Newly Approved Undergraduate Academic Programs

The four-year honors program in Integrated Science will combine the focused coursework of a traditional science honors degree with a unique set of courses in Integrated Science. Through novel classroom and laboratory experiences, students in the Integrated Science program will refine their critical thinking and problem-solving skills while at the same time strengthening teamwork, leadership abilities and community engagement.

Besides courses in Integrated Science, students in the program will specialize in a defined discipline (e.g. Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Mathematics, Physics). This will provide graduates with the necessary focused education to further develop the expertise valued by both industry and academia. Since many of today’s most pressing scientific problems are interdisciplinary (e.g. climate change), graduates of Western’s Integrated Science program will have a unique skill set allowing them to work more effectively on problems that span a number of science disciplines.

The interdisciplinary Major in Disability Studies creates spaces for rethinking the dominance of traditional, individualized and medicalized models of disability by identifying the systemic barriers to full participation in society experienced by disabled people. It examines the historical and cultural roots of today’s categories of thought, and offers innovative theories, cases and best practices for moving towards a more inclusive society. The program combines rigorous academic foundations with an inquiry-based learning approach that values the contributions of people with disabilities themselves, and acknowledges the breadth and complexity of the large and diverse field being studied (over 15% of the population has some form of disability, including intellectual, developmental, learning, physical, sensory, and mental health).

The curriculum aims to: (1) foster strong analytical, research, writing and verbal expression skills grounded in social science and humanities approaches; (2) provide students with a thorough grounding in specific DS topics and issues; and (3) enhance students’ ability to be effective, ethical, and creative actors in educational, civic and private organizations, who can change the structural conditions that disable people. The degree meets a growing local, national and international need for professionals capable of addressing disability-related social challenges, such as aging population, war- and sports-related physical impairment, and increasing rates of diagnosis for learning disability and mental health.

The program in Biomedical Engineering will be offered by Western’s new School of Biomedical Engineering in partnership with Western’s Faculties of Health Sciences and Science and Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.  The objective of the program is to educate students in design and analysis of medical devices and in the application of principles of engineering science to solve problems in medicine and the biomedical sciences.

The program will provide students with a strong foundation of engineering and biomedical science fundamentals by combining biomedical engineering with the student’s choice of chemical, electrical, mechanical, or mechatronic systems engineering.  The biomedical engineering courses at the core of the program will bridge fundamental engineering subjects to upper-year electives and research opportunities by providing additional breadth and depth in applications of engineering science to medicine.  These courses will be suitable for students with backgrounds in a variety of engineering disciplines and will emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of biomedical engineering.  The program will culminate with an intensive research experience during the final year that will provide students with practical experience in biomaterials, biomechanics, biomedical imaging, or medical mechatronics.

The undergraduate program in Synthetic Biology will be jointly offered by Western University’s Faculty of Science and Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.  The objective of the program is to provide students with a strong foundation in the discipline of synthetic biology and prepare them to enter either academia or industry. Synthetic biology is ultimately concerned with the creation of novel biological systems for use in medical, industrial and environmental applications.  Courses in both theoretical and practical application of synthetic biology principles provide graduates with the tools to solve problems in the biological sciences, and beyond, using synthetic biology approaches.

The program builds upon the same comprehensive biology core program as other BSc and BMSc modules offered through the Faculty of Science and Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, and contains two required third-year lab courses to give students basic training in Genetic, Biochemical and Bioinformatics techniques. As specific preparation for entering industry, the program requires an introduction to business and project management.  In addition, the new Synthetic Biology specific courses, Biochemistry 3392F/G and Biology 4998E, provide skills for developing proposals for innovative synthetic biology solutions to current biological problems, including pitching ideas to a variety of audiences, and executing them in a team-based laboratory environment.

The Major in Human Rights Studies at King’s University College is dedicated to the interrogation of intersections between culture, conflict, citizenship and rights within a global framework. This program is designed to place the study of culture, conflict and the history of human rights within the broader, co-disciplinary context of an evolving global citizenship. Through a collaborative disciplinary approach, the program challenges students to explore the myriad nature of human rights and citizenship through various disciplinary and theoretical perspectives which are grounded in the Liberal Arts and King’s tradition of Catholic Higher Education. These are: historical-political, philosophical-ethical and literary-cultural.

The critical study of Human Rights offers students the opportunity to investigate the functioning of relevant institutions so as to participate in, or challenge this order. The module facilitates their exploration of Human Rights, and the violations of those rights, through various Social Science and Humanities lenses. They will be better informed and better able to make connections between the historical development of Human Rights, their political and legal frameworks, their dissemination and critique through cultural production and gendered contexts, their philosophical and ethical groundings, their religious manifestations and their practical applications. The curriculum requires students to engage in the debates that currently occupy Human Rights scholars and practitioners: on the origins of Human Rights, the extent to which these rights are universal or culturally relative, the efficacy of the global Human Rights framework, and the fragility of Human Rights as an ideal. These students will apply their skills and knowledge as they enter careers in the Law, in Policing, in Education and Health Care, and Governance and Policy Development. Their heightened consciousness of the fragility of Human Rights-of their importance as well as their limitations-especially in reference to vulnerable populations, will be applicable to a wide spectrum of possible career choices.

The Global Great Books program is a four-year interdisciplinary program in which students read significant and influential texts from around the world seeking to understand the questions that animate human life. Students take an introductory course in the first year, and enter the program in their second year taking two Global Great Books courses in each of years two, three and four alongside a variety of electives. The module is designed to introduce students to the world’s cultures, investigate questions and ideas both old and new, and gain the skills to effectively analyze on-going problems and contemporary crises from a variety of perspectives. Students learn to read critically, write both logically and persuasively, synthesize diverse materials, and become globally aware.

Japanese Studies offers a four-year Major focusing on developing both linguistic and cultural competencies: students complete their degree with a well-rounded understanding of Japanese society as well as strong Japanese language skills.  Successful students will have taken four years of Japanese language instruction, reaching the Advanced level of the Oral Proficiency Guidelines provided by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign languages and the B2 level of competence in Japanese as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Graduates will, in other words, be able to interact in Japanese in both everyday situations and professional contexts.  Successful students, moreover, will have acquired in depth knowledge of Japanese customs, history, religions and contemporary society, as well as the analytical, critical-thinking, and English-writing skills required in senior seminars.

The Creative Arts and Production program (CAP) is a four-year Major BA in which students explore the diverse meanings and significance of the creative arts and creativity through doing work that is interdisciplinary and engages with history and theory as well as through practice and production. Critical thinking and making are central to the program. In the CAP module, students take both core and elective courses alongside another Major, Specialization or Honours Specialization in a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Faculty of Information and Media Studies, or the Don Wright Faculty of Music. Through collaborative projects and experiential learning opportunities, students examine the arts industry, discover and harness many forms of creativity by working independently and collaboratively, and consider the relationship between practical creative processes and interdisciplinary ideas and issues, including intersectional identity and community. Students will be able to bring practical skills and critical knowledge of creative theory to their future careers across a wide spectrum of the arts. Their experience in the program will facilitate both their awareness of the role of creativity in the world and their growth as global citizens.

The Artificial Intelligence Systems Engineering (AISE) program is a five-year double degree program offered by the Faculty of Engineering at Western University. The objective of the program is to educate students in the fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence, deep learning, online learning, algorithms and data structure to solve engineering problems. The focus of the AISE program is on (1) interdisciplinary study, explicitly linking each of chemical, civil, mechatronic, electrical, and mechanical engineering to the artificial intelligence and software engineering disciplines, and (2) multiple engineering case studies project-based courses.

Western engineering AISE graduates equipped with Artificial Intelligence skills in addition to depth of understanding of the engineering disciplines will be very attractive to potential employers. Engineering domain knowledge enables Western Engineering AISE graduates to build precise, accurate, and explainable predictive engineering AI models as well as building models that generalize better into real-world situations.

The Ivey Graduate Diploma in Business and Sustainability is a Type 2 graduate diploma program. Ivey MSc Management students have the option of enrolling into this graduate diploma after acceptance into the MSc Program (MScM), to be completed concurrently with that degree.

The Graduate Diploma focuses on developing an integrative understanding of sustainability, combined with deepening both management and technical skills for improving sustainability in private and public sector organizations.  One aspect is the development of a broad perspective of sustainability as a holistic system that incorporates environmental, social, and economic dimensions.  Considering wider, interdisciplinary perspectives enhances the ability of graduates to deploy new technical skills effectively, and enables them to be responsive and effective in the context of the continually evolving business and sustainability challenges. The MSc Management program offers multiple fields (i.e., Business Analytics, Digital Management, and International Business). As sustainability is a key cross-cutting consideration for the careers of graduates of all these fields, the Graduate Diploma will be offered to all MSc students.

The Global Health Systems MHSc program consists of a set of core courses (requisites) that focus on fundamental principals in global health, business, management, and communication. Specialty courses (electives) provide additional competencies in specific areas of interest to global health (e.g., infectious diseases, mental health, oral health, indigenous health, etc.). Course-based learning (Sept – April) is complemented by experiential learning (May – Aug) to generate a comprehensive education, generating well-rounded students who can meet employers’ needs.

The Masters Program in Drug Safety is one year program designed to provide health care professionals, investigators and students interested in working in the pharmaceutical industry or in public policy/drug regulation with skills, knowledge and attitudes to empower them for a career in drug and patient safety, drug research or health policy.  Drug safety is an increasingly important topic as new therapies are developed and enter clinical use.  Patients, health care providers, industry and government all share common concerns as to how to ensure that drugs are safe when used as directed.  Most training programs in health care and in pharmacology do not teach approaches to drug safety in detail, leaving a gap that needs to be filled.  This program will fill that gap.  Students will undertake a series of courses in core areas of drug safety and pharmacology, undertake a major research project and have a practicum during which they will work in a drug safety focused environment.  Graduates of this program will be well equipped to face and address the challenges of drug safety in the era of molecular, biologic and precision medicine.

Description to follow

The Master of Climate Risk Assessment and Opportunity (MCR) is a stand-alone, fully online program requiring the learner to complete seven courses and a project or work-related learning component.

Using a multidisciplinary model, the program builds upon the learners’ discipline-specific undergraduate or graduate degree in Engineering, Science, Business, or Social Science with an in-depth, advanced skill set that will enhance learners’ knowledge and employability in respective application areas of climate risk. The program will promote a proactive approach to climate change and will train individuals to better assess the associated risks and develop solutions to mitigate the impact of this global issue.

The Graduate Diploma in Professional Practice, Clinical Leadership and Education is designed to support advanced nursing roles in multiple domains of practice in a variety of specialties, including clinical education, professional practice and policy development, and clinical leadership. Students will choose an area of concentration and complete theory and experiential courses over 12 months (3 academic terms). This program will be delivered online, with hybrid (synchronous and asynchronous) learning opportunities. The experiential component will require onsite or remote interactions with a mentor depending on the student and practicum locations.