists commonly study things like trade, tax policy and wage practices. At Western, we also use an economic lens to analyze domestic violence, disability insurance, racial profiling and nonprofit fundraising.

Explore Economics

What You'll Learn

How does gender relate to race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, (dis)ability and age? Maybe you’ve thought about it a little. But we’re going to blow it wide open. And we don’t shy away from controversial topics. With the skills you’ll work on in writing and critical thinking, you’ll be ready for careers in law, journalism, social work and more. Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies is taught across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities and the Faculty of Social Science.

Explore GSWS

What You'll Learn

Climate change? Try climate emergency. The science and politics of climate are controversial and they’re only part of what you’ll study in Geography and Environment. You'll dive into global systems, biodiversity, cities, energy, food & agriculture and more. Think of Geography and Environment as the perfect combination of natural sciences and social sciences. You have flexibility to do more science to earn a Bachelor of Science or more social science for a Bachelor of Arts.

Explore Geography and Environment

What You'll Learn

To understand where we are and where we’re going, we must understand where we’ve been. In History at Western, you’ll imagine how life used to be using critical thinking and analytic skills. You research, ask questions, debate and write. These skills are useful for all sorts of careers including law, government, education, IT and finance.

Explore the world from Canada to Latin America to the Far East. Keep your interests narrow or diversify. There are usually about 70 undergraduate history courses to choose from each year. Themes range from culture & society to international relations, war, business and environment.

Explore History

What You'll Learn

How can we understand Indigenous societies? In Indigenous Studies, you’ll examine history, language, politics, philosophy, culture, health, sociology, arts, economics and education. You’ll gain diverse skills and a holistic understanding. Listen, learn and engage with topics relevant to Indigenous Peoples’ realities – from First Nations, Inuit and Metis Peoples on Turtle Island, to Indigenous Peoples around the world.

Explore Indigenous Studies

What You'll Learn

In an era of rapid global transformations and increasing insecurities, a thorough understanding of international relations with its historical dimensions, theoretical frameworks, and contemporary manifestations is indispensable. Any hope in successfully tackling the myriad of challenges ahead, from peace to climate change and the struggle for global justice, requires solid knowledge and expertise in international relations.

International Relations is an interdisciplinary module jointly offered by the Department of History and Department of Political Science.

Explore International Relations

What You'll Learn

Linguistics is the scientific and humanistic study of language. It’s about using tools to analyze language function, but also exploring the historical and social variations in language. Understanding every aspect of language is helpful for almost every profession. You might gravitate towards teaching, translation and speech pathology. But technology is creating a new need for experts in linguistics, like artificial intelligence and language/voice recognition programs. Linguistics is offered jointly by the Faculty of Arts & Humanities and Faculty of Social Science.

Explore Linguistics

What You'll Learn

Let’s talk politics. Societies have rules; within a polity (a society with common governance), we call the rules laws. Where do the rules come from? How and why do they change? What is the intention (policy) behind a rule? What does the data say about the consequences of a given policy? What do we know about political persuasion? Is a given change a positive trend or not?

We love these questions and all their detailed variations. Study with us and you gain the skills essential to any profession, from analyzing data to communicating persuasively.

Explore Political Science

What You'll Learn

Politics, Philosphy and Economics is an interdiscipinary degree that equips you to tackle complex societal problems from a variety of angles. You'll take a range of courses across each discipline, culminating in a year-long course that allows you to combine your knowledge in advanced, independent work. 

Modelled after a prestigious program at the University of Oxford, the program prepares you for leadership roles in politics, law, public policy, economics and business.

Explore PPE

What You'll Learn

Why would anyone do that? Is that normal? Is it brain chemistry or peer pressure? Is it built-in or learned? How do we learn?

Study psychology with us and seek the data that explains human behaviour. With a graduate degree, you can go on to a career in psychology. Your undergraduate work on its own will give you great skills for any work with humans, such as education, medicine, law or marketing. Plan your courses well and this subject can take you anywhere (because even if you become a solo lighthouse keeper, there you will be, still a human).

Explore Psychology

What You'll Learn

Step back and consider this odd social animal, the human. From religious rituals to neighbourhood games to rallies in the street—everything we do is social. Our societies show common patterns and major differences. Why are we like this, or that? How do (or don’t) we accommodate people who don’t fit in? How do we change, as a group?

Explore Sociology