Ottawa, Canada
DURATION
4 Years
LANGUAGES
English, French
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline *
EARLIEST START DATE
Request earliest startdate
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* April 1: for International applicants. June 1: for Canadian citizens and permanent residents
Key Summary
Scholarships
Explore scholarship opportunities to help fund your studies
Introduction
In this program, you’ll explore emerging social challenges and determine the best course of action from a practical and moral point of view.
This includes:
- Identifying and understanding social issues and their ethical aspects;
- Evaluating a range of responses to those issues;
- Designing political and policy interventions guided by moral arguments;
- Making decisions that lead to more ethical outcomes.
The program incorporates aspects of ethics, political science, and policy studies to create a well-rounded and practical foundation for future leaders and decision-makers.
The knowledge and skills gained in this program can be applied to a number of current issues. For example, encouraging ethical media practices, guiding ethical principles in emerging technologies, and developing policies that benefit people and the environment.
Ideal Students
Who Should Apply?
This program welcomes all individuals who are kept up at night by the daily news but who hold out hope that the world can be improved through practical reasoning.
Admissions
Curriculum
Foundational Courses (12 units)
Compulsory Courses: 12 units
- Approaches in the Humanities: Interpreting the Human Experience
- People, Social Justice and Ecology
- Critical Analysis, Reading and Writing Academic Works
- The First Peoples of Canada
Discipline-Specific Courses (60 units)
Compulsory Courses: 42 units
- Introduction to Critical Thinking
- Fundamentals of Democracy and Governance
- Utilitarian Ethics
- Deontological Ethics
- Virtue Ethics
- Social Justice
- Human Knowledge
- Philosophical Anthropology
- Feminist Ethics
- Ethics, Multiculturalism, and Immigration
- Ethics and Public Service
- Internship I / Stage I
- Applied Ethics in Organizational Contexts
- Research Project
Optional Courses: 18 units
9 units from:
- Media and Ethics
- History of Western Ethics
- Ethics and New Biotechnologies
- Ethics and Education
- Environmental and Animal Ethics
- Conservatism and Libertarianism
- Marx and Marxian Traditions
9 units from:
- Ethics, AI and Big Data
- Ethics and Religion
- Ethics, War and Terrorism
- Selected Topics in Ethics and Politics
- Ethics and Disability
- Internship II / Stage II
Elective Courses (48 units)
Students choose 48 units or a minor (30 units) and 18 units.
12 units must be at the 3000 or 4000 levels.
Career Opportunities
This program will prepare you by providing you with the knowledge, critical thinking, and analysis skills you need to excel in a number of work settings, including health care, law, policy research, and development, as well as social justice.
Graduates of this program have gone on to the following career paths:
- Ethics advisor in the public sector, NGOs, and hospitals;
- Law;
- Policy analyst;
- Humanitarian worker;
- Graduate school in a number of humanitarian fields.