Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Minor (B.A. & Sc.) (24 credits)
Offered by: Science (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 24
Program Description
The Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Minor will allow students from the earth, physical, math, and computational science areas to broaden their studies with some basic life sciences, health social science, and empirical technological science. The Minor is 24 credits and allows students flexibility in their course selections. Students must take 9 credits from an extensive list of basic life science courses, 3 credits from an extensive list of health and social science courses, and 3 credits from an empirical and technological science list. The remaining 9 credits may be taken from courses listed in any of the three categories.
Please note: Students studying in Anatomy and Cell Biology; Biochemistry; Honours Immunology; Microbiology and Immunology; Neuroscience; Pharmacology; and Physiology are not permitted to complete this Minor.
Interested students should contact the Interdisciplinary Programs Adviser.
Complementary Courses (24 credits)
The 24 credits required for this program must satisfy the following criteria:
At least 18 credits must be outside the student's main discipline.
Depth requirement:
at least 6 credits must be at the 300 level or above.
Breadth requirement:
at least 9 credits must be taken from the Basic Life Sciences List,
at least 3 credits from the Health Social Sciences List,
at least 3 credits from the Empirical Science and Technology List.
The remaining 9 credits may be selected from any of the lists.
Basic Life Sciences
At least 9 credits from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ANAT 212 | Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. 1 | 3 |
Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An introductory course describing the biochemistry and molecular biology of selected key functions of animal cells, including: gene expression; mitochondrial production of metabolic energy; cellular communication with the extra-cellular environment; and regulation of cell division. | ||
| ANAT 214 | Systemic Human Anatomy. | 3 |
Systemic Human Anatomy. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Introduction to the gross anatomy of the various organ systems of head, neck and trunk regions of the human body. Emphasis on functional anatomy. Laboratory component includes exploration of the human body through cadaveric prosections, imaging and other materials. | ||
| ANAT 262 | Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology. | 3 |
Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The architectural, functional and temporal continuity of organelles and the cytoskeleton of mammalian cells is introduced as well as their functional integration in the phenomena of exocytosis, endocytosis, protein trafficking and cell motility and adhesion. | ||
| ANAT 262 | Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology. | 3 |
Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The architectural, functional and temporal continuity of organelles and the cytoskeleton of mammalian cells is introduced as well as their functional integration in the phenomena of exocytosis, endocytosis, protein trafficking and cell motility and adhesion. | ||
| ANAT 321 | Circuitry of the Human Brain. | 3 |
Circuitry of the Human Brain. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course explores the functional organization of the human brain and spinal cord. The course focuses on how neuronal systems are designed to subserve specific motor, sensory, and cognitive operations. | ||
| ANAT 365 | Cellular Trafficking. | 3 |
Cellular Trafficking. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course explores the fundamental mechanisms that govern the organizations of intracellular membranes, how vesicle generation is signaled, how the membranes curve and bud, and how vesicles know where to go and fuse. In addition to intracellular vesicles, the principles of mitochondrial dynamics and process of cellular autophagy are examined. Also, there is a focus on "Applied Cell Biology", with respect to how the exquisite regulation of cellular transport plays a central role in complex biological systems. A series of modules will take students through the mechanisms of cellular polarity, neurotransmission, metabolic cell biology, pathogen invasion, and more. The emphasis is on the morphological aspects of the processes, and on the major techniques that led to discovery. | ||
| ANAT 381 | Experimental Embryology. | 3 |
Experimental Embryology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The basic processes of reproduction and embryonic development, such as molecular signaling; cell-cell interaction; differentiation; cell fate determination; genetic and epigenetic control of embryonic development. | ||
| BIOC 212 | Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. 1 | 3 |
Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An introductory course describing the biochemistry and molecular biology of selected key functions of animal cells, including: gene expression; mitochondrial production of metabolic energy; cellular communication with the extra-cellular environment; and regulation of cell division. | ||
| BIOC 311 | Metabolic Biochemistry. | 3 |
Metabolic Biochemistry. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The generation of metabolic energy in higher organisms with an emphasis on its regulation at the molecular, cellular and organ level. Chemical concepts and mechanisms of enzymatic catalysis are also emphasized. Included: selected topics in carbohydrate, lipid and nitrogen metabolism; complex lipids and biological membranes; hormonal signal transduction. | ||
| BIOC 450 | Protein Structure and Function. | 3 |
Protein Structure and Function. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure of enzymes. Active site mapping and site-specific mutagenesis of enzymes. Enzyme kinetics and mechanisms of catalysis. Multienzyme complexes. | ||
| BIOC 458 | Membranes and Cellular Signaling. | 3 |
Membranes and Cellular Signaling. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An integrated treatment of the properties of biological membranes and of intracellular signaling, including the major role that membranes play in transducing and integrating cellular regulatory signals. Biological membrane organization and dynamics: membrane transport; membrane receptors and their associated effectors; mechanisms of regulation of cell growth, morphology, differentiation and death. | ||
| BIOL 200 | Molecular Biology. | 3 |
Molecular Biology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The physical and chemical properties of the cell and its components in relation to their structure and function. Topics include: protein structure, enzymes and enzyme kinetics; nucleic acid replication, transcription and translation; the genetic code, mutation, recombination, and regulation of gene expression. | ||
| BIOL 201 | Cell Biology and Metabolism. | 3 |
Cell Biology and Metabolism. Terms offered: Winter 2026 This course introduces the student to our modern understanding of cells and how they work. Major topics to be covered include: photosynthesis, energy metabolism and metabolic integration; plasma membrane including secretion, endocytosis and contact mediated interactions between cells; cytoskeleton including cell and organelle movement; the nervous system; hormone signaling; the cell cycle. | ||
| BIOL 202 | Basic Genetics. | 3 |
Basic Genetics. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to basic principles, and to modern advances, problems and applications in the genetics of higher and lower organisms with examples representative of the biological sciences. | ||
| BIOL 300 | Molecular Biology of the Gene. | 3 |
Molecular Biology of the Gene. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A survey of current knowledge and approaches in the area of regulation of gene expression, post-transcriptional control of gene expression, and signal transduction. | ||
| BIOL 301 | Cell and Molecular Laboratory. | 4 |
Cell and Molecular Laboratory. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to biology research and communication with a focus on cell and molecular biology. Through conducting a series of project-based experiments and writing a final report, molecular and synthetic biology techniques such as gene cloning, manipulation, protein isolation and characterization and how research is conducted, analyzed and communicated will be addressed. In addition, an introduction to bioinformatics methods and their role in analysis will be provided. | ||
| BIOL 303 | Developmental Biology. | 3 |
Developmental Biology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A consideration of the fundamental processes and principles operating during embryogenesis. Experimental analyses at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels will be presented and discussed to provide an overall appreciation of developmental phenomena. | ||
| BIOL 306 | Neural Basis of Behaviour. | 3 |
Neural Basis of Behaviour. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Neural mechanisms of animal behaviour; neuroethology; cellular neurophysiology, integrative networks within nervous systems; neural control of movement; processing of sensory information. | ||
| BIOL 314 | Molecular Biology of Cancer. | 3 |
Molecular Biology of Cancer. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The molecular basis of human cancers, including analyzing the events that promote the formation of oncogenes and inhibit tumour suppressor genes, the biochemical properties of the proteins encoded by these genes, and their functions. Current molecular targets for cancer therapy and the concepts and consequences of inheriting mutations in genes that predispose to cancer. | ||
| BIOL 320 | Evolution of Brain and Behaviour. | 3 |
Evolution of Brain and Behaviour. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Functional and comparative approach to neuroanatomy, examining how species changes in brain organization contribute to evolutionary changes in behaviour. | ||
| CHEM 212 | Introductory Organic Chemistry 1. | 4 |
Introductory Organic Chemistry 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025 A fundamental study of aliphatic compounds and saturated functional groups including modern concepts of bonding, reaction mechanisms, conformational analysis, spectroscopy, and stereochemistry. | ||
| CHEM 222 | Introductory Organic Chemistry 2. | 4 |
Introductory Organic Chemistry 2. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Winter 2026 Modern spectroscopic techniques for structure determination. The chemistry of alcohols, ethers, carbonyl compounds, and amines, with special attention to mechanistic aspects. Special topics. | ||
| CHEM 302 | Introductory Organic Chemistry 3. | 3 |
Introductory Organic Chemistry 3. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Topics covered may include the following: Aromatic compounds, heterocyclic chemistry, sulfur and phosphorus chemistry, organosulfur and organophosphorus compounds, and biomolecules such as lipids, carbohydrates, amino acids, polypeptides, DNA and RNA. | ||
| CHEM 502 | Advanced Bio-Organic Chemistry. | 3 |
Advanced Bio-Organic Chemistry. Terms offered: Winter 2026 This course will cover biologically relevant molecules, particularly nucleic acids, proteins, and their building blocks. In each case, synthesis and biological functions will be discussed. The topics include synthesis of oligonucleotides and peptides; chemistry of phosphates; enzyme structure and function; coenzymes, and enzyme catalysis; polyketides; antiviral and anticancer agents. | ||
| CHEM 503 | Drug Discovery. | 3 |
Drug Discovery. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to the overall drug discovery process. The main focus of the course will be on medicinal chemistry, synthesis and catalysis, as they relate to large-scale production of pharmaceutical agents. However, other aspects of drug discovery, including structural research (e.g. NMR, X-ray), biochemistry, drug metabolism and bioavailability will also be included. | ||
| EXMD 401 | Physiology and Biochemistry Endocrine Systems. | 3 |
Physiology and Biochemistry Endocrine Systems. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Offered in conjunction with the Department of Physiology. The course provides a basic knowledge of endocrine systems encompassing biosynthesis, metabolism and physiological actions of hormones. Specific topics covered are hormones of the hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenals, thyroids, parathyroids, pancreas, gut and the gonads. The role of hormones and growth factors in pregnancy and fetal development are also discussed. | ||
| MIMM 211 | Introductory Microbiology. | 3 |
Introductory Microbiology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A general treatment of microbiology bearing specifically on the biological properties of microorganisms. Emphasis will be on procaryotic cells. Basic principles of microbial genetics are also introduced. | ||
| MIMM 214 | Introductory Immunology: Elements of Immunity. | 3 |
Introductory Immunology: Elements of Immunity. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Basic immunology, organs and cells, elements of innate immunity, phagocytes, complement, elements of adaptive immunity, B-cells, T-cells, antigen presenting cells, MHC genes and molecules, antigen processing and presentation, cytokines and chemokines. Emphasis on anatomy and the molecular and cellular players working together as a physiological system to maintain human health. | ||
| MIMM 314 | Intermediate Immunology. | 3 |
Intermediate Immunology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An intermediate-level immunology course covering the cellular and molecular basis of lymphocyte development and activation in immune responses in health and disease. | ||
| MIMM 323 | Microbial Physiology. | 3 |
Microbial Physiology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to the composition and structure of microbial cells, the biochemical activities associated with cellular metabolism and how these activities are regulated and coordinated. The course will have a molecular and genetic approach to the study of microbial physiology. | ||
| MIMM 324 | Fundamental Virology. | 3 |
Fundamental Virology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A study of the fundamental properties of viruses and their interactions with host cells. Bacteriophages, DNA- and RNA-containing animal viruses, and retroviruses are covered. Emphasis will be on phenomena occurring at the molecular level and on the regulated control of gene expression in virus-infected cells. | ||
| MIMM 387 | The Business of Science. | 3 |
The Business of Science. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The ability to select and manipulate genetic material has led to unprecedented interest in the industrial applications of procaryotic and eucaryotic cells. Beginning in the 1970s the introduction of and subsequent refinements to recombinant DNA technology and hybridoma technology transformed the horizons of the biopharmaceutical world. This course will highlight the important events that link basic research to clinical/commercial application of new drugs and chemicals. | ||
| MIMM 465 | Bacterial Pathogenesis. | 3 |
Bacterial Pathogenesis. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Familiarizes students with key principles and recent advances in our understanding of the strategies that bacteria use to infect and cause disease, as well as the approaches used in the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections. | ||
| MIMM 466 | Viral Pathogenesis. | 3 |
Viral Pathogenesis. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A study of the biological and molecular aspects of viral pathogenesis with emphasis on the human pathogenic viruses including the retroviruses HIV and HTLV-1; herpes viruses; papilloma viruses; hepatitis viruses; and new emerging human viral diseases. These viruses will be discussed in terms of virus multiplication, gene expression virus-induced cytopathic effects and host immune response to infection. | ||
| NSCI 201 | Introduction to Neuroscience 2. | 3 |
Introduction to Neuroscience 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 An introduction to how the nervous system acquires and integrates information and uses it to produce behaviour. | ||
| NUTR 307 | Metabolism and Human Nutrition. | 3 |
Metabolism and Human Nutrition. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course looks at the importance of nutrition from the molecular to the organismal levels in human health and disease. The focus will be on the significance of nutrients in regulating metabolism, and impact of genotype in the metabolism of nutrients. | ||
| PATH 300 | Human Disease. | 3 |
Human Disease. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Provides a fundamental understanding of the diseases prevalent in North America, for upper level students in the biological sciences. Includes: general responses of cells and organ systems to injury; assessment of individual diseases by relating the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prevention to the primary biological abnormalities in each disorder. | ||
| PHAR 300 | Drug Action. | 3 |
Drug Action. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Principles of pharmacology and toxicology. Frequently encountered drugs will be used as a focus to illustrate sites and mechanisms of action, distribution, metabolism, elimination and adverse side effects. | ||
| PHAR 301 | Drugs and Disease. | 3 |
Drugs and Disease. Terms offered: Winter 2026 This course further explores the basic principles of pharmacology as illustrated by drugs used in the treatment of disease. Emphasis is placed on drugs used for diseases prevalent in North America. | ||
| PHAR 303 | Principles of Toxicology. | 3 |
Principles of Toxicology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Fundamental mechanisms by which toxic compounds damage a biological system (organelle, cell, organ, organism, ecosystem). Detection and quantification of toxicity and risk/benefit analysis are considered. Selected agents of current risk to human health or the environment are evaluated in depth. | ||
| PHAR 503 | Drug Discovery and Development 1. | 3 |
Drug Discovery and Development 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Chemistry, mechanisms of action, and steps in drug discovery and development. | ||
| PHAR 504 | Drug Discovery and Development 2. | 3 |
Drug Discovery and Development 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Nobel Prize-winning discoveries as a basis for drug development. | ||
| PHGY 209 | Mammalian Physiology 1. | 3 |
Mammalian Physiology 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Physiology of body fluids, blood, body defense mechanisms, muscle, peripheral, central, and autonomic nervous systems. | ||
| PHGY 210 | Mammalian Physiology 2. | 3 |
Mammalian Physiology 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Physiology of cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, endocrine and renal systems. | ||
| PHGY 311 | Channels, Synapses and Hormones. | 3 |
Channels, Synapses and Hormones. Terms offered: Fall 2025 In-depth presentation of experimental results and hypotheses on cellular communication in the nervous system and the endocrine system. | ||
| PHGY 312 | Respiratory, Renal, and Cardiovascular Physiology. | 3 |
Respiratory, Renal, and Cardiovascular Physiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 In-depth presentation of experimental results and hypotheses underlying our current understanding of topics in renal, respiratory and cardiovascular functions explored beyond the introductory level. | ||
| PHGY 313 | Blood, Gastrointestinal, and Immune Systems Physiology. | 3 |
Blood, Gastrointestinal, and Immune Systems Physiology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 In-depth presentation of experimental results and hypotheses underlying our current understanding of topics in immunology, blood and fluids, and gastrointestinal physiology. | ||
| PHGY 314 | Integrative Neuroscience. | 3 |
Integrative Neuroscience. Terms offered: Fall 2025 In depth presentation of experimental results and hypotheses underlying our current understanding of how single neurons and ensembles of neurons encode sensory information, generate movement, and control cognitive functions such as emotion, learning, and memory, during voluntary behaviours. | ||
| PSYC 211 | Introductory Behavioural Neuroscience. | 3 |
Introductory Behavioural Neuroscience. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to contemporary research on the relationship between brain and behaviour. Topics include learning, memory and cognition, brain damage and neuroplasticity, emotion and motivation, and drug addiction and brain reward circuits. Much of the evidence will be drawn from the experimental literature on research with animals. | ||
| PSYC 311 | Human Cognition and the Brain. | 3 |
Human Cognition and the Brain. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The course is an introduction to the field studying how human cognitive processes, such as perception, attention, language, learning and memory, planning and organization, are related to brain processes. The material covered is primarily based on studies of the effects of different brain lesions on cognition and studies of brain activity in relation to cognitive processes with modern functional neuroimaging methods. | ||
| PSYC 317 | Genes and Behaviour. | 3 |
Genes and Behaviour. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Focuses on current techniques employed to study which genes influence behaviour, and how they do so. | ||
| PSYC 318 | Behavioural Neuroscience 2. | 3 |
Behavioural Neuroscience 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The physiological bases of motivational states, with respect to feeding, drinking, sexual behaviour, drug use, and aggression. Physiological bases of learning and memory. | ||
| PSYC 342 | Hormones and Behaviour. | 3 |
Hormones and Behaviour. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The role of hormones in organization of CNS function, as effectors of behaviour, in expression of behaviours and in mental illness. | ||
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Students take either ANAT 212 Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function. or BIOC 212 Molecular Mechanisms of Cell Function., but not both.
Health Social Science
At least 3 credits from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH 204 | Anthropology of Meaning. | 3 |
Anthropology of Meaning. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Through the analysis of language, symbols and cultural constructions of meaning, this course explores how people in different societies make sense of their world, and the ways in which they organise that knowledge, and how ideologies represent the different interests present in a society. | ||
| ANTH 227 | Medical Anthropology. | 3 |
Medical Anthropology. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025 Beliefs and practices concerning sickness and healing are examined in a variety of Western and non-Western settings. Special attention is given to cultural constructions of the body and to theories of disease causation and healing efficacy. Topics include international health, medical pluralism, transcultural psychiatry, and demography. | ||
| ANTH 302 | New Horizons in Medical Anthropology. | 3 |
New Horizons in Medical Anthropology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Using recent ethnographies as textual material, this course will cover theoretical and methodological developments in medical anthropology since the early 1990's. Topics include a reconsideration of the relationship between culture and biology, medical pluralism revisited, globalization and health and disease, and social implications of new biomedical technologies. | ||
| ANTH 314 | Psychological Anthropology 01. | 3 |
Psychological Anthropology 01. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A survey of current theories and methods employed in psychological anthropology. Some areas considered are: cross-cultural studies of socialization and personality development; cultural factors in mental illness; individual adaptations to rapid socio-cultural change. | ||
| ECON 440 | Health Economics. | 3 |
Health Economics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The organization and performance of Canada's health care system are examined from an economist's perspective. The system is described and its special features analyzed. Much attention is given to the role of government in the system and to financing arrangements for hospital and medical services. Current financial problems are discussed. | ||
| GEOG 221 | Environment and Health. | 3 |
Environment and Health. Terms offered: Fall 2025 This course introduced physical and social environments as factors in human health, with emphasis on the physical properties of the atmospheric environment as they interact with diverse human populations in urban settings. | ||
| GEOG 303 | Health Geography. | 3 |
Health Geography. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Discussion of the research questions and methods of health geography. Particular emphasis on health inequalities at multiple geographic scales and the theoretical links between characteristics of places and the health of people. | ||
| HIST 249 | Health and the Healer in Western History. | 3 |
Health and the Healer in Western History. Terms offered: Fall 2025 The natural history of health and disease and the development of the healing arts, from antiquity to the beginning of modern times. The rise of "western" medicine. Health and healing as gradually evolving aspects of society and culture. | ||
| HIST 335 | Science and Medicine in Canada. | 3 |
Science and Medicine in Canada. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The social and intellectual history of science and medicine in Canada, from early exploration, through the rise of learned societies, universities and professional organizations, to World War II. | ||
| HIST 350 | Science and the Enlightenment. | 3 |
Science and the Enlightenment. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Explores the relationship between the natural sciences and the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. Examination of works in post-Newtonian science as well as their broader cultural meaning, the history of material practices, the origins of social science, and the role of geography and international context beyond Western Europe. | ||
| HIST 381 | Colonial Africa. | 3 |
Colonial Africa. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An overview of the history of foreign intervention and anticolonial resistance in 19th and 20th century Africa. Topics include: theories of colonialism, the scramble for Africa, colonialism and disease, indirect rule, labour, nationalism and resistance, and changing gender roles. | ||
| HIST 424 | Gender, Sexuality and Medicine. | 3 |
Gender, Sexuality and Medicine. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Gender, sexuality, and medicine since the colonial era, with a focus on North American experience. Topics will include reproductive medicine (puberty, childbirth, fertility control, menopause), changing perceptions of men's and women's health needs and risks, and ideas about sexual behaviour and identity. | ||
| HSEL 308 | Issues in Women's Health. | 3 |
Issues in Women's Health. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Exploration of a wide range of topics on the health of women. Topics include use of health care system, poverty, roles, immigration, body image, lesbian health, and violence against women. Additional topics vary by year. A Health Science elective open to students in the Faculties of Arts, Science, and Medicine. | ||
| HSEL 309 | Women's Reproductive Health. | 3 |
Women's Reproductive Health. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Concepts of health and medicalization. Canadian and international perspectives. Topics include contraception, abortion, infertility, menstruation, menopause, new reproductive technologies, prenatal care, childbirth. Additional topics vary by year. A Health Science elective open to students in the Faculties of Arts, Science, and Medicine. | ||
| PHIL 237 | Contemporary Moral Issues. | 3 |
Contemporary Moral Issues. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Winter 2026 An introductory discussion of central ethical questions (the value of persons, or the relationship of rights and utilities, for example) through the investigation of currently disputed social and political issues. Specific issues to be discussed may include pornography and censorship, affirmative action, civil disobedience, punishment, abortion, and euthanasia. | ||
| PHIL 343 | Biomedical Ethics. | 3 |
Biomedical Ethics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An investigation of ethical issues as they arise in the practice of medicine (informed consent, e.g.) or in the application of medical technology (in vitro fertilization, euthanasia, e.g.) | ||
| POLI 417 | Health Care in Canada. | 3 |
Health Care in Canada. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. This course analyzes the theory and politics of health policy and institutions, comparing provincial models and contextualizing Canadian systems with international perspectives from the U.S. and Europe. Current health reform debates will be explored, particularly those involving federal-provincial relations, sustainable financing and the role of the state in social protection. | ||
| PSYC 215 | Social Psychology. | 3 |
Social Psychology. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The course offers students an overview of the major topics in social psychology. Three levels of analysis are explored beginning with individual processes (e.g., attitudes, attribution), then interpersonal processes (e.g., attraction, communication, love) and finally social influence processes (e.g., conformity, norms, roles, reference groups). | ||
| PSYC 304 | Child Development. | 3 |
Child Development. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Psychology of children, covering critical issues, theories, biological underpinnings, experimental methods, and findings in perceptual, cognitive, language, emotional, and social development. | ||
| PSYC 333 | Personality and Social Psychology. | 3 |
Personality and Social Psychology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The course builds on and is an extension of Social Psychology (PSYC 215). Traditional approaches to person-situation interactions and a more dynamic approach based on recent research on goals and social cognition. | ||
| PSYC 412 | Child Development: Psychopathology . | 3 |
Child Development: Psychopathology . Terms offered: Winter 2026 Introduction to the field of behavior disorders of childhood and adolescence, including core issues, theoretical and methodological underpinnings, descriptions and discussions of many disorders, clinical and research data, and treatment approaches. Three major assumptions will be woven through the course. | ||
| PSYC 413 | Cognitive Development. | 3 |
Cognitive Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. In-depth exploration of cognitive development in infants and children including knowledge representation and processing, conceptual development, language development, and theories and principles of cognitive development. | ||
| PSYC 414 | Social Development. | 3 |
Social Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced study of the development of social behaviour and social cognition in children. Topics include: socialization, attachment, aggression, exploration, role taking, communication, family and peer relations, self and person perception. The development of these social processes within the framework of three general theories of development: behaviour genetics, learning, and cognitive-developmental. | ||
| SOCI 225 | Medicine and Health in Modern Society. | 3 |
Medicine and Health in Modern Society. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Socio-medical problems and ways in which sociological analysis and research are being used to understand and deal with them. Canadian and Québec problems include: poverty and health; mental illness; aging; death and dying; professionalism; health service organization. | ||
| SOCI 309 | Health and Illness. | 3 |
Health and Illness. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Health and illness as social rather than purely bio-medical phenomena. Topics include: studies of ill persons, health care occupations and organizations; poverty and health; inequalities in access to and use of health services; recent policies, ideologies, and problems in reform of health services organization. | ||
| SOCI 310 | Sociology of Mental Health. | 3 |
Sociology of Mental Health. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Three broad areas of sociological research on mental health and illness: definitions and measurement; social origins; and societal responses. Mental health and illness as a product of social circumstances. | ||
| SOCI 365 | Health and Development. | 3 |
Health and Development. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Main concepts and controversies linking health to broader social and economic conditions in low income countries. Topics include the demographic and epidemiological transitions, the health and wealth conundrum, the social determinants of health, health as an economic development strategy, and the impact of the AIDS pandemic. | ||
| SOCI 515 | Medicine and Society. | 3 |
Medicine and Society. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The sociology of health and illness. Reading in areas of interest, such as: the sociology of illness, health services occupations, organizational settings of health care, the politics of change in national health service systems, and contemporary ethical issues in medical care and research. | ||
| SOCI 525 | Health Care Systems in Comparative Perspective. | 3 |
Health Care Systems in Comparative Perspective. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Comparative perspective to illustrate processes involved in the development and evolution of health care systems around the world. Countries examined will represent different welfare state regimes, health care system typologies, levels of development and wealth. | ||
| SOCI 538 | Selected Topics in Sociology of Biomedical Knowledge. | 3 |
Selected Topics in Sociology of Biomedical Knowledge. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The seminar will examine recent work in the sociology of biomedical knowledge. It will focus on the technological shaping of biomedical knowledge, i.e., on the impact of new technologies and equipments on the development of biomedical knowledge. | ||
Empirical Science and Technology
At least 3 credits from:
Credit given for statistics courses is subject to certain restrictions. Students should consult the "Course Overlap" information in the "Course Requirements" section for the Faculty of Science.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| BIOL 309 | Mathematical Models in Biology. | 3 |
Mathematical Models in Biology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Application of finite difference and differential equations to problems in cell and developmental biology, ecology and physiology. Qualitative, quantitative and graphical techniques are used to analyze mathematical models and to compare theoretical predictions with experimental data. | ||
| BIOL 373 | Biometry. | 3 |
Biometry. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Elementary statistical methods in biology. Introduction to the analysis of biological data with emphasis on the assumptions behind statistical tests and models. Use of statistical techniques typically available on computer packages. | ||
| COMP 202 | Foundations of Programming. | 3 |
Foundations of Programming. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Introduction to computer programming in a high level language: variables, expressions, primitive types, methods, conditionals, loops. Introduction to algorithms, data structures (arrays, strings), modular software design, libraries, file input/output, debugging, exception handling. Selected topics. | ||
| COMP 462 | Computational Biology Methods. | 3 |
Computational Biology Methods. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Application of computer science techniques to problems arising in biology and medicine, techniques for modeling evolution, aligning molecular sequences, predicting structure of a molecule and other problems from computational biology. | ||
| GEOG 202 | Statistics and Spatial Analysis. | 3 |
Statistics and Spatial Analysis. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Exploratory data analysis, univariate descriptive and inferential statistics, non-parametric statistics, correlation and simple regression. Problems associated with analysing spatial data such as the 'modifiable areal unit problem' and spatial autocorrelation. Statistics measuring spatial pattern in point, line and polygon data. | ||
| MATH 203 | Principles of Statistics 1. | 3 |
Principles of Statistics 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Examples of statistical data and the use of graphical means to summarize the data. Basic distributions arising in the natural and behavioural sciences. The logical meaning of a test of significance and a confidence interval. Tests of significance and confidence intervals in the one and two sample setting (means, variances and proportions). | ||
| MATH 204 | Principles of Statistics 2. | 3 |
Principles of Statistics 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The concept of degrees of freedom and the analysis of variability. Planning of experiments. Experimental designs. Polynomial and multiple regressions. Statistical computer packages (no previous computing experience is needed). General statistical procedures requiring few assumptions about the probability model. | ||
| MATH 323 | Probability. | 3 |
Probability. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Sample space, events, conditional probability, independence of events, Bayes' Theorem. Basic combinatorial probability, random variables, discrete and continuous univariate and multivariate distributions. Independence of random variables. Inequalities, weak law of large numbers, central limit theorem. | ||
| MATH 324 | Statistics. 1 | 3 |
Statistics. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 Sampling distributions, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, contingency tables, nonparametric inference, regression, Bayesian inference. | ||
| PSYC 204 | Introduction to Psychological Statistics. | 3 |
Introduction to Psychological Statistics. Terms offered: Fall 2025, Winter 2026 The statistical analysis of research data; frequency distributions; graphic representation; measures of central tendency and variability; elementary sampling theory and tests of significance. | ||
| PSYC 305 | Statistics for Experimental Design. | 3 |
Statistics for Experimental Design. Terms offered: Summer 2025, Fall 2025, Winter 2026 An introduction to the design and analysis of experiments, including analysis of variance, planned and post hoc tests and a comparison of anova to correlational analysis. | ||
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Students who have already received credit for MATH 324 Statistics. will NOT receive credit for GEOG 202 Statistics and Spatial Analysis., MATH 203 Principles of Statistics 1., PSYC 204 Introduction to Psychological Statistics., BIOL 373 Biometry., MATH 204 Principles of Statistics 2., or PSYC 305 Statistics for Experimental Design..