2022-2023 Academic Calendar Mount Royal University [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
First-Year Advising Guide - Bachelor of Arts
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Welcome to the Faculty of Arts at Mount Royal University!
Congratulations on your admission to the Bachelor of Arts. As a student in the Bachelor of Arts degree, you are opening yourself up to a world of possibilities. Regardless of the major you choose, you will gain valuable transferable skills including research, written and verbal communication, complex problem solving, knowledge of key public and ethical debates and topics, and critical thinking skills. All these skills are valued by employers and open doors to a wide range of career opportunities.
To assist with your course registration, below are the recommended first-year courses for each major. Please also pay close attention to General Education information, as these course requirements will make up the bulk of your first-year registration. All the information on this page is important, so please continue to read, and click on each bullet for more information about that topic.
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Degree overview
Understand your Bachelor of Arts degree. You are fulfilling three degree components for a total of 40 courses* or 120 credits (4 years if completing 10 courses per academic year):
| Major - 16-20 courses |
Each baccalaureate degree has a major (core program requirements). The number of courses required for each major varies. |
| General Education - 10 courses |
You choose your Gen Ed courses from four clusters:
- numeracy and scientific literacy,
- values, beliefs and identity,
- community and society, and
- communication
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| Electives - 6-14 courses |
You are also required to take a certain number of electives for your degree. An elective is any course that does not fulfill a requirement for either your Major or General Education. There are hundreds of courses to choose from depending on your program.
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* The BA major in Policy Studies has 36 courses equalling 120 credits. POST 3030 Internship is equivalent to 5 courses or 15 credits.
First-year courses – All majors and Undeclared
The patterns below outline a traditional 10-course academic year. Full-time status requires you to be registered in a minimum of three courses or 9 credits per fall and winter semesters.
BA Undeclared
The Bachelor of Arts Undeclared is designed for students wishing to pursue one of the Bachelor of Arts majors or other degree programs offered by the Faculty of Arts. This is your opportunity to explore the possibilities in Arts. Use the course descriptions in the Academic Calendar to assist you with your course selection.
First-Year BA Undeclared registration suggestions for each term:
Suggestion 1: Take one to two introductory course(s) from the possible Arts majors or programs:
- Sample first-year courses at the 1000 level in Anthropology (any ANTH), Economics (ECON 1101 or ECON 1103 ), English (any ENGL), History (any HIST), Political Science (PLSC 1101 ), Psychology (PSYC 1105 ), Sociology (SLGY 1101 )
- Exploring any of these above disciplines may satisfy major requirements, General Education Tier 2 requirements, or electives in a BA major once declared.
- Browse through the Major sections in this Bachelor of Arts advising guide to see suggested courses for BA majors you may want to consider.
- For students interested in Bachelor of Arts - Criminal Justice and Bachelor of Interior Design : take courses that could meet General Education Foundation and Tier 2 requirements (review program curriculum and course information). CRJS 1003 may be available in the winter semester without program restrictions.
Note: First-year CRJS courses are typically restricted to BA Criminal Justice program students only. Students interested in the Bachelor of Interior Design may take an introductory ARTH course; INDS and DEST courses are restricted to program students only.
Suggestion 2: Take one to two introductory course(s) in any area that interests you at Mount Royal:
- Explore classes from your interests or those suggested by the BA majors below.
- Browse through the other bachelor’s degree advising guides in this Academic Calendar to see suggested courses for other MRU programs you may want to consider. Please note that some courses may be restricted to program students only when you locate them in the registration system and this means you cannot register for them at this time.
- Please stick to 1000-level courses, unless you are taking Business-related courses at the 2000 level like these (e.g. ACCT, ENTR, FNCE, HRES, INBU, MGMT, MKTG, SINV).
- Courses you choose may be used to satisfy General Education Tier 2 requirements or electives in your program once you decide on your major in the BA, or these courses may satisfy major requirements in another degree if you decide to transfer to a different MRU program.
Suggestion 3: Take one Foundation General Education course
- General Education Foundation, Cluster 4 requirement is recommended to take in fall (one of GNED 1401 or GNED 1403 or GNED 1404 ) and one other Foundation Cluster Gen Ed course (from Clusters 1, 2 or 3) in the winter semester.
- Review the General Education Requirements section of this guide to understand the structure of this component of your new degree. Looking for General Education requirements for Foundation and Tier 2 level requirements can also assist with locating courses for your first year.
Since you will need to declare your major choice within 10 courses of your admission to the BA, it is recommended you attend New Student Orientation (NSO) to meet your academic advisor and gather information about the majors Arts has to offer.
Note: 2000-level (or higher) courses should not be attempted in the first fall semester of the program unless you have prior university experience. Prerequisites may be required.
Sample of first-year course selection if you think you want to pursue a Bachelor of Arts major:
Year One, Semester 1 [Fall], Sept. - Dec.
*Choices for ANTH 1000 level core courses are ANTH 1101 , ANTH 1103 , ANTH 1105 and ANTH 1106 .
Year One, Semester 2 [Winter], Jan. - Apr.
*Choices for HIST 1000-level core courses: HIST 1101 , HIST 1103 , HIST 1105 , HIST 1111 , HIST 1117 , HIST 1119 , HIST 1131 , HIST 1133 and HIST 1201 .
Full-time status:
If are required to have full-time status as a student, for loan funding, scholarships, UPass transit access, or health or dental benefits, you will need to schedule a minimum of three credit-level courses (total 9 credits) to a maximum of five credit-level courses (total 15 credits) per fall and winter semesters.
Major in Anthropology
The courses below are recommendations for your first year and can be taken in any sequence to suit your interests and/or schedule. Make sure to review the General Education section of this document in addition to this major information. Please use the list of approved General Education courses to assist with course selection for General Education requirements.
Year One, Semester 1 [Fall], Sept. - Dec.
Year One, Semester 2 [Winter], Jan. - Apr.
*Choices for ANTH 1000 level core courses are: ANTH 1101 , ANTH 1103 , ANTH 1105 and ANTH 1106 .
** Both courses have a laboratory component.
Note: 2000 level (or higher) courses should not be attempted in the first fall semester of the program unless you have prior university experience. Prerequisites may be required.
Full-time status:
If you need to have full-time status as a student (for loan funding, scholarships, UPass transit access, health or dental benefits), you will want to schedule a minimum of three credit-level courses (total 9 credits) to a maximum of five credit-level courses (total 15 credits) per fall and winter semesters.
Major in English
The courses below are recommendations for your first year and can be taken in any sequence to suit your interests and/or schedule. Make sure to review the General Education section of this document in addition to this major information. You are advised to complete ENGL and GNED Foundation, Cluster 4 courses as outlined. Please use the list of approved General Education courses to assist with course selection for General Education requirements
Year One, Semester 1 [Fall], Sept. - Dec.
Choose one of the following:
Choose one of the following General Education Requirement, Foundation Cluster 4 courses:
All of:
Year One, Semester 2 [Winter], Jan. - Apr.
Choose one of the following two:
- English course*
- Language or Linguistics requirement -any Linguistics (LING) or language class in Chinese (CHIN), French (FREN), Italian (ITAL), Japanese (JPNS) or Spanish (SPAN)
All of:
* Suggestions include but are not limited to CRWT 1117 , CRWT 1118 , ENGL 2141 , ENGL 2205 , ENGL 2207 , ENGL 2216 , ENGL 2263 , ENGL 2273 , ENGL 2293 , ENGL 2294 , ENGL 2295 , ENGL 2298 , ENGL 2299 , ENGL 2301 , or FILM 2251 . Courses in the related areas of Creative Writing (CRWT) and Film Studies (FILM) may be used for electives and General Education.
**Options include ENGL 2205 , ENGL 2207 , ENGL 2263 , CRWT 2264 , CRWT 2265 , CRWT 2266 , CRWT 2267 , CRWT 2268 .
Note: 2000 level (or higher) courses should not be attempted in the first fall semester of the program unless you have prior university experience. Prerequisites may be required. Plan to take ENGL 2202 , ENGL 2210 , and ENGL 2211 in your second year rather than your second semester.
Full-time status:
If you need to have full-time status as a student (for loan funding, scholarships, UPass transit access, health or dental benefits), you will want to schedule a minimum of three credit-level courses (total 9 credits) to a maximum of five credit-level courses (total 15 credits) per fall and winter semesters.
Major in History
The courses below are recommendations for your first year and can be taken in any sequence to suit your interests and/or schedule. Make sure to review the General Education section of this document in addition to this major information. Please use the list of approved General Education courses to assist with course selection for General Education requirements.
Year One, Semester 1 [Fall], Sept. - Dec.
Year One, Semester 2 [Winter], Jan. - Apr.
*Choices for HIST 1000-level core courses: HIST 1101 , HIST 1103 , HIST 1105 , HIST 1111 , HIST 1117 , HIST 1119 , HIST 1131 , HIST 1133 , HIST 1201
Note: 2000 level (or higher) courses should not be attempted in the first fall semester of the program unless you have prior university experience. Prerequisites may be required.
Full-time status:
If you need to have full-time status as a student (for loan funding, scholarships, UPass transit access, health or dental benefits), you will want to schedule a minimum of three credit-level courses (total 9 credits) to a maximum of five credit-level courses (total 15 credits) per fall and winter semesters.
Major in Policy Studies
The courses below are recommendations for your first year and can be taken in any sequence to suit your interests and/or schedule. You are advised to complete the PLSC and ECON courses as outlined. Make sure to review the General Education section of this document in addition to this major information. Please use the list of approved General Education courses to assist with course selection for General Education requirements.
Year One, Semester 1 [Fall], Sept. - Dec.
Year One, Semester 2 [Winter], Jan. - Apr.
*An Indigenous context course is required for this program to be completed as a General Education or an elective.
Possible choices are as follows:
Note: 2000 level (or higher) courses should not be attempted in the first fall semester of the program unless you have prior university experience. Prerequisites may be required.
Full-time status:
If you need to have full-time status as a student (for loan funding, scholarships, UPass transit access, health or dental benefits), you will want to schedule a minimum of three credit-level courses (total 9 credits) to a maximum of five credit-level courses (total 15 credits) per fall and winter semesters.
Major in Psychology
The courses below are recommendations for your first year and can be taken in any sequence to suit your interests and/or schedule. You are advised to complete the PSYC courses as outlined. Make sure to review the General Education section of this document in addition to this major information. Please use the list of approved General Education courses to assist with course selection for General Education requirements.
Year One, Semester 1 [Fall], Sept. - Dec.
Year One, Semester 2 [Winter], Jan. - Apr.
Note: 2000 level (or higher) courses should not be attempted in the first fall semester of the program unless you have prior university experience. Prerequisites may be required.
Full-time status:
If you need to have full-time status as a student (for loan funding, scholarships, UPass transit access, health or dental benefits), you will want to schedule a minimum of three credit-level courses (total 9 credits) to a maximum of five credit-level courses (total 15 credits) per fall and winter semesters.
Major in Sociology
The courses below are recommendations for your first year and can be taken in any sequence to suit your interests and/or schedule. You are advised to complete the SLGY courses as outlined. Make sure to review the General Education section of this document in addition to this major information. Please use the list of approved General Education courses to assist with course selection for General Education requirements.
Year One, Semester 1 [Fall], Sept. - Dec.
Year One, Semester 2 [Winter], Jan. - Apr.
* Suggestions include SLGY 2218 , SLGY 2233 , SLGY 2235 , SLGY 2253 , SLGY 2255 , SLGY 2265 , SLGY 2271 , SLGY 2273 , SLGY 2275 , and SLGY 2731 .
Note: 2000 level (or higher) courses should not be attempted in the first fall semester of the program unless you have prior university experience. Prerequisites may be required.
Full-time status:
If you need to have full-time status as a student (for loan funding, scholarships, UPass transit access, health or dental benefits), you will want to schedule a minimum of three credit-level courses (total 9 credits) to a maximum of five credit-level courses (total 15 credits) per fall and winter semesters.
General Education courses
What are General Education courses?
A great education doesn’t just make you an expert in one area - it gives you a well-rounded knowledge base in a variety of areas. That is why all of Mount Royal’s baccalaureate degree and diploma programs will include General Education, a collection of courses in a range of subjects that will complement studies in your chosen field.
Use the list of approved General Education courses to assist with course selection for the Tiers and Clusters outlined below. Be sure to follow the suggested pattern for your General Education requirements as outlined in your major.
Foundation
As you start your studies, you take a total of four General Education foundation courses. Choose one from each cluster.
Cluster 1: Numeracy and Scientific Literacy
Take one of: GNED 1101 , GNED 1102 , or GNED 1103 within your first 10 courses.
Cluster 2: Values, Beliefs and Identity
Take one of: GNED 1201 , GNED 1202 or GNED 1203 within your first 20 courses.
Cluster 3: Community and Society
Take one of: GNED 1301 , GNED 1303 or GNED 1304 within your first 20 courses.
Cluster 4: Communication
Take one of: GNED 1401 , GNED 1403 or GNED 1404 within your first 10 courses.
Tier 2
As you progress through your degree, choose three General Education courses from a wider variety of courses
You will take:
- one Tier 2 course from Cluster 1
- two Tier 2 courses from two of the following: Clusters 2, 3, or 4.
Tier 3
You must take three Tier 3 courses. These three courses must be from at least two different clusters.
You could take:
- three Tier 3 courses each from a different cluster (Total 3); or
- two Tier 3 courses from one cluster, plus one more from different clusters (Total: 3).
Registering for courses
It is your responsibility to register in your courses and ensure that the courses you select meet the program and graduation requirements as outlined in the information above.
Use the online Academic Calendar to explore possible courses of interest and to check that you meet prerequisites. You will register for courses using the registration system found in mymru.ca,
Register & Pay tab.
Visit our Tutorials page for useful videos to guide you on using mymru, our degree audit system (mruGradU8), course descriptions and how to register for your courses.
We also have an online tool to help you plan your courses for the year: My Schedule Builder. View schedule options and create a timetable that works best for you. Access My Schedule Builder through your mymru.ca account under the ‘Register&Pay’ tab, in the ‘My Schedule Builder’ section.
Tracking your degree progress
mruGradU8 is a program audit system and advising tool designed to assist you in reviewing your academic history, identifying requirements you have completed and those that are still needed for graduation. As you move through your degree, mruGradU8 will become a great planning tool for you to measure your progress.
You will log in to mruGradU8 through your mymru.ca account, under the ‘My Program’ tab. When you click on the icon or follow the link, your audit will open.
In order to ensure that your curriculum is current, please click the ‘Process New’ tab at the top of the audit every time that you login to mruGradU8.
The information in your audit is separated into three sections:
- Core and/or Major Requirements
- General Education (GNED) Requirements
- Electives
- If you declare a minor, which is optional, this will be added to the bottom of your audit.
Each semester, information about your course registration will be added to your audit so you can see which courses you register in and which ones you complete. This will be a great tool for you and your advisor to use to ensure that the courses you are taking will meet graduation requirements for your program.
Please visit this page for more information about mruGradU8, including frequently asked questions.
Your advisor
New Student Registration
Your advisor has carefully prepared your advising information and is eager to begin working with you on your Mount Royal experience. After reading through this information carefully, you should be able to register for both your Fall and Winter semesters. Should you have questions, you may contact the Arts Academic Advisor, Rachel Doe, by email at artsadvising@mtroyal.ca. Please use your @mtroyal.ca email account.
You can also read through your Welcome Guide which contains great information about transitioning to MRU and the support services that are available.
If you are transferring credit courses to Mount Royal from another post-secondary institution, or are transferring to the Bachelor of Arts from another program at Mount Royal, please contact Arts Academic Advising by email for an appointment: artsadvising@mtroyal.ca
Previous post-secondary courses
As a student with transfer credit previously completed, you have different needs when it comes to registration. Please follow the steps outlined for Transfer Students on the Arts Academic Advising page for New Students. It will also help to review the information in this guide to familiarize yourself with our degree structure and components. You may also be in need of first-year courses for some of your requirements.
Ensuring that your previous coursework is applied to your Arts curriculum is in your best interest. The maximum number of courses and credits that can be applied from institutions outside MRU is twenty (20) courses or sixty (60) credits (the amount applied is program-dependent). Please be sure to review your assigned transfer equivalencies in your MyMRU account, under the My Program tab in the Admission box (Check transfer equivalencies) and your new mruGradU8 program audit (refer to the ‘Tracking your degree progress’ section of this guide. Keep in mind that if you have recently completed winter semester courses, transfer equivalencies will be established once your official transcripts have been received by Mount Royal after June 30. More information about transfer equivalencies can be found online here.
If you notice many unspecified (1XXX, 2XXX, etc.) credit assignments in the evaluation of your transfer equivalencies, you could submit detailed official course outlines to have more specific credit assigned, which would assist with potential application to the major and General Education requirements of the degree. Check out the necessary steps to take here. You can also consult with Arts Academic Advising about the application of your transfer credit.
Please direct any questions you have to Arts Academic Advising at artsadvising@mtroyal.ca. If you want to book an appointment, please call 403.440.8585.
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