Advising for current Arts students

Our Faculty of Arts advising team can answer questions and provide support to current students. 

Bachelor of Arts degree requirements

The Bachelor of Arts program has five main requirements:

• First-year diversity requirements
• Second-year diversity requirements
• A major
• 51 credit hours of upper-level courses
• 120 credit hours at a cumulative GPA of 2.0

These apply to BA degrees and the BA portions of the BAS, BABSC, and BABCS programs.

Bachelor of Applied Arts

See specific requirements for the BAA degree.

For more detailed information on undergraduate Arts degrees, please review the academic calendar.

First-year diversity requirements

In the first 30 credit hours of your degree, you will explore what the Faculty of Arts has to offer.

• ARTS 1000, 1001, 1002, 1013, or 1023: Arts students are required to complete six credit hours (6 ch) of first-year ARTS introductory courses. Students can obtain credit for ARTS 1000 (6 ch) or a combination of ARTS 1001, 1002, 1013, or 1023 (3 ch each).
• Diversity offers four categories to choose from: humanities, languages, social sciences and science. You will choose one subject from three of the four categories and study it for the entire year (6 ch in each subject for a total of 18 ch).
  • Humanities: Classics, comparative cultural studies, English, history, media arts and culture, philosophy
  • Social sciences: Economics, anthropology, archaeology, political science, psychology, sociology
  • Sciences: Biology, chemistry, earth science, computer science, physics, mathematics
  • Languages: German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Latin, Greek (Ancient), Mi’kmaq, Maliseet

• Electives give you the opportunity to choose an additional two courses (one each term) from any category or you may choose from gender and women’s studies, international development studies, drama, and music courses. If you are taking Arts 1100, you only need to take one elective. You may not take more than 6 ch in any one subject.

Second-year diversity requirements

In the next 30 credit hours of your degree, you can begin to narrow your focus, but you will be encouraged to explore.

• Diversity: You must take 6 ch in three different subjects and 3 ch in a fourth subject.
• Electives: You may choose 9 ch of electives. These can include subjects taken as part of the diversity requirements; however, you may not take more than 12 ch in any one subject.

Major

Every Arts student needs a major (or a double major) to graduate. Alternatively, you could pursue the same subject with an honours degree (or a joint honours degree). You may also choose to pursue a minor in a variety of subjects; however, you are not required to minor in a subject to graduate.
Students typically declare their majors in the winter term of the second year.

Upper-level credits

Undergraduate students will need 51 credit hours at the upper level. Upper-level courses include 3000, 4000, and 5000 level courses. This total includes majors and honours requirements.

120 ch with a 2.0 cumulative GPA

While this can take four years (30 ch per year from five courses per term), the 120 credit hours can be completed at your own pace with a variety of fall, winter and summer classes. Many students complete in five or even six years in order to accommodate work and family commitments or for health considerations.

Online courses

Courses are primarily offered in person during the regular academic year (September to April). Full-time students may enrol in online courses during the regular academic year if:

• The course(s) are required for a certificate program and are only offered online (e.g. Family Violence Issues or Applied Behaviour Analysis certificate courses).
• The student has registered with the Student Accessibility Centre and the course is part of an accommodation.
• The student has applied to graduate and requires a course to graduate that is only available online. Students in their final year of study are encouraged to apply to graduate at the earliest opportunity.

Students may also register for online courses during the summer term (May-August).

Degree assessments

A degree assessment is a report on your progress in your degree. It shows what you need to complete to satisfy the general arts requirements for your degree.

You may meet with your academic advisor to discuss your progress in the BA at any time. You will also receive a BA degree assessment after completing 60 ch, typically between the end of your second year and the beginning of your third year, when you are choosing your honours/majors program.

When you have registered for all the courses required for graduation in your final year, you should send an email to arts@unb.ca requesting a final BA degree assessment if you have not received one. This is to ensure that you will meet the general BA requirements when you successfully complete all the courses.