It has been said that the purpose of a liberal education is to liberate the individual from the parochialism of direct personal experience. It is with that spirit the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board require you to enrol in Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) courses.
In particular, you should choose courses that explore the central issues, thought processes and scholarly methods found in these disciplines. Please note that HSS electives are a subset of Complementary Studies (CS) courses; they can be used to satisfy CS elective requirements.
The Faculty of Arts & Science teaches numerous humanities and social science courses. We encourage you to explore and develop your interests by choosing, when possible, courses that appeal to you.
Faculty-Approved HSS Courses
Explore a list of Faculty-approved HSS courses below. When you access the report, you can navigate between the tabs at the bottom to switch between the different elective types. If there is a course you would like the Faculty to consider for HSS approval, submit this for HSS consideration.
Students may also view the available HSS courses on Timetable Builder by selecting 'Humanities & Social Sciences' under the Breath Requirements / Elective Categories menu.
Note: Not all courses listed on the HSS list are available each year. Review the current approved list above, the Academic Calendar and Timetable Builder to see whether the course you would like to enrol in is offered. If you are interested in a special topic or individual studies course, please get in touch with your department's Academic Advisor.
HSS Requirements
Students are responsible for determining their qualification for taking an HSS/CS course, including but not limited to pre-requisites and required permissions.
Students are not permitted to take the following courses to fulfill HSS requirements:
- Languages
- Grammar
- Mathematics (and probability)
- Economics
- Technique (e.g. art, music, video production)
- Physical and life sciences (e.g. physics, chemistry, biology, zoology, computer science and psychology)
The HSS course list changes from year to year, so courses that were approved in the past may not be on the current list. It is your responsibility to ensure that you enrol in an approved course and that you determine whether or not you have completed the necessary prerequisites. If you would like to take a course that is not on the list, you are not guaranteed credit for it.
Please note that PHL245 and PHL246 cannot be used to fulfill HSS requirements.