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Liberal Studies

Frequently Asked Questions

 

What are Liberal Studies?

Liberal Studies are central to university education. They broaden your horizons; they open up the world to you; they enable you to look at the world from a variety of perspectives, to pursue ideas and interests beyond your specific career studies. They are courses about the world in all its variety and complexity. As such, Liberal Studies courses form an essential, critical part of the curriculum here at Ryerson.

Although these Liberal Studies courses may seem to fall outside the scope of your chosen area of study, they are highly relevant to your development as an educated, engaged person. For example, the Liberal Studies curriculum enables Engineering students to take courses in areas such as Science Fiction or Art History or Psychology; they allow Business Management students to study Third World Politics or Religion, Science and Philosophy; they encourage Social Work students to take courses in the Economics of Markets or Geography or Early European Music; Theatre students can study Caribbean culture or the History of Espionage or Spanish. In Liberal Studies the world in all its diversity is open to you.

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How will they contribute to my education?

The broadening experience of Liberal Studies courses will better prepare you not only for your career as a professional but also for your life as an engaged, active citizen of Canada and of the world. Liberal studies will also provide you with frameworks, with values and types of emotional/intellectual responses that will help you understand yourself and your relationships with others.

At Ryerson, Liberal studies courses are designed to develop critical thinking and your analytic skills, while at the same time they also contribute to your writing and oral communication skills. These abilities and strengths are what employers often look for in graduates. This ability to analyze and think critically may well be one of the most enduring skills that you can take with you when you graduate. It is a capacity that will enable you to evolve and adapt to the continuously changing work environment of the 21st century.

Another bonus of Liberal Studies courses is that they may be one of the few courses you will take at Ryerson in which you will encounter students from other programs. Liberal studies courses normally consist of students from a wide range of programs at Ryerson. This opportunity to discuss and debate critical issues with students from diverse areas such as Engineering, Nursing, Journalism, Social Work, Business Management or Fashion Design is in itself a broadening experience.

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What defines a lower or upper level liberal studies course?

Lower level courses are taken during the first two years of a four-year program, and are introductory or survey courses. Upper level courses are taken during the last two years, and are more focused, more intellectually demanding, with the standards of evaluation reflecting those which should prevail at the advanced undergraduate degree level in any Ontario university. All liberal studies courses contain a significant writing requirement and the quality of student work expected in this component must reflect the level of the courses.

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What are the assignment requirements for Liberal Studies?

The Liberal Studies policy at Ryerson requires a significant writing component. Liberal Studies (LS) courses must conform to the following assignment structure:

  • includes one or more individually-written, out-of-class assignment(s) totaling in the range of at least 1200-1500 words at the lower level and of at least 1500-2000 words at the upper;
  • requires the student to carry out an analysis of the assignment's subject, and make and justify an evaluative, comparative or explicatory judgment;
  • attaches a weight of 25-35% or higher to the contribution made the assignment(s) to the student's final grade on the course;
  • provides commentary on the clarity of organization, logic, syntax, and grammar of student writing, and explicitly indicates that such attributes will form part of the basis upon which the assignment will be evaluated.

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How many Liberal Studies courses can I take?

Most Ryerson programs require six one-semester Liberal Studies courses as part of their four-year degree. Students are offered a wide range of lower and upper level courses from a wide range of disciplines such as Art History, Astronomy, Caribbean Studies, Disability Studies, Economics, English, French, Geography, History, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Science, Sociology, Spanish and Theatre.

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When should I take my Liberal Studies courses?

Each year you will be able to pre-register for your Liberal Studies courses and these are timetabled in as part of your regular program. You should take your Liberal Studies courses as a regular part of your course load.

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Can I take upper level courses before lower level?

Yes, but normally you should take lower-level courses in years one and two before taking upper level Liberal Studies courses. Although there are few prerequisites in the liberal studies curriculum (in order to maximize choice for students), upper level Liberal Studies courses do assume a higher level of analytic, research and writing ability.

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Why can't I always get the Liberal Studies course I selected in my pre-registration form?

Some courses are "flagged", i.e. off limits for some programs. A course on "Theatre and the Canadian Identity", for example, is flagged for Theatre students because these students take a lot of professional courses on the theatre. Psychology courses are flagged for Nursing students because nursing students take a number of psychology courses as professionally-related subjects in their program. In both of these examples the rationale is to ensure that students take courses that will broaden their horizons.

Because of space, timetable and resource factors, students who choose very popular courses do not always receive their first choice.

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I really enjoyed my Philosophy courses? Why can't I get a minor in Philosophy?

There are no minors in Liberal Studies .  However, a maximum of two Liberal Studies courses may be applied to a Minor. These two Liberal Studies courses can be used to fulfill both degree requirements and Minor requirements.  However, the Department offering the Minor would have to approve these Liberal Studies courses as credits in a Minor.

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How do I know if a course is a Liberal Studies course or not?

All Liberal Studies courses are identified as lower-level (LL) or upper-level (UL) in the Calendar. All Liberal Studies courses are identified as such on the Course Outline. It is important that you make sure that the course you are enrolled in is in fact a liberal study. You cannot substitute a professional or professionally-related course for a Liberal Study.

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I've never written a university essay before and English is not my first language. Where can I get help or advice?

Ryerson's Writing Centre is a popular and free resource for students. The Centre helps students hone their writing skills so they can produce better assignments and essays. The Writing Centre is located on the main floor of the Library (LIB-272B). Ryerson's English Language Support provides programs, both on-site and through their website, to help students whose first language of academic study is not English.

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Can I get Liberal Studies credits for courses taken at another university?

In order to get transfer credits for courses taken at other universities or colleges, you need to fill in a transfer credit form. In order to receive credit you will need to provide evidence of a significant writing component in the course(s) for which you are seeking credit.

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Who do I contact for answers to my general Liberal Studies inquiries?

For general information on Liberal Studies, contact Christopher De Barros, 416-979-5190, JOR119 or the Liberal Studies Academic Advisors

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