General Studies Program

Bachelor of Arts: General Studies (3 year – 90 credits)

The General Studies program is the quintessential liberal arts university program. It gives students the widest array of choices from the arts and sciences curriculum and it encourages a synthetic approach to the university intellectual experience. All courses are taken in specific programs and disciplines but combine to provide students with an excellent foundational university degree. General Studies students are required to identify two specific disciplines in which they will complete a minor, in order to build depth and expertise into their degree. The program intends to develop critical thinking skills across the spectrum of Ambrose course offerings, hoping to promote a desire for intellectual integration in the context of Christian thought.

Since General Studies is one of the programs in the Humanities Department, all General Studies students also take a series of humanities courses, which include academic writing, the Christian intellectual tradition, cognate credits in English, history, or philosophy, and a humanities capstone course.

Profile of the Graduating Student

The graduating student will develop:

• Understanding: Graduates will be able to articulate their rich understanding of the human story, as expressed in the diverse intellectual creations, scientific knowledge, and religious traditions of diverse Western, Indigenous Canadian, and other world cultures.
• Research: Graduates will be able to apply diverse research skills employed in various Arts and Science disciplines to solve problems and advance knowledge.
• Analysis: Graduates will be able to apply the skill of critical thinking, using the methods, approaches, and theories appropriate to various Arts and Science disciplines to analyze diverse and complex forms of information.
• Communication: Graduates will be able to communicate clearly, concisely, and compellingly to impart knowledge and express themselves.
• Character: Graduates will exemplify maturity of character which represents the best of the Christian intellectual tradition and a liberal arts education, and which expresses itself in wisdom, integrity, service to neighbour and society, and responsibility towards the world in which they live.

Career and Education Paths

The graduating student will:

• hold a degree suitable for entry into Education after-degree programs, as well as seminary, law school, and other professional programs for which a basic university degree is required or encouraged;
• hold a degree suitable for entry level positions in a wide variety of fields where basic university education is valued and encouraged.