Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2020 / November / 24 / UBC Okanagan rethinks and relaunches its Bachelor of Arts program

UBC Okanagan rethinks and relaunches its Bachelor of Arts program

November 24, 2020

Currently accepting students for the 2021 academic year, the newly structured BA is designed to be responsive to students’ needs and to focus on learning in areas that are important for industry when hiring graduates.

Currently accepting students for the 2021 academic year, the newly structured BA is designed to be responsive to students’ needs and to focus on learning in areas that are important for industry when hiring graduates.

‘Not your grandparents’ liberal arts degree,’ says arts dean

In an era when there’s increasing emphasis on students to focus on science, technology, engineering and math—the STEM fields—UBC’s Okanagan campus is relaunching its Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree with an eye to making it even more relevant to today’s changing world.

Currently accepting students for the 2021 academic year, the newly structured BA is designed to be responsive to students’ needs and to focus on learning in areas that are important for industry when hiring graduates. These include communications, critical thinking, scientific and numeric literacy, and Indigenous understanding.

“We’ve done away with the idea of so-called ‘breadth requirements’ in favour of teaching the core skills that employers are clearly looking for,” says Bryce Traister, dean of the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and acting dean of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UBC Okanagan—the two faculties that are together offering the new degree.

Traister points to the Indigenous content requirement in particular as an example how the new program is adapting and preparing the newest generation of graduates to grapple with some of the most important issues facing society.

“By introducing an Indigenous studies requirement, UBCO is joining a small handful of universities in Canada working to realize the promise of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission process through education—an important step in creating lasting change for our communities,” says Traister. “Not only do we have a moral imperative to explore and teach these ideas, but the jobs of today and those of tomorrow are going to depend on a workforce with a deep understanding and fulsome appreciation for them.”

But Traister is quick to point out that Indigenous content is just one element of the new BA program. With a long list of courses on offer that he says didn’t exist 20 years ago, students today will benefit from the variety, flexibility and choice that will make their degree more relevant than ever.

“Take a full BA in gender and sexuality studies or race and cultural studies, for example,” he says. “These weren’t available just a generation ago but it’s hard to imagine a subject area more relevant to the working conditions of women and men today, or to our collective engagement with racial inequality and justice.”

While Traister says that the STEM fields are equally important to addressing society’s challenges, it’s when science and engineering are combined with the arts and humanities that humanity can reach its full potential.

“UBCO’s Bachelor of Arts degree has been rethought to do exactly that,” he adds. “Graduates will be taught to think critically and creatively, to learn from the past and re-imagine the future—better, greener, safer and more just.”

“There’s never been a more exciting time to pursue a degree in the liberal arts.”

Media Contact

Nathan Skolski
Associate Director, Public Affairs
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250 807 9926
E-mail: nathan.skolski@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
More content from: Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, Irving K Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Trending Stories

  • Reimagining the PhD
  • Propelling artificial intelligence to new heights
  • UBCO faculty members to voice concern at Columbia River ...
  • Why don’t we eat turkey eggs?
  • How the arts can help us live with climate ...
All Stories
Contact Media Relations

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

TikTok icon Linkedin icon

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility