As a Humanities student, you’ll bring artistic, historical, critical and philosophical reflection to bear while you explore and examine our past and present, our thought, our cultures, and societies, as well as our existence. You’ll learn about the world and learn about yourself.
In Humanities, you’ll encounter productive, award-winning professors who bring their real-life experience as researchers and teachers to the classroom, and who believe that the best university education is student-centered and research-focused.
You will also join a community of scholars who are not afraid to cross the boundaries between subject areas, who have dynamic and diverse individual interests, experiences and talents, but who share an enthusiasm and curiosity about the past, present and future.
We look forward to having you in our classrooms, our workshops, our performance spaces and our laboratories.
Applied Humanities, independent study and internship courses allow students to gain real-world experience through the practical application of classroom learning.
A few examples include:
The Humanities Internship Program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to develop employability skills, explore career options and integrate their academic learning in a professional setting through a meaningful work experience. This experience includes paid full-time and part-time work opportunities related to their career area of study.
Here in Humanities, we believe that where you learn is just as important as what you learn. Some of our state-of-the-art learning facilities are:
It’s such a unique experience, it’s not what you’d expect it to be. The social and academic experience are really wholesome.
I love my program, the diversity, and the ability to take your degree anywhere you want to go.
There are so many opportunities to explore different career paths. Everything here is so hands on and practical.
Students entering the Faculty of Humanities take a general first-year program – Humanities I. The Humanities I program offers students an enormous amount of flexibility and a real chance to explore many course options in their first year of university.
Students in Humanities I can pursue subjects in which they have already developed an interest, as well as exploring new areas of interest. This provides an excellent base from which to specialize in upper levels.
Learn more about your Humanities I requirements
We have the following degree types you can obtain:
These can be specialized in a variety of major subject areas, including:
A special partnership with McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business allows single honours students in Greek and Roman Studies, Communication Studies, English & Cultural Studies, French, History, Linguistics & Languages, Media Arts or Philosophy to complement their studies with a Specialized minor in Commerce (13 courses of study or 39 units).
McMaster Humanities offers 12 concurrent certificates available to enhance degree and increase job prospects upon graduation:
One of the goals of a Humanities education is to increase global awareness. For many students, participating in an exchange program is one of the most exciting ways to do this. The exchange program allows students to spend all or part of their third year studying at universities in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Jamaica.
For a full list of courses that can be available in this program, please consult the academic calendar.