Welcome to the Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Aquatic Resources!
First-year course selection for the Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Aquatic Resources is very easy. Most courses are required. If you plan to do a Major in Public Policy and Social Research, there is only one course for which you will need to make a choice. If you plan to do a Major in Economics, you have a variety of choice in the selection of your two elective subjects.
If you are unsure which major you will want to pursue, it is recommended that you follow the Public Policy and Social Research pattern. That will easily allow you to go in either direction at the end of first year.
First-Year Course Patterns
Major in Public Policy & Social Research
| AQUA 101 | Introduction to Freshwater Systems and Resources - 3 credits (first term) |
| AQUA 102 | Introduction to Ocean Systems and Resources - 3 credits (second term) |
| ECON 101 | Introductory Microeconomics - 3 credits (first term) |
| ECON 102 | Introductory Macroeconomics - 3 credits (second term) |
| EESC 171 or EESC 173 | Understanding the Earth - 3 credits (first term) Natural Hazards - 3 credits (first term) |
| BIOL 112 | Diversity of Life - 3 credits (second term) |
| 6 credits from the following 9 credits of PGOV and PSCI: | |
| PGOV 101 | Introduction to Public Policy and Governance - 3 credits (first or second term) |
| PSCI 101 | Introduction to Power and Politics - 3 credits (first term) |
| PSCI 102 | Introduction to Comparative and Global Politics - 3 credits (second term) |
| Anthropology or Sociology - 6 credits in one subject (see below) * | |
| ANTH 111 and ANTH 112 | Introduction to Archaeology - 3 credits (first or second term) Introduction to Socio-cultural Anthropology - 3 credits (first or second term) |
| OR | |
| SOCI 101 and SOCI 102 | Introduction to Sociology I - 3 credits (first term) Introduction to Sociology II - 3 credits (second term) |
* If you are unsure which of these two subjects to choose, look at the upper-level courses in each discipline to see which appeal to you the most. As you will be taking additional courses in this subject in future years, upper-level courses in which you have the most interest should dictate your choice of anthropology or sociology in first year.
Major in Economics
| AQUA 101 | Introduction to Freshwater Systems and Resources - 3 credits (first term) |
| AQUA 102 | Introduction to Ocean Systems and Resources - 3 credits (second term) |
| ECON 101 | Introductory Microeconomics - 3 credits (first term) |
| ECON 102 | Introductory Macroeconomics - 3 credits (second term) |
| EESC 171 or EESC 173 | Understanding the Earth - 3 credits (first term) Natural Hazards - 3 credits (second term) |
| BIOL 112 | Diversity of Life - 3 credits (second term) |
| Anthropology or Political Science or Sociology - 6 credits in one subject (see below) * | |
| Arts and/or Science electives - 6 credits (see below) | |
| Economics majors in the Aquatic Resources program must complete one of the following three options: | |
| ANTH 111 and ANTH 112 | Introduction to Archaeology - 3 credits (first or second term) Introduction to Socio-cultural Anthropology - 3 credits (first or second term) |
| OR | |
| PSCI 101 and PSCI 102 | Introduction to Power and Politics - 3 credits (first term) Introduction to Comparative and Global Politics - 3 credits (second term) |
| OR | |
| SOCI 101 and SOCI 102 | Introduction to Sociology I - 3 credits (first term) Introduction to Sociology II - 3 credits (second term) |
* If you are unsure which of these three subjects to choose, look at the upper-level courses in each discipline to see which appeal to you the most. As you will very likely take additional courses in this subject, upper-level courses in which you have the most interest should dictate your choice of anthropology, political science, or sociology in first year.
Elective Arts/Science Subject for Economics Major
Your remaining 6 credits can be from the arts or the sciences. You may choose a second subject from the above three (anthropology, political science, sociology), or from any of the other subjects listed in the Arts and Science tables below.
You may wish to choose STAT 101 or an intro MATH course, since you will need to complete 3 credits of MATH or STAT for your Economics major. You may also want to consider PGOV 101, particularly if you are interested in taking upper-level courses in public policy and governance, which is a popular subject for AQUA students.
Distribution Requirements
You may choose courses to fulfill some of your breadth distribution requirements. All Bachelor of Arts programs, including the BA with Aquatic Resources, require the inclusion of 24 credits of distribution requirements as outlined below. Your first-year course pattern will fulfill breadth requirements 3 and 4 (social sciences and sciences). You may wish to use 3 or 6 credits of your remaining courses this year to complete options for requirements 1 and/or 2. It is not necessary to complete these in first year; these requirements may be completed in any year of study. However, if you would like to take 3 or 6 credits toward completion of these requirements, please note the categories below. (Some course options listed below are upper-year courses, mostly with prerequisites, so will not be open to you in first year. However, there are 100-level courses that you can choose to fulfill these categories.)
These requirements must be met by 24 credits of unique courses; no single course can be used to satisfy two different breadth requirements.
1. Fine Arts and Languages
6 credits from one or a combination of fine arts and languages. Courses can be chosen from studio art; music; French; German; Mi’kmaq; Spanish (excluding SPAN 255); Celtic studies language courses (CELT 101, 102, 111, 201, 202, 300); classical studies language courses (CLAS 111, 112, 121, 122, 215); English creative writing courses (ENGL 223, 225, 267, 322, 422); modern languages/religious studies (MLAN/RELS) 209. (Transfer students with credits from other fine arts disciplines or languages will be permitted to use such transfer courses in fulfillment of this requirement.)
2. Humanities
6 credits from one or a combination of the humanities. Courses can be chosen from art history; catholic studies; Celtic studies (excluding CELT language courses 101, 102, 111, 201, 202, 300); classical studies (excluding CLAS language courses 111, 112, 121, 122, 215); development studies*; English (excluding ENGL creative writing courses 223, 225, 267, 322, 422); history; modern languages (MLAN) 123; philosophy; religious studies (excluding RELS 209); Spanish (SPAN) 255; women’s and gender studies*.
* Courses in Development Studies (DEVS) and Women’s and Gender Studies (WMGS) can be used to satisfy distribution requirements 2 and 3, but the same course cannot be used to satisfy both requirements. The humanities and social sciences requirements must be met with 12 credits of unique courses.
3. Social Sciences
Following are the requirements for distribution category 3. Your program's ECON 101 and 102 fulfill this requirement, as would any of your courses in ANTH, PGOV, PSCI, or SOCI.
6 credits from one or a combination of the social sciences. Courses can be chosen from anthropology; aquatic resources (AQUA) 202 (AQUA selected topics courses may be options, depending on the topic in a given year); climate and environment (CLEN) 201, 320, 355; development studies*; economics; interdisciplinary studies (IDS) 305; political science; psychology; public policy and governance; sociology; women’s and gender studies*. (Completed courses in health can be used to fulfill this requirement if a student has not also completed credits from the social sciences listed above. BA students will only have completed HLTH credits if they changed program from the BASc in Health.)
* Courses in Development Studies (DEVS) and Women’s and Gender Studies (WMGS) can be used to satisfy distribution requirements 2 and 3, but the same course cannot be used to satisfy both requirements. The humanities and social sciences requirements must be met with 12 credits of unique courses.
4. Sciences
Following are the requirements for distribution category 4. Your program's AQUA 101 and 102 fulfill this requirement, as would your BIOL 112 and EESC required courses.
6 credits from one or a combination of disciplines from the Faculty of Science. Courses can be chosen from aquatic resources (excluding AQUA 202; AQUA selected topics courses may be options, depending on the topic in a given year); biology; chemistry; climate and environment (CLEN) 101, 102, 202, 303, 304; computer science; data science; Earth and environmental sciences; human nutrition (some HNU courses are restricted to HNU students); mathematics and statistics; nursing (NURS) 303; physics. (Completed courses in engineering, health, human kinetics, and nursing can be used to fulfill this requirement. BA students will normally only have completed credits in these disciplines if they changed programs. These disciplines are restricted to students in the relevant programs and BA students are normally not permitted to register in courses from these departments.)
Note: Bachelor of Arts students are welcome to take any science course for which they have the appropriate background. In addition to the introductory courses in each of the above science departments, the following science courses may be of particular interest to students in the BA: BIOL 220 (6 credits); BIOL 221 (open to third- and fourth-year BA students); CSCI 128, 135, 215, 223, 225; EESC 173, 273, 274, 277; HNU 142, 145, 163, 405; MATH 101, 102, 105, 236; PHYS 108, 171, 172, 250; STAT 101, 331, 344.
Arts and Science Subjects
Please note that the subjects displayed in the following table are also links to their respective pages on this website. If first-year, 100-level courses are offered in a particular subject, their course descriptions are displayed at the bottom of the applicable subject page.
| SCIENCE SUBJECTS | |
| Biology | Computer Science |
| Data Science | Mathematics & Statistics |
| Chemistry | Physics |
| Climate and Environment |
Things to Remember
- When building your course schedule, begin with required courses that are offered in only one timeblock, and schedule other courses around those.
- When choosing your arts/science elective, explore your available options from the list above. You may decide to choose a subject that is familiar to you, but don’t hesitate to be adventurous and try something new.
Questions You Might Have
1. I am interested in taking 6 credits of English in first year, but there is only one 3-credit course available at the 100-level. Are there other English courses that I can take this year?
If you choose ENGL 111 in the first term, you can also choose any 200-level English course that is offered in the second semester, subject to availability. However, second-term 200-level English courses may be full before first-year registration opens, so this option may not be a possibility for you.
2. Why is Earth and Environmental Sciences not listed in the allowable Science Subjects above?
You are already taking EESC 171 as part of your degree program. In addition, your required AQUA 101 and 102 courses serve as substitutes for EESC 172 so AQUA students do not normally take EESC 172. You are therefore already taking the introductory level courses for EESC this year. Should you wish to take additional EESC courses in future years, you will have the prerequisites to do so by completing your program's core courses this year.
3. What if I am interested in taking a course in a subject that is not mentioned above?
The other subjects offered at StFX are in our other professional or applied science programs: Business Administration; Engineering; Health; Human Kinetics; Human Nutrition; Nursing. (Aquatic Resources also falls into this category.) Most courses in these departments are restricted to students in these programs. For future years, there are some Human Nutrition courses and two 300-level Nursing elective courses that are open to students outside of those programs. If you are interested in taking other courses from one of these departments you will need to contact the relevant department chair to request a course override. (Courses in Health and Nursing are not options for students outside those programs, but permission is sometimes granted for Business Administration, Engineering, Human Kinetics, and Human Nutrition courses.)
Registration Help Centre
By Email Only: nsr@stfx.ca
The registration help centre will be in operation and will respond to email from June 9 through August 29.
Hours of Operation are Monday - Friday 8:30 am to 4:00 pm Atlantic Time
For registration issues after August 29, please email the registrar's office: registrar@stfx.ca
Please include your full name and Student ID number in all correspondence.
